Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids - June 1998

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Communities Meeting the Need for
After-School Activities


ASPIRA Lighthouse Program
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Contact: Tammy Papa, 203-576-7252

The Lighthouse Program, an educational and recreational program located in 11 Bridgeport schools, serves children in grades K-12 three hours a day, five days a week, and all day during the summer. In providing educational enrichment, cultural awareness, and recreational activities, the program offers children a range of options from karate and dance to reading skills and math and science programs. Volunteers, including parents, teach special classes, car-pool students, read with children, and help with homework. The program is well connected to the schools: each site coordinator is a teacher in the school. The principal, other teachers, and community agencies manage the program with the cooperation of families, students, school custodians, and security guards.

The chief of police credits the Lighthouse program with the decrease in crime, especially in juvenile crime, throughout the city. Lighthouse children outperformed other students on standardized tests in reading and math, and they showed better attendance rates. Parents, teachers, and students also reported improved student self-motivation, higher levels of homework quality and completion, fewer disciplinary referrals, and better peer and teacher relationships.
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