Kids file into the auditorium of PS 8, free from classes for the day. They laugh and tease one another playfully before their afternoon snack, as Christopher Villafane registers them in his laptop.

“Hey Chris,” says each student as Villafane manages to answer them all by name.

“You’re in the fifth grade, right?” he asks one boy, putting his information in the computer system and taking the child’s picture.

“It amazes me that I can remember all their names, but I do,” Villafane says, smiling. “I love helping out these kids and working with them. A lot of kids don’t have mentors, but they know they can always come and talk to me about anything, even besides homework.”

Each day after school, children from PS 8 and surrounding neighborhood schools attend the Beacon Program, a free citywide community-based initiative to serve children after class ends. The program can be found at 80 different locations throughout New York City. The one at PS 8 (previously held at MS 80 across Mosholu Parkway until last year) is administered by the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center.

At PS 8, after-school tutoring is offered from 3 to 6:30 p.m. and is available to any student. Starting at 6:30 p.m., classes are offered in different activities for all ages such as violin lessons, karate and open gym basketball games. All classes and programs are free. Anyone can sign up for the classes, even adults who can register for computer, ESL and drama classes, among other things. Villafane says those enrolled in the program range from ages 7 to 50.

In order for the program to be free, enrollment numbers must be met, which isn’t a problem in an area starved for free after-school activities.

“A lot of kids don’t have outlets,” Villafane says. “They can learn extra trades, and this provides childcare for parents. Some of them don’t have the money for anything like that.”

Beacon Program Director, Bernie Hernandez, said he feels the program is a safe haven for the almost 800 kids enrolled.

“We are keeping them off the streets,” Hernandez says. “The feedback has been really good and the parents are welcome to join the programs at night. It’s free and it provides the parents with relief.”

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, as Hernandez walks into the crowded auditorium, he exchanges high-fives with kids and asks how their days were.

“Everyone looks up to Bernie,” says Omari Toomer, assistant director for the program. “This helps their parents so they can go to work and not worry about their kids. Sixty to 70 percent of these kids wouldn’t have the opportunity to be involved in anything like this.”

College student Katherine Parra has been tutoring in the program’s “Homework Hall” for several months, helping students with math. Parra says her youth and student status helps her do this vital work successfully.

“We are fresh in this [work] every day because of our own studies,” Parra says. “They can relate to us because we’re young, too. Without us, who would help them?”

Stephanie Berrios, a sixth grader from St. Philip Neri, says the program is improving her grades in school and has allowed her to meet new friends.

“This helps me with my homework, so now I don’t have to wait for my mom,” Berrios says. “I get good grades and my parents are glad, and now when I finish my homework I can help other students.”