DINING THE ARTS HOMES & GARDENS KIDS & FAMILY COMMENTARY CAPITOL HILL COMMUNITY

DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) Executive Director Ayris Scalesposes with America's Promise Alliance Chair Alma Powell and communityresident Sherrie Jones during February 7 tour of the Kenilworth-Parksidearea. Photo: DCPNI

DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative Unites the Kenilworth-Parkside Area

BY CHARNICE A. MILTON

When asked why she joined the DC PromiseNeighborhood Initiative (DCPNI), Executive DirectorAyris Scales lists several reasons. “First andforemost, I'm a Ward 7 resident,” she begins. “AndI'm a parent of a child who attends public school.”Scales experienced the impact of education on herfamily members' lives in Ohio's public schools. Aspecialist in project management and programdevelopment, Scales has the chance to marryeducation and community development with herposition. She concisely states DCPNI's message:“You can't have great schools without greatcommunities, and you can't have great communitieswithout great schools.”

History and Inspiration

Conceived in 2008, DCPNI is the brainchild ofIrasema Salcido, CEO and founder of Cesar Chavez

Public Charter Schools. When she recognized that students coming to the Parkside campuses were academicallyunprepared, Salcido took inspiration from the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) Project. According to its website HCZ aimsto “create a 'tipping point' in the neighborhood so that children are surrounded by an enriching environment of college-oriented peers and supportive adults, a counterweight to 'the street' and a toxic popular culture that glorifies misogynyand anti-social behavior.” By 2009 Salcido had created a steering committee and in 2010 won a planning grant from theUS Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods program, which was also inspired by HCZ. After DCPNIseparated from Cesar Chavez it became its own nonprofit organization and hired Scales as its first executive director.

The Target Footprint

DCPNI's programming is concentrated in the Kenilworth-Parkside area, home to eight separate communities, includingParkside, Paradise, Mayfair, KPRMC, Kenilworth Courts, Eastland Gardens, Victory Square and Lotus Square. Despitehaving green space like the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, the area is cut off from the rest of the city by the AnacostiaFreeway and a closed Pepco plant. It is also one of the poorest areas. According to the Urban Institute's 2010-11 needsassessment for DCPNI, approximately half of Kenilworth-Parkside resident live below the federal poverty level. That isalmost three times as much as the citywide average (18 percent).

DCPNI targets four schools: Kenilworth Elementary, Neval Thomas Elementary, and Cesar Chavez Parkside Middle andHigh Schools. During the 2009-10 school year roughly two-thirds of students at Kenilworth and Neval Thomas lackedproficiency in math or reading; however, Kenilworth met its annual yearly progress (or AYP) for 2010. At the Chavezschools more than half of students were not proficient in reading and approximately half in math. Only 59 percent ofstudents graduated from Chavez High that year.

Five Promises to Two Generations

To achieve its goal of nurturing children “from cradle to college” DCPNI developed and recently approved a two-generation strategy that targets parents as well as their children. The five promises at the core of the strategy focus onchildren having caring adults in their lives, safe places to live and learn in, a healthy start and healthy future, an

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education that equips them with marketable skills, and an opportunity to give back to their community. DCPNI’s programhelps parents provide stable homes and pay closer attention to their children's education. A 2009 study shows that whena parent advances their own education it influences their children's higher educational aspirations.

“I want our children to have great schools in their communities and I want our parents to be part of that process and tounderstand why they should be part of that process and the impact that they have on their children's lives,” says Scales.

DCPNI in Action

When Mayfair resident Tracey Woodridge connected with DCPNI it was through a meeting at Chavez Parkside MiddleSchool. “They were looking for insight into early childcare,” she explains. Woodridge is the owner and proprietor of SmileChild Care, LLC, which currently serves five children. As for her own son, she sends him to a charter school outside ofWard 7. “I would love to send my son to a school in the area, but I felt he needs more structure,” she says. “Some of myformer students went to those schools and I don't think they were challenged enough.”

Thanks to DCPNI Woodridge and Smile Child Care became part of the Early Learning Network (ELN), which helpsconnect families with quality early childcare services. In turn she started networking with partners such as Fight forChildren and DC Public School's Early Stages. Woodridge credits Sadie Ellner, who serves as the ELN coordinator, fornot only helping her open day camps during winter and spring breaks, but also giving her a chance to serve childrenoutside her own neighborhood. “We're all separated by neighborhood names and apartments,” Woodridge says of theKenilworth-Parkside area, “but what DCPNI does is bring us together as one community.”

Growth

On December 22, 2012, DCPNI received a five-year, $25 million grant from the US Department of Education. During theofficial press conference US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulated the organization for “not only uniting theKenilworth-Parkside community around a common vision, but for doing so with a rigorous, research-based approach tobettering the lives of all young people in the community.” Scales calls the grant a “huge investment” for the organizationand a “moral boost for the community to understand that this organization ... has actually been stamped and approvedessentially by the Obama Administration.” Even with the funding, Scales needed to work on internal organizationalissues like hiring staff and setting up an operations plan. Today DCPNI has ten staff members operating from the thirdfloor of Kenilworth Elementary, in the center of their target footprint.

Future Plans

Going into the 2013-14 school year DCPNI will be losing one of its footprint schools when Kenilworth Elementary closes.“It's unfortunate that the school is closing,” says Scales. “We have been working with Kenilworth ... probably for morethan three years.” She adds that they included Kenilworth in their grant proposal in hope of continuing that partnership.However, DCPNI was instrumental in convincing DCPS to include Neval-Thomas Elementary as an option in its revisedconsolidation plan.

Kenilworth's closing will not change DCPNI's approach. With approximately 70 percent of children going to schoolsoutside the Kenilworth-Parkside area, the organization will continue focusing on out-of-school activities and resourcesand parental involvement.

The grant will enable DCPNI to start administrating direct services through a new flagship program, the Mother's Cohort.Targeting mothers with children younger than eight years old, the program will provide wrap-around services andindividualized life plans. Mothers learn not only how to support their children's educational pursuits, but also ways toincrease their own chances of education and professional success. Over five years Scales anticipates directly helping310 mothers.

How to Support the Initiative

DCPNI seeks organizations to join the initiative as partners for the 2013-14 school year; the application enrollmentprocess ends on April 19. However, most of the support depends on community members. Woodridge suggests going tocommunity events and meetings, calling DCPNI with questions, even demanding more programming and resources.“DCPNI is a good program. I appreciate what they have been doing for the community and for my childcare,” she says.

DCPNI is located at 1300 44th St. NE, Room 311, Washington DC 20019. To learn more visit dcpni.org.

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