Donor Spotlight:
 
   
 
 
Programs and Services:
The Child
Dallas Community Lighthouse provides afterschool tutoring programs and summer camps for at-risk youth living in low income or affordable apartment communities.

At Kids Campus we provide afterschool tutoring programs with a focus on the core learning subjects of math, language arts and reading for students in grades K-8th.

PATHWAYS, our TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills) based curriculum parallels what the student is learning in his everyday public school classroom. The TEKS guidelines set by the TEA (Texas Education Agency) are the guidelines in which every teacher in the state of Texas teaches by. Our teaching technique is unique as we have thrown away the paper and pencils and we use a "hands-on" approach to teaching.


The Family
 Dallas Community Lighthouse provides services to the individual family to meet the needs of each and every family.

Our Family Services program extends our educational reach to the adults of these communities providing: ESL & GED classes, Adult Computer Literacy Programs and Parenting workshops

The Community
 Dallas Community Lighthouse provides services to the entire apartment community. Our focus is to help "build a better community where families can live, grow and foster in a safe and nurturing environment.

Our Community Service program addresses the needs of the entire community by providing community events & forums, crime watch programs as well as resident councils.
Our Approach:
 



In assisting the “whole” child, DCL focuses on the 4 major areas of the child’s world which makes the biggest impact upon their lives.

 

Wells and Bechard (1989)(SIS –Student Improvement Research Series) identified four major categories of factors that contribute to a student profile of characteristics that may lead to a student's dropping out of school. The four categories list risk factors that are school-related, student-related, community-related, and family-related. The likelihood of a student dropping out of school increases as the combination of risk factors becomes more multifaceted.  With this in mind DCL created programs that extend from the school, to the home, and then to the community.  At DCL we call this focusing on the “whole” child.

 

Steps to Success

Step I – The At-risk Child

Step II – Family

Step III – Community

Kids Campus Tutorial Services

Kids Campus Summer Camp

Family Services

Community Services

Homework Assistance

Themed Curriculum

Family Assistance

Community Events

Assist students with homework and special school projects making an impact on their current school grades with completed homework and projects turned in on time.

Our 8 week summer enrichment camp curriculum is filled with fun, facts, and field trips.  Each summer our curriculum theme is designed to take the at-risk child out of his community and open his/her world to a bigger world.  Our focus is to expand the child's current knowledge into areas that have not been explored

 

DCL offers assistance to the "root system" or family of the at-risk youths enrolled in our programs.  Our Family Service team conducts in-home visits and provides special assistance if needed.  This team addresses moderate to severe situations such as substance-abuse in the home, inadequate food or clothing, abuse or other critical issues. 

Our Community Service Team conducts community events, bringing the residents of the community together in an effort to building a stronger community.   Events include

•  Family Fun Night dinners

•  Bingo nights

•  Pool parties

•  Holiday dinners

•  Meet & Greet breakfast

•  Community clean-up days

 

 

Tutoring in core subjects:

Summer Focus

Public School Involvement

 

Community Survey

 

Math, Language Arts, Reading.  Our tutorial curriculum, "PATHWAYS" took over 1 year to complete.  The TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge Skills) was used as our guideline when developing our tutoring curriculum, to ensure that our tutoring services were paralleling what each student was learning in their everyday classroom.  Students are taught basic concepts using both worksheets and a hands-on approach to teaching.

Our summer camp's focus is to explore our themed curriculum through history lessons, field trips, guest speakers, art, music, games and sports.  Our 2 major goals for the summer program is to keep the at-risk child off the street and out of trouble and to provide a stimulating fun learning environment exploring the world around them.

DCL also works at getting the family involved in the child's education.  As part of our free tutorial service, each parent must attend 2 PTA meetings per year, and all parent teacher conferences, as well as provide DCL with the students grades and TAKS scores.  DCL will accompany the parent to any conferences if needed.

Our Community Service Team conducts surveys with each family or resident in the complex.  These surveys assist DCL and property management/owners in determining the needs of the individuals and the community. 

Other subjects:

 

Summer Tutorials

Individual Needs

Community Needs

•  Technology

•  Character Building

•  Kids Curiosity Art Program

•  "Too Fit to Quit" Health & Fitness Program

Each summer we continue our educational focus with a "Study Hall" on Monday – Wednesday afternoons for 1 hour.  Students are provided worksheets in the core subjects from the past school year, ensuring these students retain the previous level of knowledge allowing them to get one step ahead for the next school year.

DCL determines the needs of each family or family member is referred to other social service agencies as needed.  DCL tracks the referral process and follows up to ensure that each referred family member completes the entire referral process.  Needs can include:

•  Family Counseling

•  Drug/Alcohol Addiction

•  Job Assistance

Once the property has been surveyed, DCL will work with the property owners/ management and other social service agencies to address the individual and community needs.  Needs can include:

•  Adult dinners with speakers (i.e. Positive Parenting Techniques, Money Management Programs, etc.)

•  Money management programs

•  Transportation for the Elderly

•  GED/ESL Programs

•  Crime Watch

•  Resident Councils

(The needs for each apartment community and the programs implemented will vary per location)

There are other issues beyond homework and testing that affect the at-risk child's ability to obtain academic success. Our innovative approach to extend our services beyond the child's academic needs to also focus on the root problems which are preventing the student from graduating includes: the child's social development, his personal family dynamics as well as addressing the needs of the community the child lives in.  
 
 

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