A private national foundation is investing $8 million over the next three years to a District nonprofit to improve out-of-school programs for city students, officials announced Tuesday.
The Wallace Foundation, a New York-based independent education foundation, is giving the money to the D.C. Children andYouth Investment Trust Corp., a local nonprofit agency that serves 10,000 children, to fund middle school programs throughout the city.
City and school officials said the initiative will begin in three pilot middle schools — Charles Hart Middle School, Kelly Miller Middle School and Lincoln Middle School — in January serving a total of about 600 children. Officials said the ultimate goal is to add more sites every year until all middle schools have programs in the afternoons, on weekends, and during the summer.
The initiative is starting its pilot projects in middle schools because recent national research shows many urban children are “lost” during those years, officials said.
“As in all big cities, many of our children need additional supports beyond the school day,” said D.C. Public Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey. “The school system is committed to this exciting initiative because we know it will reinforce what youngsters are learning in school and help them succeed academically.”
The D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation plans to raise an additional $8 million through public and private money to expand the initiative.
“The only way we, as a city, can solve our problems is by tackling them together,” Mayor Anthony Williams said. “And that’s what this initiative does.”
