Community Resources

The initiative of one elementary school in Oxon Hill, Md., to address the needs of students during the out-of-school hours has improved student performance and increased parent involvement.

Two years ago, Barnaby Manor Elementary School created three homework centers in a set of apartments at the Southview Apartment complex in a neighborhood where children often go home alone and don't have community resources, such as a public library, nearby. The school is in suburban Washington's Prince George's County, Md., one of the 20 largest school districts in the nation.

The Almost Home Project, which now serves about 50 children from the complex, was recognized recently with a $25,000 grant from the county department of family services' division for...