Mayor’s Office for Education and Children

The Lights on After School (LOAS) Initiative, is a partnership between the Mayor’s Office for Education and Children, Denver Public Schools Foundation, and Mile High United Way, working closely with the Denver Public Schools Department of Extended Learning and Community Schools to leverage resources to support quality after school programs within Denver Public Schools.   

LOAS was designed to fill gaps in after school programming, meeting unmet student need by enhancing after school opportunities where services are scarce.  Over the past seven years, many schools, working with community-based partners, have used LOAS funds to build their programs into a well-designed after school environment for their students.     

Programs blend:

• athletics
• arts
• academics
• tutoring
• leadership development
• technology

LOAS funds programs through several channels, including:

•  a competitive grant process in the spring, open to DPS elementary and middle schools with 70% or higher free/reduced lunch rates.
• dedicated donations/grants for specific sites, neighborhood centers or programs, such as Denver CAMP  
• capacity building dollars for evaluation and training to improve quality programming