Pursue our mission with energy and purpose; innovate bold, intuitive solutions; embrace personal responsibility; promote collaboration; trust and inclusiveness; empower results and impact – these are the core values of BellXcel. The annual Peterkin Award, named after Dr. Robert B. Peterkin, a pioneer in educational leadership and past BellXcel Board Director, celebrates the employee, nominated by their colleagues, that best exemplifies the organization’s core values. On April 6th, 2023 during a company wide meeting BellXcel CEO, Dr. Lauren Sanchez Gilbert, announced the winner of the 2022 Peterkin Award, Denise Cage. Denise began her career with BellXcel in November 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director, Customer Experience. Throughout her tenure, Denise has earned the respect and admiration of colleagues across the organization. The announcement was met with an immediate wave of congrats and applause, offering further testament to how deserving Denise was of this honor. During Denise’s tenure at BellXcel, she has made the goals, concerns, and overall success of customers her number one priority. “Denise focuses on several details (for several different customers) at once, while maintaining a view for the high-level goal of customer experience and BellXcel efficiency,” said Danielle Caban, Director, Research & Analytics. “She worked through several customer needs related to evaluation and reporting with persistence, thoroughness, and an eye for getting the customer what they needed to serve their community while remaining mindful of internal BellXcel team structures, capacity, and value.” Denise is an incredible asset to the BellXcel team. “She consistently and beautifully demonstrates the BellXcel Values,” said Kris Murray, Associate Vice President, Account Development. Kris continued, “Denise serves as my eyes, ears, and intuition with customers, always letting me know when some additional support is needed. I trust her insights implicitly and can confidently move forward with the information that she shares with me.” Hailey Carter, a colleague within the Customer Experience team shared that “Denise works hard, yet quietly, behind the scenes. I just hope she knows that people notice all that she does for our customers!” Denise was incredibly honored, and surprised, to receive this recognition. When asked about receiving the award, Denise remarked, “It’s nice to take a step back and see that the work I do makes a difference.” Denise’s favorite part about working for BellXcel is being able to see the impact of her work. She said, “It’s one thing to be behind the computer, but a totally different thing to go to the sites and see the impact we make – it warms my heart and keeps me going.” Congratulations on this well deserved recognition, Denise!

In 2021, BellXcel commissioned the Sperling Center for Research and Innovation (SCRI) to study the potential effects of its partnership model on its partners’ internal systems (for example, practices, policies, operations) and external community ecosystems (relationships, power dynamics, funding). While this exploratory study was on a small qualitative scale, the ultimate goal is to develop a multi-year research strategy to understand and capture the impact and influence BellXcel has on its partners.This longerterm study will include developing a robust logic model and rigorous measurement strategies. Read the full case study

BellXcel is a nationally-recognized nonprofit that empowers youth program providers with innovative solutions, services and resources to scale and create meaningful impact across a variety of settings and communities.

Are you bold, creative, data-driven, and committed to innovation? These are just a few of the characteristics that embody the BellXcel team. Spanning from coast to coast our team is driven by a shared vision for all children to excel.

