Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL)

Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) was established to provide low-income children with learning opportunities during the summer months, when many disadvantaged students fall behind in their academic progress. BELL targets not only educational achievement but also social and emotional development, by introducing students to positive role models and mentors, encouraging parental engagement, and building participants' self-esteem.

Today, the BELL Summer program provides educational experiences 6-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 5-6 weeks over the summer. Students participate in math and literacy classes, physical activities, community service projects, field trips, and guest speaker series. BELL has also expanded to offer the BELL After School program, which provides students with intensive individualized instruction in math and literacy. The After School program engages students for 2.5 hours a day, 3-5 days a week, for up to 30 weeks.

BELL exists to transform the academic achievements, self-confidence, and life trajectories of children living in under-resourced, urban communities.

Students enrolled in summer courses may read more books during the summer than students not enrolled in summer courses.

More recent evaluations of the BELL program have found no significant impact on students' academic self-concept. Additionally, researchers found that students’ math scores improved, but only marginally, and their reading skills showed no improvement relative to the comparison group (students not enrolled in the BELL program).