Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL)

The Building Educated Leaders for Life's (BELL) educational summer and after school programs are designed to improve the academic achievements, self-esteem, and life opportunities of children living in low-income, urban communities. Founded in 1992 by students at Harvard Law School, BELL has become a nationally recognized model of excellence in out-of-school education.

The BELL Summer and BELL After School programs feature small-group tutoring in literacy and math; mentoring from adult role models to foster self-respect and social skills; experiential learning through field trips, guest speakers and community service; support for parents to more deeply engage in their children's education; and rigorous evaluation to ensure continual academic improvement and success for children.
 
While only 5 percent of students enter BELL’s programs at a “mastery” level of achievement in reading, writing, or math, 20 percent of students BELL serves achieve "mastery" by the end of the program. A total of 81 percent of BELL students achieve “mastery” or “proficient” levels compared to 30 percent of their demographic peers. During the summer, when many low-income students suffer learning losses, BELL scholars consistently gain four months grade-equivalent skills in reading, writing, and math. Of BELL’s first class of scholars, all are currently enrolled in, or have graduated from, college.
 
BELL’s success has garnered national attention. Most recently, BELL Summer was cited as a model program in new legislation called the STEP UP Act, which seeks to make public funding available to support summer learning programs in low-income areas.  In addition, The John Hopkins University’s Center for Summer Learning named BELL Summer one of the best educational summer programs in the country.
 
In 2007, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation partnered with BELL to increase the number of children mastering academic skills in its programs.  With a three-year grant from the Foundation, BELL is expanding its programs to ensure more than 8,000 children nationally receive the support they need to realize their full potential.

Learn more about BELL and its programs.