A leading supporter of BellXcel’s work, the Overdeck Family Foundation has funded BellXcel since 2019. ---- Gemma Lenowitz has served as a program officer in the Inspired Minds portfolio at the Overdeck Family Foundation since 2018. Previously, she served as a STEM coordinator and 12th grade lead at MESA Charter High School, where she founded and coached a robotics team, taught Bioengineering and Computer Science, and implemented edtech and project-based learning. BellXcel: What are your big-picture goals at Overdeck?  Gemma: Our mission is to measurably enhance education inside and outside the classroom. We focus exclusively on education, funding efforts both inside and outside of school in the areas of early childhood, informal STEM education, and K-9 programs that include supporting educators and student-centered learning environments. Our priority for the next three years is to continue to scale cost-effective models and organizations that accelerate improvement in academic and socioemotional outcomes for all kids. Specifically, we hope to use our grantmaking and strategic support to unlock innovation, build and strengthen organizational capacities, help grantees generate evidence, and support grantees in attracting follow-on funding. We will continue to fund research, learning, and measurement to ensure that we understand the outcomes of our grantmaking.  BellXcel: How does BellXcel fit into that picture? What caught your attention about the organization? Gemma: Thanks to the Institute for Educational Sciences, the Wallace Foundation and other evidence aggregators, there are reviews that demonstrate program effectiveness in alignment with ESSA’s tiered levels of evidence. Beyond BellXcel having the highest level of evidence, it was the breadth of research historically and in progress and the learning and improvement orientation of the team that stood out to me.   If you zoom out and think about after-school programs, they've been providing positive experiences for youth for decades, but it was clear that BellXcel was thinking about how to do that in the 21st century, leveraging edtech. The design is more efficient, with technology solutions that don’t replace human interaction, but actually eliminate some of the onerous administrative tasks so programs can operate more smoothly. What I quickly noticed about the platform is that it can actually give educators more time to plan great instruction, and more time with scholars. As a former teacher and coach, I knew those were two critical elements for student success. That's what caught our eye originally and why we chose to invest. BellXcel: What most excites/inspires you about BellXcel's work and future? Gemma: The first piece is just impact. We think the program can continue to have strong outcomes and provide the right delivery model for every site to see success for their kids. The second piece is that the tech enables a level of scalability. That's new, I think, to the out-of-school time field. They're the first SaaS Enterprise solution that I’ve heard about that centralizes all of the components on the platform, which makes it able to scale faster. And then on the other side of that, there's the demand. The contracts that BellXcel has won recently underscore that there are so many kids out there who could benefit from these services, and the adults in decision-making capacity in their communities believe that, too. I really appreciate that they are ready to deliver, because this moment asks so much of teachers and parents.  BellXcel: What excites you the most about philanthropy right now? Gemma: I'm really excited about the conversations about proximity and empathy in tech and in philanthropy. I think educator and student needs evolved faster than ever during COVID. And, educators and ed tech organizations need to stay on top of what's happening and develop services and products that resonate with their audience.  Funders didn't previously have a lot of insight into what their beneficiaries needed, and the grantee often acted as the intermediary. Now, I think funders can get much sharper insights into the current needs so that we're not relying on perception or old data. And, philanthropy is now more visibly and loudly encouraging nonprofits to make sure that their solution centers the experiences of their target population and that they use tools to gather better data. For example, we use the “net promoter” score with a lot of our grantees to understand the user experience on their platform or with their service. And now through the Fund for Shared Insight, (a group of philanthropists), and a service called Listen for Good, (a survey tool), we can put the end user’s voice at the forefront. By elevating the voices that are least heard in systems, we can match products and services to their specific needs. BellXcel: What are the greatest opportunities you see in K-12 education and OST?  Gemma: There are a lot of elements that were developed during COVID that we think should stay, including an increased focus on the home-school connection that will continue to be a focus for the foundation. This includes thinking about school readiness supports at home. What does it mean for a child to be school ready? What does it mean for a school to be ready for that child? There's a more racially and ethnically diverse set of students than ever before in public schools across the country this year, but they are also diverse in terms of interests and talents, too. So, how do we think about elevating those unique assets? In philanthropy, we’ll continue to support the scale of evidence-based practices and innovation to meet these and other new demands and challenges as they arise.  About Overdeck Family Foundation Founded in 2011 by John and Laura Overdeck, Overdeck Family Foundation's goal is to provide all children the opportunity to unlock their potential. Grantmaking and strategic support focus on unlocking innovation, evidence, and growth opportunities for organizations and researchers that are committed to accelerating key academic and socioemotional outcomes for all children.

