Press Conference
A press conference was held on December 22, 2011, at Fresno City Hall, to announce the grant. Among those in attendance were Luis Santana, Executive Director, Reading and Beyond; Ashley Swearengin, Mayor, City of Fresno; Larry Powell, Superintendent, Fresno County Office of Education.
For news coverage of the conference, please choose a link below.
Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant
Fresno Selected as one of 15 Communities Nationwide to Receive Grant
Over the next year, Reading and Beyond will formulate an implementation plan and proposal to ultimately break the cycle of poverty in the Lowell/Jefferson/ Webster neighborhood, through alignment of academic and family support services. This grant is one of 15 proposals approved, out of 200 organizations who applied, nationwide.
Submitted in September, the planning grant was developed as a collaborative effort with over 40 public and private partners. The goal of the planning is to align and strengthen cradle-to-college/career programming designed to break the cycle of poverty in the target neighborhood, the Lowell / Jefferson/ Webster neighborhood. During the planning phase, a collaborative will identify needs and service gaps in the target neighborhood by conducting a needs assessment and developing a plan to improve education and family and community support results and indicators. In addition, a longitudinal database management system will be developed to track children served in the target zone. At the end of the planning phase an implementation proposal will be submitted to the US Department of Education, and if approved would result in additional federal dollars for Fresno to execute the plan.
As Luis Santana, Reading and Beyond’s Executive Director explains,
“This fund will not solve all of our problems, however it will give us the resources to develop a 10 year plan for the Lowell/Jefferson/Webster neighborhood. Although this grant is from the United States Department of Education, the goal is to go beyond education and focus on the 10 outcomes below. The success of this planning phase will be measured not only by the proposal developed but also by how well we will be able to engage neighborhood families and key local stake holders.”
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Children enter kindergarten ready to learn -
Students are proficient in core academic subjects
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Students successfully transition from middle grades to high school
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Youth graduate from high school
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High school graduates obtain a postsecondary degree, certification, or credential.
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Students are healthy
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Students feel safe at school and in their community
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Students live in stable communities
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Families and community members support learning in Promise Neighborhood schools
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Students have access to 21st century learning tools