The fall of 2011 has brought many changes to the staff and program outlook of CCC!  In the coming weeks, we will make a series of important announcements about the expansion of our award winning OnTrack! program into exciting new territory.  Stay tuned for this exciting news.

NIDA: COLLEGE AND CAREERS COME TO ANACAOSTIA CHARTER AND PUBLIC-SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP REIGNITES LEARNING AND HOPE

By Tom Nida -The Washington Times

Recently, I returned to my alma mater, Anacostia High School in Southeast Washington. As a graduate of the class of 1966, who had not stepped inside the building since, I was invited back by the principal, Ian Roberts, who gave me a personal tour of the facility. As the former chairman of D.C.’s Public Charter School Board, which regulates the city’s public charter schools, I knew about Anacostia’s educational woes. I was familiar with the difficulties in getting the vast majority of Anacostia’s students to grade level in reading and math, or even to guarantee their safety on campus. Mere survival was a sign of success.

But things are changing. Old assumptions that have defined Anacostia’s reputation throughout the city no longer apply.

Located at the heart of a community blighted by poverty and violence, the school faces many challenges. About 95 percent of Anacostia’s students are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches owing to their families’ low income. One in five girls are teen moms. Nearly one in 10 students are homeless. And almost one-third of students are classified as having special education needs…

(read more Tuesday, October 25, 2011) http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/25/college-and-careers-come-to-anacostia/

JULY 2011

DC STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OPENS STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE APPLICATION PROCESS

The District of Columbia State Board of Education is looking for two students to serve as representatives for the upcoming school year 2011-2012. All applicants must be currently enrolled as a junior or senior in a District of Columbia High School or a freshman, sophomore or junior in a local college or university. The student representative term begins in September 2011 and ends in July 2012. All applicants wishing to serve as a Student Representative must submit an application via email to sboe@dc.gov or by mail to: 441 4th Street, NW, Suite 723 North, Washington, DC 20001. Applications may be downloaded on the DC State Board of Education Website at www.sboe.dc.gov. For further information, contact the DC State Board of Education Office at 202-741-0888.

This new site will help students and parents find out:

• What colleges have the highest and lowest tuitions, and net prices?
• How much to career and vocational programs cost?
• How fast are college costs going up?

Check it out online here: http://collegecost.ed.gov/catc/Default.aspx

During his term as president, Bill Clinton condemned what he called the “racial digital divide” and pledged to connect each classroom to the Internet by 2000. New studies now show that black and Latino youth have found their own way online through cellphones. To learn about this trend, guest host Tony Cox speaks with Craig Watkins, a sociologist who studies minorities’ digital experiences in America.

Read more here.

Posted on June 27, 2011

KIPP, UNCF, CFED Launch $7.5 Million Partnership for College Completion

The Knowledge is Power Program, the United Negro College Fund, and the Corporation for Enterprise Development have announced a new partnership that that aims to boost college completion rates among students from low-income communities.

Anchored by $7.5 million in initial funding from Citi and the Citi Foundation, the Partnership for College Completion (PCC) seeks to provide students with incentivized savings accounts, financial and college-readiness education, and scholarship assistance through pilot programs at KIPP charter schools in Chicago, Houston, New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, and Washington, D.C. The partnership aims to serve more than six thousand students at twenty-eight KIPP schools by the end of 2012. According to UNCF, only 8 percent of U.S. students in low-income communities complete college by their mid-20s.

Underpinning PCC’s educational efforts will be a special savings program created by Citi Microfinance and Citibank that will provide program participants with $100 in savings account seed money and matching contributions of up to $250 per academic year. According to the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, students with savings accounts in their name — regardless of the amount saved — are seven times more likely to attend and remain in college compared to their peers without savings.

“Our goal is to dramatically increase the number of first-generation students — and those from low-to moderate-income families — who obtain a college degree, while also bringing their families into the financial mainstream,” said Citi Foundation president and CEO Pam Flaherty. “This groundbreaking partnership is not only an investment in talented students, but an investment in our country’s ability to remain economically competitive and vibrant.”

“KIPP, UNCF and CFED Launch Partnership for College Completion.” Corporation for Enterprise Development Press Release 6/22/11.

Primary Subject: Education
Secondary Subject(s): Higher Education
Location(s): California, Chicago, Houston, Illinois, National, New York, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, Washington, D.C.

From Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama urged high school students on Wednesday to think about their career goals and the job market before deciding what type of education to pursue.

Obama was speaking at Ballou High School in southeast Washington as part of a Women’s History Month mentoring program. Responding to a question from a student about what she would tell a teen mom who wants to go to college, the first lady said she would tell the teenager “good for you.” But she also told students they needed to have a plan and think about what kind of job training they need for the career they want.

“College is no joke because it is so expensive,” Obama said during a question-and-answer session with about 30 students.

The president’s wife said that she took out loans to go to a private college, Princeton University, but she knew there was “probably a job waiting” when she finished.

Obama said students these days need to worry more about the job market but also need to be prepared to take advantage of opportunities by not messing around in school.

She said her 12-year-old daughter is already thinking about what classes she needs to take and how to get into the best schools.

“Get it together now,” she urged students.

Later Wednesday the first lady hosted a dinner at the White House as part of the mentoring program where high school girls got to dine with guest mentors – celebrities and successful women including actresses Geena Davis and Hilary Swank, astronaut Ellen Ochoa and Grammy-nominated songwriter Ledisi.

The first lady urged the kids to understand that all the women present achieved their success through hard work and help from others. “None of us here were handed anything,” the first lady said. “All of these women here earned every single honor they have.”

The jobless rate in the poorest part of the District of Columbia is higher than in any U.S. metropolitan area with a labor-force of comparable size, according to figures released by the city government.

CCC’s mission is to effect a radical transformation in the aspirations and capacity of youth from Washington DC’s low-income communities to graduate from high school and pursue higher education.  CCC achieves its mission by offering early exposure to college and careers to eighth and ninth grade students in DC’s Wards 7&8 – ultimately, this will help turn around these staggering unemployment rates.

A student’s ability to set and achieve realistic goals is linked to higher grades, lower college-dropout rates and greater well-being in adulthood.

The Wall Street Journal writes about the importance of students and goal-setting, “Making Kids Work on Goals (And Not Just In Soccer)“.  CCC’s OnTrack! program’s final unit is dedicated to helping students develop Skills, both hard skills and soft that will help them succeed in high school and beyond.

CCC was awarded a grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation for its work with youth from Capitol Hill.  Here, Executive Director Keith Andrew Perry and Founder and former Executive Director Deann Ayer, collect the check at the Capitol Hill Community Foundation’s Grant Giving Ceremony on May 25th.

The Capitol Hill Community Foundation draws on the generosity and idealism of the Capitol Hill neighborhood to help build a stronger and more caring community—a place where families can flourish and where every resident can share in a better future.  Learn more about their mission and work!