Laura Grattan is Managing Director at Crosspoint Capital Partners. Prior to joining Crosspoint in 2021, she was a Managing Director at Thomas H. Lee Partners for more than 13 years, focusing on Technology and HCIT investing. Laura started her career as an investment professional in the Private Equity Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Laura has held an array of directorships including with inVentiv Health, Inc., Alfresco Software, Inc., Juvare, iHeartMedia, Inc. and a board observer at Univision Communications, Inc. In addition to serving on the BellXcel Board of Directors, she is also on the board of Boston Scores, a local soccer-based education nonprofit. She holds an A.B., summa cum laude, in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

[caption id="attachment_646" align="alignleft" width="231"] Lauren Sanchez Gilbert[/caption] President Biden’s FY22 budget request proposes strong and necessary investments in youth development. Summer and afterschool providers nationwide would have the critical opportunity to provide the level of programming required to address the losses our youth have experienced over the past year. BellXcel’s decades of experience in evidence-based, high quality youth programming propels me to spotlight the urgency of whole-child investments in communities across the country.  Our youth need high-quality summer and afterschool experiences to thrive academically and emotionally and to grow beyond the school day. Investing in programming based in evidence and adaptable to meet the unique needs of each community is critical. A one-size fits most approach will only further exacerbate and expose the inherent inequity so prevalent in our education system. True possibility of economic mobility begins early in life when all children have access to a strong pipeline of high-quality activities throughout their youth. Our evidence proves that providing local educators and youth leaders with the tools, resources, professional learning, and support they need to build impactful learning experiences leads to real improved outcomes. We have witnessed first-hand, many times over, that the greatest impact can be made by serving each child, through the adults that they know, with strategies that work.  These are remarkable times to be a leader in youth development and education and I thank President Biden for this historic proposal.  Highlights of some of President Biden’s FY22 budget request include: $20B for new Title 1 Equity Grants to support unserved communities $1.3B for 21st Century Community Learning Centers to boost out of school time programming, including teacher professional development $443M for Full-Service Community Schools for comprehensive services to youth and their families, from afterschool to health/nutrition services $1B for new School-Based Health Professionals to double the number of counselors, nurses and mental health professionals in schools $16B for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to support special education and related services Pre-K through 12   Our BellXcel team is committed to partnering with youth organizations and schools to maximize the quality of their programming for youth, educators, and families in communities nationwide. President Biden’s historic budget proposal gives us all a momentous leg up to ensure all children can excel!    Lauren Sanchez Gilbert, Ed.D. Chief Executive Officer BellXcel

  Amidst the most challenging summer of 2020, a light shone bright at the Southeast Ventura County YMCA. Julie Birkett, Site Director for the Y’s Find My Genius program, deftly led one of the few in-person summer programs anywhere in Southern California and has been named BellXcel’s 2020 Educator of the Year. As a leading national nonprofit in youth development, BellXcel recognizes outstanding educators dedicated to scholar success. [caption id="attachment_1360" align="alignleft" width="225"] Julie Birkett, BellXcel Educator of the Year 2020[/caption] The award recognizes an educator who best exemplifies BellXcel’s core values of excellence, learning, respect, courage and collaboration. Julie was chosen out of more than 1,000 educators nationwide and her program served 140 rising 1st through 5th grade scholars. Julie has been involved with the summer program at the Southeast Ventura County YMCA since the program launched in summer 2018, the same year she was honored as the Teacher of the Year for the Greater Conejo Valley. Fueled by her passion to make a difference in the lives of her scholars, Julie served as an academic teacher in 2018 and 2019 before stepping into a leadership capacity as Site Director amidst the tumultuous atmosphere of summer 2020. Leaning into her dedication and experience, Julie steadfastly managed family and staff safety concerns and constantly-changing county health department protocols while ensuring a high-quality learning experience for scholars. She never lost sight of the high standards that the Y set for their Find My Genius program and the results speak for themselves. Scholars gained more than 3 months in ELA and Math skills and reported an average daily attendance of 88%. A Zooming Surprise Julie was informed of the honor during a board meeting for the Y. BellXcel CEO Lauren Sanchez Gilbert joined the Zoom call as a special guest and shared the news with the group and our very surprised and extraordinarily worthy recipient. Moments later Julie's doorbell rang and she was presented with the award and a bouquet of flowers. Lauren remarked, “It is my honor and privilege to recognize Julie as the BellXcel 2020 Educator of the Year. Set against the backdrop of a global pandemic and the unprecedented challenges educators have faced, it is especially inspiring to witness Julie’s embodiment of everything that this award represents.” As summer 2021 draws closer and COVID-19 restrictions ease, a celebration in Julie's honor is planned for this summer to be shared with her colleagues and the scholars she cherishes. We look forward to sharing more of the celebration and fun!   About Find My Genius, Southeast Ventura County YMCA Find My Genius is a special, no-cost summer learning program launched by the Southeast Ventura County YMCA to help children catch up, stay on track or get ahead on their reading and math skills while providing summer camp fun! To qualify, children must be on free or reduced-priced lunch program and score below grade level at their school. For more information, visit www.sevymca.org.

