The Current
Charter School Cures Northwest Eyesore
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
It isn’t every day that a public charter school transforms a neighborhood eyesore into a beacon of hope in the community. But that is what Chavez-Bruce Preparatory Public Charter School has done at 770 Kenyon St. in Columbia Heights.
A few days ago, a large crowd celebrated at the newly renovated campus. The attendees included Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham; Albert Lord, president of the board of trustees for Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools and chief executive officer of Sallie Mae Inc.; Tom Nida and Josephine Baker from the D.C. Public Charter School Board; Bill Couper, president of Bank of America (project lender); and representatives from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (advocates for charters’ access to unused public school buildings).
The multimillion-dollar renovation was completed on time and on budget, ready for the 2009-10 school year. Students spoke at the ceremony, favorably comparing the shiny, new, well-resourced facility with the old facility the school occupied at 16th Street and Park Road and the YMCA on W Street, which Chavez Prep occupied in its first year.
Named for Blanche Kelso Bruce, the first African-American to hold a full term of office in the U.S. Senate, the Kenyon Street building had fallen into disrepair and lay largely derelict for the 34 years since a school last occupied the whole building. The building has been transformed from an uninhabitable shell to a warm and inviting space.
Both the mayor’s office and Council member Graham were instrumental in recommending and supporting the D.C. government’s entering into a 30-year ground lease of the facility to the Bruce School. This would not have been possible without a team effort led by the commitment by Forrester Construction and its subcontractors — who worked extra hours to make it happen — and Pepco’s assistance to bring permanent power to the site.
Building Hope, a D.C. nonprofit established by Sallie Mae to help charter schools with their facilities challenges, worked closely with Forrester and Pepco to ensure the project was delivered on time and on budget.
Chavez-Bruce Preparatory Public Charter School recorded the second-highest gains in math and the third-highest gains in reading for all secondary schools in the District. Some 82 percent of the school’s students are African- American; 17 percent are Latino; and 80 percent are economically disadvantaged. With their commitment to social justice, Cesar Chavez and Blanche Bruce would be proud to lend their names to the new school.
Joe Bruno
President, Building Hope