New York, NY– October 13, 2020 – KIPP Public Schools is the first K-12 public charter school network to create and launch a National Alumni Network focused on supporting career advancement, entrepreneurship, networking, and mental health services for more than 30,000 alumni, increasing to 80,000 alumni by 2025.  This suite of programs has been created by and for KIPP’s alumni community, to connect alumni to each other and to opportunities beyond KIPP. This initiative is among the first of its kind for K-12 public schools in the US.

Last month, Marymount University officially established a new partnership with District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to support DCPS Persists, an innovative program that will provide students in the Class of 2020 and beyond a guaranteed support network as they embark on the next chapter of their educational journey.

Through DCPS Persists, eligible students who plan to go to college will be provided with a network of support that ensures they have the guidance and resources they need to succeed and earn a degree that paves the path to a fulfilling career. DCPS graduates are connected with DCPS Persists coaches who help them navigate the transition to college and assist them with academic, financial and other resources available on their college campus. They will also check in with students regularly throughout their college experience.

The student comes in for a pregnancy test — the second time she’s asked for one in matter of weeks. She’s 15. She lives with her boyfriend. He wants kids — he won’t use protection. She loves him, she says. But she doesn’t want to get pregnant. She knows how much harder it would be for her to finish high school.

13-year old Bryson Townsend enjoys karate but is passionate about wrestling. “I’ve wanted to become a WWE wrestler because I love it so much,” he said. When classes resume on August 31, he’ll start the eighth grade and join more than 350 other middle school students for online learning at Digital Pioneers Academy in Southeast.

WASHINGTON (September 8, 2020) – Community of Hope (COH) is partnering with MedStar Health in its D.C. Safe Babies Safe Moms initiative, creating a holistic and integrated care model. Over the next five years, the organizations will work together to address the high maternal and infant mortality rates experienced by families in Washington, DC.

The urgent phone calls, text messages and emails flooded Art Mola’s phone.

Students were quarantined at home, their entire families sick with COVID-19. Each week, from April through June, two or three new students reported they or a parent were infected. The mother of two students died.

“I can’t even begin to describe what it’s like to be at the receiving end of that call,” said Mola, who is the principal at Cardozo Education Campus in Northwest Washington.

As an organization, BFC has been on the front lines in the fight to end poverty in the District of Columbia for more than 45 years. This is their most substantial investment to date in the people and communities east of the Anacostia River, where 92% of the population is Black (compared to 46% of the population of the District).

A partnership between Education Forward DC, the DC Public Education Fund, and Greater Washington Community Foundation launched the DC Education Equity Fund in March to ensure that students had the resources to continue to learn from home and to support Mayor Bowser in her efforts to ensure equity and excellence for all students, even — and especially — during this pandemic.

A funders collaborative in Washington, D.C. came together in response to COVID-19 to create a new $1 million fund to provide four months of sustained support for 115 licensed home-based child care programs and small child care centers. Support will include cash assistance, technical assistance, personal protective equipment (PPE), and health and safety supplies. The funds will be distributed through an intermediary community-based organization with established relationships in the child care community. On July 29, 2020, I interviewed Marica Cox Mitchell who is the Director of Early Learning for the Bainum Family Foundation and was deeply involved in conceiving the reopening fund. I edited the interview for length and clarity.

College is exciting, and you’re ready to take the next step. But you might also feel nervous — you know there are challenges ahead and you want to make yourself and your family proud. Whatever your career goal, you know having a college degree will help you get there.