Wabash is a small, tight-knit community, with a population of just over 10,000, located in the north central part of Indiana. While rich in local pride and natural beauty, it is a struggling community, with over 13-percent of its residents living below the poverty level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Prior to the Power Scholars Academy (PSA) programming in rural Wabash, Indiana, Stacey Fry, Director of Youth Development at Wabash County YMCA, recalls driving by homes over the summer and seeing children sitting idly on front steps, or playing outdoors alone. “That drive home from work felt sad,” she reminisces. "We saw a need for summer learning. Our local districts weren’t able to provide that, but the need still existed.” Now, every summer, many of those same children can be found immersed in local schools, gaining key academic and social-emotional skills. The summer learning program combines fun, dynamic literacy and math instruction with hands-on enrichment, making for a holistic experience that prepares scholars for school-year success. “They are learning in a classroom setting and it feels good,” said Fry. “When we all work together, the children benefit.” In 2015, in their quest to address the achievement gap in their local community, the Wabash County YMCA in partnership with the Y USA Achievement Gap programming connected with BellXcel. The program has earned measurable scholar and educator outcomes ever since. “That’s why we still have a partnership with the schools, because we provide a good return on investment. They are able to show their students are making strides in the summer,” Fry says. Professional Development Equips Educators Teacher empowerment via BellXcel’s professional development is at the core of the PSA program. Prior to the summer program, educators receive in-person and virtual training in program administration, curriculum & instruction, culture & climate, evaluation & assessment, family engagement, and scholar management. Professional development prepares partners to implement a high-quality summer program that meets the needs of their learning community. “One good benefit of being a BellXcel partner is the trust. If we have challenges, there is a whole team of people who are ready to help us,” says Fry. Academic teachers in Wabash are all local certified school teachers. This ensures that instruction is of the highest caliber, and aligned with school year success. “We are able through BellXcel to offer so much more professional development in a concentrated way, than what teachers receive over the school year.” One of Fry’s poignant stories that captures the program’s power involves a PSA academic instructor who has been a local educator for over 20 years. The educator expressed that she was drawn to PSA due to its intentional instruction, and small group environments. The PSA program in Wabash maintains a ratio of 1 academic teacher to 12 scholars. “She said to me, ‘I get to see these kids I saw before in a whole different light. I pour into them academically, but have the opportunity to see their creative side and that’s lost in the school-year classroom," Fry says. “She sees these glimpses and that touched me. She gets revitalized with the same kids she spends time with during the school year.” Strengthening Schools The PSA has also helped connect the local Y with local schools over the summer and combine resources to offer much more than the usual summer camp type activities such as sports and recreation. She also credits the Y’s strong relationship with the State of Indiana’s Department of Education and local school districts to address the achievement gap. “I have the privilege of deepening those relationships, and working closely with the school principals, to ensure they are seeing the outcomes and are connected to our mission,” she says. “Schools are working as hard as they can. They don’t have significant resources to move that needle. So, it’s nice to fill in that gap and take that off their plate so they can focus on what they do best.” Safe Environment to Thrive PSA is not only addressing the educational gap. Educators have also seen some secondary benefits, such as keeping children occupied, safe, and healthy. Often, Fry says, parents leave their children at home with older siblings, a less than ideal situation. Summer scholars receive free breakfast, snack and lunch and the program is provided at no cost to participating families. “For most of their summer, we are able to nourish them and enrich them in a safe environment,” Fry says. “We are in a childcare desert. If we can lower the stresses faced by parents, it positively impacts the scholars.”  

