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By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

For working parents, the hours between the end of the school day and the end of their working day provide frequent stress. After-school sports, tutoring, dance classes and the like are often expensive. So is babysitting. Children’s Aid, a nonprofit group, offers a solution through free, high-quality after-school programs for low-income New Yorkers.

The Frederick Douglass Community Center on the Upper West Side is one of the 25 after-school educational programs run by Children’s Aid. The center serves low-income elementary and middle school students, about half of whom live in a neighboring public housing complex.

During a typical day, third graders arrive at the center by 3 p.m. and receive a half-hour of homework help in classes of about 15 students. After that, they have two structured activities, each lasting an........

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