Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment (BRYE) Extension
Staff Contact Info:
Kerry McGowan
kerry@pbha.org
Officer Contact Info:
PBHA’s Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment (BRYE) Extension is both a mentoring program and an academic enrichment program for recent immigrant and refugee youth living in Dorchester. Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment (BRYE) Extension builds English skills and provides a safe, validating, and intellectually stimulating space for students. The program sets itself apart from other afterschool programs by strengthening students’ ESL skills and supplementing classroom instruction with fun and innovative volunteer-designed curriculum in a small classroom environment. BRYE Extension fills a much-needed void in Dorchester, where low-income residents in Boston’s most diverse neighborhood often lack access to affordable afterschool programs.
Students at BRYE Extension are placed into classrooms based on age level and familiarity with the English language. There are three class levels, with the youngest class ranging in age from 6 to 8, a middle class 8 to 10, and a third class ranging ages 10 to 12.
History
BRYE Extension, founded in 2001, was first created in order to close the educational gap between new immigrant children and their peers through an educational enrichment program. The program sets itself apart from other after-school programs by strengthening students’ ESL skills and supplementing classroom instruction through fun and innovative volunteer-designed curriculum in a small classroom environment. The program fills a much-needed void in Dorchester, where low-income residents in Boston's most diverse neighborhood often lack access to affordable after-school programs.