Boston’s South Station, New Orleans’ Superdome, New York’s Niagara Falls among landmarks that will be lit in yellow and blue for Lights On Afterschool this week

This month, as more than a million people across the country rally for Lights On Afterschool, cities and towns will light landmarks in yellow and blue to show support for afterschool programs. Now in its 26th year, Lights On Afterschool is the only national rally for afterschool programs, which keep kids safe, inspire them to learn, and give working parents peace of mind that their kids are safe, supervised and learning when the school day ends. It is organized by the Afterschool Alliance to shine a light on the importance of afterschool programs and the need for greater investments so every student has access.

Superstar USHER is honorary chair of Lights On Afterschool again this year.

Some 8,000 Lights On Afterschool events are being held this month across the country, at schools, parks, community centers, museums, 4-Hs, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, and other venues. Landmarks will shine for afterschool on or around this Thursday, October 23, the official Lights On Afterschool day.

Among them:

• In Alabama, the Retirement Systems Building in Montgomery.
• In Delaware, the State Capitol in Dover.
• In the District of Columbia, the Frederick Douglass Bridge.
• In Indiana, Monument Circle and its surrounding buildings in Indianapolis.
• In Louisiana, Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
• In Massachusetts, Clear Channel Outdoor will light up Boston’s South Station.
• In Michigan, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Flint.
• In New York, Niagara Falls in Buffalo.
• In Tennessee, the Parthenon, Metro Davidson Courthouse, and the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, the Mighty Lights along the Hernando de Soto and Big River Crossing bridges in Memphis, and the Henley Bridge in Knoxville.
• In Virginia, the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria.

Clear Channel Outdoor is supporting Lights On Afterschool by donating some of its most prominent space to display afterschool messages on digital billboards, bus shelters, and poster spaces in 25 markets around the country throughout the month of October. On October 23, Clear Channel will feature afterschool messages on two jumbo billboards in New York City’s Times Square.

According to a 2025 study, the parents of 29.6 million children, more than half the school-age kids in the United States, want afterschool programs for their children – but less than 7 million are currently enrolled. Another 22.6 million children would attend an afterschool program if it were available. That means three in four kids whose parents want afterschool programs for them (77%), including many in middle- as well as low-income families, are being left behind. Cost and accessibility are the barriers many families cannot overcome. It’s no wonder that 89% of parents favor public funding for these programs. 95% of parents with children in afterschool programs are satisfied with the program their child attends.