Our History

We started with a simple idea: helping kids feel safe and secure was important.

In 1992, several parishioners at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights saw a need and met it. They opened their doors to students from Roxboro Middle School who needed a place to go after the school day ended. Thirty years later, we are forever grateful to the staff at St. Paul’s for opening their doors. We have them and their leadership to thank for the origin of Open Doors Academy.

Then we started offering more and more to more and more kids.

Three decades on, those doors are still open, as are many others across Northeast and Northwest Ohio. Since 1992, Open Doors Academy has grown from serving a handful of middle school scholars at the church to now serving over 1,300 scholars in grades K-12 at 29 locations across Northern Ohio. We continue to grow to serve more families each year.

Not just after-school programming. Out-of-school programming.

Our scholars participate in a variety of out-of-school time programming, including afterschool programming, summer programming, family engagement, and scholar travel opportunities.

Through these four core program offerings, we engage scholars through project-based learning experiences – such as core enrichment programs, academic tutoring, afterschool learning centers, full-day summer camps, service-learning trips, field trips, and college trips – all of which are built around the developmental needs of the children we serve.

We partner with community organizations and specialist providers to ensure that our scholars are exposed to diverse core content in literacy, arts, culture, STEM, leadership development, health, wellness, and college and career readiness.