Friends Of Earls Boys School
Donation protected
Targeted towards the District of Columbia's lower income Ward 7 community, the Earls Boys School Initiative will be a high-performing same-gender PreK – 5th grade public charter school serving boys of color (the only one of its kind in the District). Our vision is to increase the life trajectory of boys of color by cultivating the “building blocks” and sustaining mechanisms necessary for success in academic life and beyond.
Beyond preparing District of Columbia boys of color to excel academically, our aim is to nurture each scholar’s capacity to evolve into a well-rounded high functioning individual with morally based and value-centered character. Critical to this development is the unrelenting advocacy of the school’s core value – pride. The profile of our scholars will be reflected in their demonstration of being:
Prepared – literate; effective communicators; broadly knowledgeable; on-track to college and career readiness
Resilient – continuous evolvers; able to learn and grow through challenging situations as well as failures
Innovative – risk takers; creative and strategic thinkers
Dynamic – leaders; flexible; adaptable; well-rounded
Engaged – self-efficacy; school and at-large community; culturally aware and responsible
WHY are we raising money? The planning needs and relative operating costs associated with establishing a charter school are immense. While we are agressively engaging in the grant application process and pursuing funding from major education-related project funders, we must still be able to plan, operate and function while submitting to the timelines of the respective grant issuing entities. Most importantly, funders want to see us prove that we are also able to generate funding outside of the resources that they will ultimately provide...and this is where YOU can help!
HOW will the money be used? The money will primarily be used to cover expenses related to the following:
1. School visits - We need to visit approximately 23 school sites throughout the country. These are all same-gender (all-boys) models that have proven records of success in alleviating the achievement gap amongst boys of color. Each school represents specific components we are looking to include in our school design model.
2. Consultant Fees - Although the founding planning team of the Earls Boys Initiative consists of highly-experienced and talented individuals. we still need to engage specialists in areas such as curriculum development and design as well as Special Education to ensure that what we offer our scholars will maximize all opportunities to facilitate their success. We are also partnering with an organization that specializes in helping charter school startups design their models, gets them through the DC Public Charter School Board approval process (98% success rate), and will also provide the school with three-years of administrative support. This alone costs $24,000.
3. Community Engagement - We are placing the needs of the community at the center of our design focus. In order to effectively engage the community, we will enlist a comprehsive community engagement strategy. This portion of the funding will be allocated towards supporting a part-time staff person solely dedicated to community engagement. In addition, activities such as focus groups, town-hall meetings, school information sessions, etc will also be supported by these funds.
WHEN do we need these funds? Up until this point, all planning efforts have been funded by the personal resources of the founding planning team, and as you can imagine, this is simply not sustainable. We are greatly in need of resources NOW so that we can continue the level of momentum we have been able to generate. We begin visiting the 23 school sites at the start of 2017, and this will continue for several months. We will also be spending significant time engrossing ourselves in professional development conferences and reserach circles all geared towards ideals such as culturally and linguistically responsive environments, restorative justice practices, social-emotional learning, and other areas petinent to educating boys of color. Lastly, the school design consultancy needs to begin by January 2017; hence, the funds to acquire those services are needed ASAP.
WHY this means so much to me? My passion has always centered around education, and particularly, educating boys of color. Especially now, I feel that it is even more necessary for us (those who have skills, talents, abilities and knowledge) to take a serious stand in investing in our youth and help reshape a future that is becoming increasingly dismal. Only 14% of our nation's boys of color are performing at grade level by the end of 4th grade, and prisons are being built based upon this single data point. I was "that" boy...the one with a similar socio-economic background...but I also had a high-quality education expereince (in an urban PUBLIC school environment) that nurtured and developed my talents and abilities. As a result, I have been able to navigate through life and have experiences that I would have never imagined as a child. I simply want prisons to be EMPTY and to re-create a similar platform from which boys like me will be able to thrive, flourish, and ultimately, have those same types of life-shaping experiences.
