Six Promise Neighborhoods Planning Grants Involve Charter Schools

Six of the 21 Promise Neighborhoods planning grant projects announced Sept. 21, 2010, by the U.S. Department of Education involve charter schools.

The one-year planning grants of up to $500,000 will go to nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education to create plans for “cradle-to-career services that improve the educational achievement and healthy development of children,” according to the department’s announcement of the grants. The 21 awards total about $10 million.

According to a Charter School Center review of the project descriptions, those mentioning involvement of charter schools include:

Cesar Chavez Public Policy Charter High School of Washington, D.C., $500,000: The Cesar Chavez Public Policy Charter High School project, titled DC Promise Neighborhoods Initiative (DCPNI), involves two Chavez schools, Chavez Parkside Middle School and High School, and two traditional D.C. public schools, Neval Thomas Elementary and Kenilworth Elementary, according to the project description. Kenilworth is described as a “persistently lowest achieving” school. The other three schools are described as low-performing, but with significant gains in test scores. The project description states that DCPNI has exceeded the $250,000 match requirement with an “extraordinary outpouring of cash ($346,075) and in-kind ($873,848) resources” from city residents, funders, and partner organizations.

Community Day Care Center of Lawrence Inc. of Lawrence, Mass., $500,000: The Community Day Care Center of Lawrence Inc., operating as The Community Group, is working on a project titled Arlington Community of Excellence. It involves three traditional public schools, Arlington Elementary School, described as persistently low-performing, and Arlington Middle School and Henry K. Oliver School, also low-performing. The Community Group notes in its project description its founding and managing of the Community Day Charter Public School, a K-8 school that has “closed the achievement gap" for children who are low-income English Language Learners. “We transition and support these students through high school and college,” the project description states.

Neighborhood Centers Inc., of Houston, $500,000: The Neighborhood Centers Inc.’s project, titled Gulfton Promise Neighborhood, has a central element of working to improve a “persistently lowest-achieving school," Lee High School, and supporting two effective charter schools, Baker-Ripley Charter School, founded by Neighborhood Centers in 2002, and YES Prep Gulfton, which started in 1997. Baker-Ripley is projected to serve 264 students in K-5 by 2013 and YES Prep Gulfton, which now enrolls 400 middle school students, is projected to eventually serve 800 students in grades 6-12, according to the project description.

Universal Community Homes of Philadelphia, $500,000: The Universal Community Homes project, titled Universal Promise Neighborhood Initiative, involves a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. “The district has agreed to commit the necessary time and resources into this effort, to include leveraging [its] current facility plan for all schools, which will involve making fundamental policy decisions about the outcomes of all schools, including those that will be consolidated or closed,” the project description states. “This process, in addition to other transformative initiatives, will be brought to bear in working with Universal.” Ten schools are involved, including the Universal Institute K-9 Charter School. Universal currently manages five K-9 schools, three as charters and two as contract schools, the project description states.

Westminster Foundation of Buffalo, N.Y., $500,000: The Westminster Foundation project, titled Buffalo Promise, includes support for the Westminster Community Charter K-8 School, which is one of the partners in the work, along with the Buffalo Public School District, according to the project description. The charter school is described as being among the highest performing schools in the city and has been developed with the support of a major Buffalo-based bank. Part of the plan involves work to improve two district schools: Highgate Heights PK-8, described as low-performing, and Bennett High School, described as persistently lowest-achieving.

Youth Policy Institute of Los Angeles, $500,000: The Youth Policy Institute (YPI) project, titled Los Angeles Promise Neighborhood, will draw on YPI's school experience to “scale up and replicate” its successful efforts in high-need communities. At least 18 schools are targeted, according to the project description, including San Fernando High School, which is described as persistently low-achieving. “In order to offer school choice to families in the Promise Neighborhood, YPI operates Bert Corona Charter School and the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media and partners closely with Pacoima Charter School and Vaughn Next Century Learning Center,” the project description states. Partners in the program include the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Further details of the projects are available here.

“To address the challenges faced by students living in communities of concentrated poverty, Promise Neighborhoods grantees and their partner organizations will plan to provide services from early learning to college and career, including programs to improve the health, safety, and stability of neighborhoods, and boost family engagement in student learning,” the department’s announcement said.

More than 300 communities from 48 states and the District of Columbia submitted applications for planning grants, according to the announcement. Winning applications reflect deep partnerships among community-based organizations.

The Promise Neighborhoods program is closely linked to the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which “seeks to align federal housing, education, justice, and health programs with the overarching goal of transforming neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into neighborhoods of opportunity,” according to the announcement.