During the opening week of the smash hit movie, Wakanda Forever, Communities In Schools of the Nation’s Capital (CISNCAP) celebrated 55 elementary school students with tickets, snacks, and transportation to the movies.

Mr. Javon Johnson (left side), who is a CISNCAP Site Coordinator at Stanton Elementary School in Ward 8, identified, selected, and organized the field trip. The students who attended were chosen based on their making the Dean’s list and perfect attendance.

Too often we hear about students who are in trouble, but Mr. Johnson wanted to celebrate the students at Stanton Elementary School who are studying, making the grade, and showing up for school. Congratulations to these students. The future is bright!

The Greater Washington Community Foundation today announced $9.2 million in grants funded by the historic Health Equity Fund (HEF). Grants will support 32 DC nonprofit organizations  engaged in economic mobility to help close the glaring and intolerable racial health and wealth gap.

The $95 million Health Equity Fund has the potential to reshape the way DC addresses its long- standing health inequities. Given that 80 percent of DC’s health outcomes are driven by social, economic, and other factors, compared to just 20 percent by clinical care, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing these challenges in the first place.

“Mindful that health and wealth are inextricably linked, the HEF’s first round of grants is boldly investing in economic mobility and wealth building in DC’s historically underinvested communities,” said Greater Washington Community Foundation President and CEO Tonia Wellons. “Achieving this vision puts our city on a trajectory to improve and achieve optimal health outcomes for all DC residents.”

Continue reading “CISNCAP Awarded Health Equity Grant by Greater Washington Community Foundation”

From Site Coordinator Dakari Taylor-Watson at Brookland Middle School:

This school year has been anything but normal. Due to the pandemic, DCPS has had to rethink how schools communicate with families and support them. In addition, many families have rethought the idea of returning to an in-person learning environment and school because of the perceived risk of COVID-19. As a school, we understand the importance of students being at school physically because of the social, emotional, and psychological development that is cultivated. We had a lot of work to do to support families, make them feel more comfortable about returning, and enrolling students for the upcoming year.

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Elementary and middle school students in D.C. showed academic progress last school year despite remote learning — but growth rates were still far lower than before the pandemic, according to a study released Tuesday.

The analysis, which compared scores on math and reading assessments for students in spring 2021 with scores from spring 2019, found significant drops in performance among some of the city’s young learners. Black and Latino children and students from low-income families experienced the steepest drops, according to the research from EmpowerK12, a nonprofit that analyzes education data.

Continue reading “DCist: A New Report Shows How Drastically The Pandemic Affected Learning In D.C.”

Communities In Schools of the Nation’s Capital recently expanded to Burrville Elementary School in Ward 7! Site coordinator Asyja Smith will work with the students, families, and staff of Burrville to ensure students have everything they need to succeed inside and outside of school.

Continue reading “Meet a Site Coordinator: Burrville Elementary School”