Your support will touch lives in a TREMENDOUS way! In advance, the entire Earls Boys School Initiative team as well as the boys who will become doctors, lawyers, authors, engineers, barber shop owners, architects, hotel managers, CEO's, and Presidents....OR...those who simply become just great positively contributing members to society...say thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!
Beyond preparing District of Columbia boys of color to excel academically, our aim is to nurture each scholar’s capacity to evolve into a well-rounded high functioning individual with morally based and value-centered character. Critical to this development is the unrelenting advocacy of the school’s core value – pride. The profile of our scholars will be reflected in their demonstration of being:
Prepared – literate; effective communicators; broadly knowledgeable; on-track to college and career readiness
Resilient – continuous evolvers; able to learn and grow through challenging situations as well as failures
Innovative – risk takers; creative and strategic thinkers
Dynamic – leaders; flexible; adaptable; well-rounded
Engaged – self-efficacy; school and at-large community; culturally aware and responsible
WHY are we raising money? The planning needs and relative operating costs associated with establishing a charter school are immense. While we are agressively engaging in the grant application process and pursuing funding from major education-related project funders, we must still be able to plan, operate and function while submitting to the timelines of the respective grant issuing entities. Most importantly, funders want to see us prove that we are also able to generate funding outside of the resources that they will ultimately provide...and this is where YOU can help!
HOW will the money be used? The money will primarily be used to cover expenses related to the following:
1. School visits - We need to visit approximately 23 school sites throughout the country. These are all same-gender (all-boys) models that have proven records of success in alleviating the achievement gap amongst boys of color. Each school represents specific components we are looking to include in our school design model.
2. Consultant Fees - Although the founding planning team of the Earls Boys Initiative consists of highly-experienced and talented individuals. we still need to engage specialists in areas such as curriculum development and design as well as Special Education to ensure that what we offer our scholars will maximize all opportunities to facilitate their success. We are also partnering with an organization that specializes in helping charter school startups design their models, gets them through the DC Public Charter School Board approval process (98% success rate), and will also provide the school with three-years of administrative support. This alone costs $24,000.
3. Community Engagement - We are placing the needs of the community at the center of our design focus. In order to effectively engage the community, we will enlist a comprehsive community engagement strategy. This portion of the funding will be allocated towards supporting a part-time staff person solely dedicated to community engagement. In addition, activities such as focus groups, town-hall meetings, school information sessions, etc will also be supported by these funds.
WHEN do we need these funds? Up until this point, all planning efforts have been funded by the personal resources of the founding planning team, and as you can imagine, this is simply not sustainable. We are greatly in need of resources NOW so that we can continue the level of momentum we have been able to generate. We begin visiting the 23 school sites at the start of 2017, and this will continue for several months. We will also be spending significant time engrossing ourselves in professional development conferences and reserach circles all geared towards ideals such as culturally and linguistically responsive environments, restorative justice practices, social-emotional learning, and other areas petinent to educating boys of color. Lastly, the school design consultancy needs to begin by January 2017; hence, the funds to acquire those services are needed ASAP.
WHY this means so much to me? My passion has always centered around education, and particularly, educating boys of color. Especially now, I feel that it is even more necessary for us (those who have skills, talents, abilities and knowledge) to take a serious stand in investing in our youth and help reshape a future that is becoming increasingly dismal. Only 14% of our nation's boys of color are performing at grade level by the end of 4th grade, and prisons are being built based upon this single data point. I was "that" boy...the one with a similar socio-economic background...but I also had a high-quality education expereince (in an urban PUBLIC school environment) that nurtured and developed my talents and abilities. As a result, I have been able to navigate through life and have experiences that I would have never imagined as a child. I simply want prisons to be EMPTY and to re-create a similar platform from which boys like me will be able to thrive, flourish, and ultimately, have those same types of life-shaping experiences.
Your support will touch lives in a TREMENDOUS way! In advance, the entire Earls Boys School Initiative team as well as the boys who will become doctors, lawyers, authors, engineers, barber shop owners, architects, hotel managers, CEO's, and Presidents....OR...those who simply become just great positively contributing members to society...say thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!
Organizer
Larry Marcel Norman
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC