The West Philadelphia P
romise Neighborhood is a U.S. Department of Education funded grant to support "cradle-to-career" opportunities for children living or going to school in Belmont, Mantua, Mill Creek, Powelton Village, and West Powelton / Saunders Park. The program seeks to improve education, health, and economic success for children, their families and the community.
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Spotlight on Sunrise of Philadelphia
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New to Science Leadership Academy Middle School (SLAMS) this year with support by the Lenfest Foundation is
Sunrise of Philadelphia
, a high-quality educational and youth development program serving over 1000 students in grades K-12 per year. Their mission is to support youth who face adversity in discovering their strengths, experiencing success and preparing for their future. Sunrise has a proven track record within their current schools in South Philadelphia, evidenced by an increase in student attendance and retention as well as certain academic indicators. "We are very excited to expand westward to SLAMS and for the opportunity to work with such a welcoming community,” comments Kat Kushin, Senior Site Director and Marketing Coordinator for Sunrise at SLAMS. “After-school programming is so important, both as a resource to families, and as a creative and safe space for students to learn who they are, and who they want to be.”
Beginning October 1, Sunrise will be working with 30 students Monday through Friday at SLAMS. They will partner with outside organizations to provide enrichment programming to students, focusing on Sunrise's core value of EduFun (Education through Fun), and provide programming surrounding the arts, STEM, high school readiness, social emotional wellness and more. Sunrise will also be working with SLAMS to support the school’s focus on student project-based learning and student-centered activities. “Sunrise recently celebrated 20 years of empowering youth and communities, and we are grateful to be able to continue providing such a necessary resource to students and families at SLAMS this year."
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Promise Neighborhood Data Corner
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Action for Early Learning is currently working with 25 childcare programs to improve their quality and make sure that children in West Philadelphia have access to high quality educational opportunities. The Ages and Stages assessment is given to measure the number of 3-year-olds who demonstrate age appropriate skills necessary to be ready for kindergarten. According to this assessment administered in 16 of these programs in the 2017-18 school year,
- 62% of three-year olds who took the assessment were on track for Kindergarten.
Promise Neighborhood will continue to track how many three year-olds in the Promise Neighborhood are Kindergarten ready over time.
(Data taken from the 2017-2018 Ages and Stages Assessment)
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Updates from Community Partners
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PHLPreK is now Enrolling!
The City of Philadelphia’s
FREE
quality pre-K program has added 1000+ seats and is enrolling at over 140 locations across the city. All children who are
3 or 4 as of September 1
are eligible; there are no income requirements for participation in this pre-K program.
Families can find participating pre-K locations at
phlprek.org
(or by calling 844-PHL-PREK) and enroll in person
.
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Lindy Scholars Program
The Lindy Scholars Program
is a collaborative effort between the
Lindy Center for Civic Engagement
and Drexel's School of Education.
The Lindy Scholars Program provides mathematics, writing, and literacy tutoring and mentoring to selected students in grades 6-8 enrolled in Alain Locke School, Martha Washington School, and new this year-Belmont Charter Middle School.
This program also offers opportunities through cultural outings, field trips, and special events geared toward high school and college readiness, and character development.
If your child attends
Alain Locke
,
Martha Washington
, or
Belmont Charter
, and is in grade
6-8
you are eligible to join the program free of charge. Students are asked to commit to two days a week (Mondays/Wednesdays or Tuesdays/Thursdays depending on the school) after school until 4:30pm and to twelve Saturdays a year from 9:30am to 2:15pm (including travel time).
Lindy Scholar families are invited to participate in informational workshops geared to provide information on high school selection, college access, strategies to increase learning at home, and other relevant topics for caregivers of middle school students. Workshops include refreshments and take place at convenient times and locations.
To enroll a student in the Lindy Scholars Program, please contact Noa Coffey-Moore at
noa@drexel.edu / 215.301.6503
.
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What's happening this fall for youth at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships?
