July 1st marked the second anniversary of Education Forward DC! It has been an exciting, inspiring, and challenging ride as we work to foster a city of high-quality, equitable public schools for every DC student and family.
Here are some of the highlights of our first two years:
- We have supported forty-three organizations and leaders with $17 million in grants working toward our five-year goal to double the number of underserved students in DC who are college- and career-ready.
- Our first schools will open this fall! After years of planning and preparation, our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence – Shawn Hardnett and Mashea Ashton – will open their two schools in Ward 7 in a few days. Shawn and his founding team are opening Statesman College Preparatory Academy for Boys and Mashea and her team will open the doors of Digital Pioneers Academy. Additionally, EW Stokes will open its East End campus, offering Spanish and French immersion, also in Ward 7. In total, we have supported eleven schools to open in the coming years.
- We funded teacher and leader training organizations to launch in DC or expand their local capacity, including grantees . Thanks to the work of our Human Capital grantees, there are now 232 more promising new teachers and twenty-two new strong leaders in DC schools.
- We supported an advocacy coalition that successfully secured a large increase in city per-pupil and facilities funding, and the hundreds of parent members of our grantee Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE) showed up in force to secure a near-doubling of the budget for Out-of-School Time programming.
- We supported the Office of the State Superintendent of Education in its engagement with 1,900 families and community members to develop the new State Report Card, a high-quality tool that families will be able to use beginning in December 2018 to make apples-to-apples comparisons across all District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and public charter schools in the city.
- We have convened city, school, nonprofit and community leaders around coordinated initiatives to move the entire city forward on trauma-informed practices, special education support, and best practice learnings from other cities.
- Our committed and passionate team grew to fourteen members from a founding team of nine. We’ll welcome two more team members in the next two months.
- Our stellar Board has set up best practice governing structures and leads us with a steady, well-informed and supportive hand.
- Philanthropic partners have committed almost $32 million in support of our work and provide invaluable thought partnership through our Investment Committee and regular convenings and check ins. We’re forty-six percent of the way towards our goal of putting $70 million to work for DC students and families.
We look forward to a new school year full of promise and possibility for making sure every student in DC attends a great school.
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