(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education announced that six community school grantees are the shared recipients of a $1 million grant to assist them in providing integrated academic, physical and mental health, and social services to District students and families. Composed of schools and community organizations, the six grantees were selected by the Community Schools Advisory Committee from a pool of 17 applicants, and will use the fund to deliver services in school year 2013-14.

“These grants reward innovative ideas to ensure our students get supports that will help them gain access to the best education possible,” Mayor Gray said. “I’m proud that we have the ability to encourage these kinds of creative approaches to ensuring our children’s well-being.”

The $1 million in grants is offered through the District of Columbia Community Schools Incentive Act of 2012. The Act was created as a component of the Raising the Expectations for Education Outcomes Omnibus Act of 2012 and requires the establishment of at least five community schools across the city. Each community-school consortium will receive $166,667 to provide a wide range of services.

“The community schools model offers holistic solutions that are aimed at addressing the immediate and long-term needs of our students,” said Interim State Superintendent of Education Emily Durso. “The city continues to prove its commitment to improving education outcomes, and the community schools initiative does that and more. It harnesses academic enrichment, student support services and community engagement to meet the multiple needs of children and families.”

The six consortia given grants under the program for 2013-2014 are:

• DC Scholars Stanton Elementary Community School Consortium (Ward 8) — Stanton Elementary School, City Year, People Animals Love, and the Flamboyan Foundation;
• Edgewood/Brookland Family Support Collaborative (Ward 5 and 6) — Jefferson Academy, Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, DC Children’s Trust Fund, Family Preservation Services and DreamsWork, Inc.;
• The Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) Consortium (Ward 1) – Next Step Public Charter School, Youth Build Public Charter School, LAYC Career Academy Public Charter school and Mary’s Center;
•  Mount Pleasant Community School Consortium (Ward 1) — Briya Public Charter School, Bancroft Elementary School, Mary’s Center, and the Flamboyan Foundation;
• Partnership Achieve (Ward 4) — Mary’s Center, E.L. Haynes Middle School and E.L. Haynes High School;
• And the Roosevelt Community School Consortium (Ward 4) — Roosevelt High School, Georgia Avenue Family Support Collaborative, Concerned Parents of Petworth, Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators (SHAPPE), LAYC, New Heights Teen Parenting Program, DC CAP, BUILD, and Mary’s Center

Community school consortia will offer services tailored to the varying needs of the communities they will serve. They include: primary medical, dental and mental health care; academic enrichment; parental-engagement activities; adult education and literacy services; financial and computer literacy courses; health and fitness activities; truancy and dropout prevention; absenteeism reduction; and early-childhood education. Each grantee, in addition to their service-delivery strategy, is required to develop a plan for its own Community Advisory Board composed of key community and school stakeholders.

“This initiative will help us learn how to efficiently coordinate community services to have a positive impact on students and families in critical-need areas,” added Kevin Clinton, chairman of the Community Schools Advisory Committee. “The integrated approach that community schools offer is recognized for improving student academic outcomes, building stronger communities, and improving health outcomes.”

The Advisory Committee, also created as a result of the Community Schools Incentive Act of 2012, has representation from schools and community organizations including the Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, the Deputy Mayor for Education, the President of the University of the District of Columbia, and multiple city agencies. The full list of Advisory Committee members can be found here<http://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-gray-swears-community-schools-advisory-committee>. The role of the Community Schools Advisory Committee was to assist with the awarding of the Community Schools Incentive Initiative funds, and to advise the Mayor on expanding the community schools model throughout the District.