This past March, as schools and youth development organizations nationwide found themselves faced with reimagining how they serve their communities, our team did what we have done best throughout our history – innovated to meet the moment. With a 6-week timeline, our team took 30 years of science and know-how, lifted by the support of our community, and dug into our commitment for all children to excel. COVID-19 forced changes to virtually every aspect of life as we knew it, yet along with the unknowns and the very real crisis this pandemic represented, before us was an opportunity to disrupt our thinking and mobilize our resources into unchartered territory. We invite you to share in the story of BellXcel Remote. Download Story

Read the full case study! Summer can be a good time to boost teacher practices Opportunities for practicing student-centered skills and developmental feedback more critical than ever Ninety-nine percent of teachers engaged in some type of summer professional learning activities in 2019 and applied relevant strategies and tools to improve their school year practices. Yet, according to a first-ever national survey of teachers’ summer professional learning highlighted in a recent RAND Corporation study, opportunities for developmental feedback as part of summer professional learning were uncommon. On the heels of the COVID-19 crisis and extended school closures, access to high-quality professional learning experiences for teachers is more critical than ever. RAND surveyed K-12 teachers nationally through its American Teacher Panel (ATP) and studied BellXcel Summer (BXS), an evidence-based summer program model that provides academic instruction, rooted in social and emotional learning (SEL), to students and professional learning opportunities for teachers. The study explored the national context of professional learning, including teacher perceptions of their experiences, and investigated how BXS teacher experiences compare with those in other programs across the country. The research evidence is clear that summer is a prime opportunity for children to strengthen academic and social and emotional skills through high-quality, evidence-based programs. Study co-author, Elizabeth D. Steiner, a policy researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, commented, “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequities that affect students’ ability to learn and nearly all students have been affected by school closures. Our survey of teachers found those employed in summer programs that provide academic instruction could also improve in certain classroom practices during the school year – particularly strategies to support students’ SEL and positive behavior management.” BellXcel CEO Lauren Gilbert, Ed.D, a former educator and school administrator, remarked, “Summer programs are more critical than ever to mitigate learning loss, and this study clearly demonstrates that teachers need to be part of that catch-up initiative. Programs such as those powered by BXS offer teachers powerful, on-the-job professional development opportunities to freely explore and expand their student-centered instruction skills and practices - including positive behavior management and social and emotional learning, without the pressures and constraints of the school year.” Academic summer programs for students—run by school districts and community-based youth development organizations alike—can incorporate teacher professional learning into their own summer programs. The findings in this study can help school leaders and program administrators to make teacher professional learning an intentional piece of their programs and focus on strategies that teachers can use during the school year. Key Findings: Nationally, 99 percent of teachers participated in one or more professional learning activities over the summer and believed that they were relevant, helpful for improving instructional practice, and just as useful as other activities the teachers’ schools and districts provided. However, opportunities to receive developmental feedback (i.e., feedback for the purpose of developing instructional skills) about instruction in the summer were uncommon. Teaching in an academic-focused summer program may provide teachers nationally with opportunities—such as coaching and observations—to receive developmental feedback about instruction and to practice and improve in certain classroom practices. According to teachers, BellXcel Summer (BXS), an academic-focused summer program for students that provides professional learning opportunities to its teachers, had a positive and supportive environment that supported their professional learning. BXS teachers reported that the absence of school-year constraints such as testing and curriculum pacing requirements made the use of some student-centered classroom practices easier during the summer than during the school year. BXS teachers were more likely than teachers nationally to report that their summer professional learning experiences helped them improve their use of student-centered practices during the school year. Academic summer programs may provide unique professional learning opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their use of student-centered classroom practices—particularly positive behavior management and promoting social and emotional learning for students. BXS provided useful insights into the features of academic summer programs that may facilitate teachers’ professional learning, such as the absence of school-year constraints paired with positive and supportive teaching environments.