Arne Duncan visits Cesar Chavez Parkside School

On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attended the DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) Town Hall hosted at Cesar Chavez Parkside School. The school is in its first year of engagement with Turnaround for Children. In addition to the Secretary, honored speakers included Melody Barnes, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Vincent Gray, Mayor of the District of Columbia, and Alma Powell, Chair of America’s Promise Alliance. Local DCPNI representatives led a Town Hall discussion. Attendees from Turnaround for Children included Makeba Barnes and June Monterio, along with Katherine Bradley and Caitlin Moore of the CityBridge Foundation.

The mission of DCPNI is to increase the number of children who successfully complete their education– from cradle to college– and enter adulthood as productive participants in the 21st century economy and in the civic life of their communities. DCPNI is one of 21 Promise Neighborhood programs (out of 339 applicants) that received one-year planning grants from the US Department of Education. Turnaround has been invited to work on one of ten Results-Driven Working Groups (Students Transition Successfully from Middle Grades to High School) within this initiative.