We are a leading youth development organization that serves over 1500 Brooklyn youth each year.
Since 1994, BCCP has created networks of educational innovation that connect underserved youth, local middle and high schools, high-need communities, and Brooklyn College.
Our school day and after-school programs use service-learning, college prep and the arts to:
- Tap into the varied interests and learning styles of youth to link them to educational success.
- Underscore the importance of social-emotional development.
- Build resilience in youth by developing effective strategies to thrive
Programs
Networks to College
Our full-scale after-school programs bridge school day experiences with supplemental education in the after school hours. BCCP staff are present in the schools Monday through Friday, 10am to 6pm in order to provide youth with a flexible schedule of activities, and to integrate the after-school program fully in the school environment.
- Educational Support activities help youth improve classroom and state assessment performance and encourage graduation and educational growth.
- Youth Development activities build youth’s leadership skills, provide opportunities for youth to contribute positively to their communities, and allow youth to contribute to program design and implementation
- Recreation Activities build interpersonal relationships and team-building skills, while creating a supportive, fun environment for youth to enjoy.
The Arts Network
BCCP uses arts and technology to enrich youth’s educational experiences in all of its programs.
- Youth work alongside professional artists in diverse mediums—from video game design to fashion design to electronic music to culinary arts.
- The Arts Network connects our artists to students from geographically and demographically disparate sites through group projects, meetings, blogs, field trips and events.
- BCAL’s Saturday program serves as a hub for Arts Network activities with many artists servicng BCCP students in workshops and students performing, exhibiting and screening for each other — all on the Brooklyn College campus.
Brooklyn College Art Lab (BCAL)
In 2005, BCCP created the Brooklyn College Art Lab, an interactive, educational, and recreational space on the college campus. Envisioned as the hub of our network of sites, staff, and students, BCAL is one of BCCP’s most successful and innovative programs.
- Each day, youth from across our program sites come to BCAL to participate in its full-scale after-school programming, and to take advantage of BCAL’s youth-centered activities and resources.
- On a visit to BCAL, you are likely to find youth recording an original song on the Baldwin piano in the music studio, designing dresses in the fashion design room, creating a website in the Mac computer lab, or playing a basketball game on the indoor court.
- In BCAL’s College Access room, youth can take part in workshops on financial aid and applications led by Brooklyn College admissions counselors and PSAT/SAT workshops led by Brooklyn College faculty.
Scholarship Fund
Our scholarship fund was established to give undocumented youth a chance at achieving success after high school.
Schools
We currently have programs at I.S. 291, Bushwick Campus High Schools, Erasmus Campus High Schools, Paul Robeson High School, George Wingate Campus High Schools and New Utrecht High School.
BCAL connects us with students from schools all over Brooklyn, including, Prospect Heights High School, Brooklyn College Academy, Midwood High School, Sheepshead Bay.