Considered to be among the nation’s boldest education plans, the U.S. Department of Education named Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee – in collaboration with Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) – as one of its 49 winning applicants of its Investing in Innovation, or i3, fund. We ranked among the highest of 1,698 entries competing for $650 million in grants. Boys & Girls Clubs will receive a 5-year development grant worth $4.14 million for its Milwaukee Community Literacy Project with Milwaukee Public Schools as its collaborative partner.
The i3 fund, which is part of the historic $10 billion investment in school reform in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will support local efforts to start or expand research-based innovative programs that help close the achievement gap and improve outcomes for high-need students. The competition was open to school districts as well as nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education working in partnership with public schools. Applicants were required to demonstrate their previous success in closing achievement gaps, improving student progress toward proficiency, increasing graduation rates, or recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and principals.
The Milwaukee Community Literacy Project is modeled after our SPARK Early Literacy Initiative now entering its fifth year and is implemented at eight school-Club partnership locations. During the 2008-2009 school year, participants reading at grade level increased dramatically from 23 percent to 84 percent among the 380 Club members served at the time.
Led by Boys & Girls Clubs, the Milwaukee Community Literacy Project will support 300 struggling readers in kindergarten through third grade in reaching proficiency through support in three spheres of a child’s life: school, community and family. Through the project, participating students will be reading at grade level by the beginning of fourth grade putting them on the right path to academic success.
“Over the next five year with MPS, we’ll be helping upward of 1,500 children become more proficient in reading and increasing their likelihood to graduate from high school and become productive, responsible adults,” says Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee President & CEO James Clark.
“We are excited to be part of this grant award with the Boys & Girls Clubs and to have Milwaukee Public Schools in the Milwaukee Community Literacy Project, especially as we roll out our district-wide literacy initiative, A New Journey Begins - Learning to Read and Reading to Learn,” says Superintendent Dr. Gregory E. Thornton. “The value of strong community partners working for the benefit of MPS students is shown in awards such as this one.”