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Check out the upcoming programs and events for youth this fall. This includes our Dornsife Center
Dance Class Orientation & Registration Day
– Sign up for the 2019/2020 Dance Season on September 25, 2019 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Classes include lessons in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip Hop, Choreography, Senior Fitness, and Senior Mindfulness. There is also the
Black Girls STEAMing through Dance
program funded by the Promise Neighborhood. This program integrates concert dance, design, computer science, and creative writing to inspire the formation of STEAM literacies, STEAM identities, and positive self-concept amongst 7-12 years old African American girls in West Philadelphia. Other upcoming programs include the Dornsife
After-School Music Program
, which provides music education in guitar, percussion, and voice. The Dornsife Center will also host the
Youth Martial Arts
program again this year, that provides education on how martial arts is good for exercise, goal setting, self‐confidence, and discipline to youth ages 8-12 years old. For more information about our fall programs, when they happen, and how to sign up, check out our website at Drexel.edu/dornsifecenter, email us at
dornsifecenter@drexel.edu
or call us at 215-571-4013.
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September Events in the Promise Zone:
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Weekends in September-Enjoy FREE admission
to The Academy of Natural Science!
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If you are living in 19104, 19139, 19143 or 19146, visit for FREE every weekend in September.
Complimentary admission includes:
- Special Exhibit: Dinosaurs Around the World
- Dinosaur Hall
- Live animal shows
- Outside In – play space for kids ages 3–8
To participate, bring postcard or proof of residence showing your zip code. Students must bring their last report card or student ID. Each household may receive up to four complimentary tickets. There are postcards available at upcoming community events and the Dornsife Center throughout the month. For additional postcards, please contact mes473@drexel.edu
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Jeffrey spent the day on August 22 at West Park Community Day with members from the Promise Neighborhood team. The Promise Neighborhood Surveyors promoted the upcoming neighborhood survey and notified the community to keep their eyes out for the "orange shirts." The community event was a huge success with families and friends, vendors, free pizza, water ice and pretzels in partnership with the 16th District.
Jeffrey also attended Locke's Back to School event on August 29th with
Action for Early Learning
and the
Academy of Natural Science
. Students were excited to start the school year with new backpacks and supplies supplied by Promise Neighborhood. Families were treated to snacks and music and checked out some of the new classrooms in the building.
He also attended the Belmont Alliance Annual Family Fun Day on Friday, August 30th which Promise Neighborhood helped to sponsor. This event had a drill team performance, story time with
Action for Early Learning
, animals from the
Academy of Natural Science
, backpack and book giveways and even a movie at night!
Thank you to all who came out to support these events, the neighborhoods, and the children!
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Over the course of my internship with the West Philly Promise Neighborhood, I participated in events and meetings that familiarized me with the community. During the 16
th
District Community Fun Day, I assisted out at the games table where kids and parents interacted with each other while enjoying themselves. At a meeting in Mantua, I learned about the upcoming beautifying “Park in a Truck” project and its benefits on the community, including problems it could encounter. The West Belmont Civic Association meeting that I attended debated whether they should change a house to multifamily or keep it as a single family. These events were eye-opening as it depicted West Philly in different perspectives that allowed me to feel connected with the neighborhoods around me and my very own neighborhood!
(Cherry was one of 40 Work Ready Students hired at Drexel University for the summer)
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Welcome Back to School 2019
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Promise Neighborhood staff joined community residents, church members, and civic association representatives to welcome students back to school on Tuesday, September 3rd with pom poms, cheers, banners, cowbells and smiles. We are proud to support our children and families and wish them luck for a successful school year.
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The West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood supports back to school by distributing over 2500 backpacks with school supplies to local students and Promise Neighborhood schools in partnership with our civic associations. Backpacks will continue to be distributed at both the
Mill Creek (9/7)
and
West Belmont (9/14
) Community Days in September.
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Ring the Bell PHL with President Fry
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Drexel University President, John Fry, celebrated the start of the new school year for Philadelphia schools by ringing the West Philly Promise Neighborhood bell. The
RingtheBellPHL
citywide campaign is an effort to bring enthusiasm throughout the city as the school year kicks off. Best of luck to all our Philly students this year!
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Neighborhood Survey
This fall, survey teams in orange shirts will be knocking on doors in the Promise Neighborhood. Caregivers who live in homes with children (ages 0-18) will be asked to take a survey! Participating in this survey benefit you and your community, so be on the lookout for our team.
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Summer Camp Recap
Funded by the Promise Neighborhood
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Three free summer camps, partially funded by The Promise Neighborhood, were a huge success through Drexel University's School of Education this summer: Young Dragons Summer STEAM, Math Corps, and the Summer Literacy Program. Students sharpened their reading, math, and science skills at these camps in preparation for the school year
.
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Young Dragons Summer STEAM camp
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Fall Program Spotlight Funded by
Promise Neighborhood
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Follow Us on Social Media!
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