Hours Extended for MPS Youth Twilight Centers This Summer

Youth at Twilight Centers. Photo by MKE Rec.

Hours will be extended this summer for youth Twilight Centers at local Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) buildings, which provide young people a safe place to hang out and play at night during the summer.

Beginning June 22, the Twilight Centers will stay open an extra two hours, until 10:30 p.m., according to MKE Rec, the MPS department responsible for the district’s recreational programs and facilities.

The expanded hours are part of a broader partnership between MPS, the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County’s Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Wisconsin. The institutions are working, along with philanthropic support, to invest $1.5 million in safe, youth-centered spaces throughout the summer. The city and the county each have committed $500,000 to fund the program, which is being called “Safe Summer Sites.”

The goal is to provide youth and young people safe places for recreation and to access programming and mentorship during the summer, a time when young people have more time on their hands.

“Nearly one out of three residents in the city of Milwaukee is somebody under the age of 20 years old. What that means is that we’ve got one of the youngest cities in the United States,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said during a press conference at James Madison High School on Tuesday.

When young people don’t have safe places to go, they are more vulnerable to violence, County Executive David Crowley said. “Every young person deserves a safe place to spend their summer,” he added.

For children, particularly teenagers, summers are a time of greater independence, which can also mean new worries for parents, said Milwaukee School Board Director Missy Zombor.

“This work is another way that we can come together as a community to provide the support our young people need to stay busy, especially during the summer months, because we know that the evening hours can either be a time of opportunity or a time of risk,” Zombor said.

MKE Rec operates eight Twilight Centers across the city at Keefe Avenue School (1618 W. Keefe Ave.), Bay View High School (2751 S. Lenox St.), James Madison High School (8135 W. Florist Ave.), North Division High School (1011 W. Center St.), Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education (5075 N. Sherman Blvd.), Pulaski High School (2500 W. Oklahoma Ave.), South Division High School (1515 W. Lapham Blvd.), and Washington High School (2525 N. Sherman Blvd.).

“I think this year we’re really geared toward serving our kids in a way that we haven’t done before, giving them expanded hours, making sure they have safe pathways in the summer to get home,” said Brian Litzsey, MPS chief family, community and partnership officer, during a press conference June 9 at Clarke Street School.

Twilight Centers effectively turn MPS schools into community recreation centers. Teens and pre-teens can use the athletic facilities to play basketball and they can play games like ping-pong and pool. They can participate in arts programming, including digital music production. South Division and Obama offer a laundry program. The pools at Bay View, Madison, North Division, South Division and Washington are open for night swimming. All the centers are open Monday through Friday beginning at 5:30 p.m., with the exception of Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, which is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“We have the resources,” Litzsey noted, “and we want our kids to take advantage of them this summer, so there’s something for everybody.”

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