Youth Life Learning Centers

The focus of the Youth Life Learning Centers is to provide children living in high risk areas on the Northside of Jacksonville with an after-school learning environment that includes academic enrichment and remedial education in the areas of reading, language arts and mathematics, supplemental services, mentoring and character development. Our program is based on former Washington Redskins, Darrell Green’s, Youth Life Learning Center, which opened in 1993 in Washington, D.C. and then opened in Nashville, Tennessee through the Youth Life Learning Foundation of Tennessee. Children enroll in the program between kindergarten and grade five and continue to receive guidance until graduating from high school. They are challenged to pursue excellence academically, morally, physically, and socially by strong role models. Parents commit to having their children attend the YLLC 5 days a week and to volunteer 20 hour of their time at one of the centers over the course of a year. Currently for the 2011-2012 school year, our students have a 91% attendance rate for school and our program.

Our elementary and middle school programs provide academic enrichment 4 days a week and extracurricular activities or a field trip one day a week that enhances the academic curriculum.

Some of the activities include:

Service Learning – Middle schoolers have adopted an apartment complex of mainly Burmese refugees. They put on a play date at the complex twice a month that includes tutoring, games, crafts, and a snack. This is a great opportunity for our students to give back to the community.