It’s the 6th year of our partnership with a group of DCPS schools in Brookland—learn more about this commitment and how it continues to grow! ‍

The History 

As the pandemic began, a group of Hearst parents who were concerned about the vast inequity between schools in DCPS were looking for a way to build relationships outside of our neighborhood and support students in need. This became the PTA’s Hearst Optimizing Opportunity Task Force (the HOOT Force!)

After working with the PTA and Hearst administration to explore multiple models (including the single "sister school" approach and a DCPS grant program), the PTA decided to establish a partnership with an organization serving five neighborhood schools in Brookland. Originally called The Village of Brookland, that organization has evolved into CARE Brookland. 

Over the years, our partnership has included providing material support (like a coat drive), attending each other's events (like Hearst's Community Day and Brookland’s multi-part conversations on the “empathy gap” facing Black and Brown students), and sharing learnings and experiences from our very different school communities.‍

The Schools‍

CARE Brookland supports five neighborhood DCPS schools: three elementary schools, a middle school, and an Opportunity Academy (an alternative high school program that helps students overcome challenges, regain their academic footing, and earn a high school diploma).

For decades, Brookland was a notable Black middle-class community in our nation’s capital. Within the last ten years, as more White families moved into the community, charter schools with advanced resources and opportunities began to populate the area. The White students largely began attending the charter schools, leaving the traditional schools filled with Black and Brown students with less resources and chances to flourish. The neighborhood saw its schools suddenly become separated by race and by opportunity. Today’s work is focused on racial justice, educational equity, and economic mobility to ensure all students attending schools in Brookland have the resources and care they need to flourish in this newly gentrified neighborhood.

Each school’s PTA has dramatically fewer resources than we have at Hearst:‍

• Noyes ES: Annual PTA budget of $3,000
• Bunker Hill ES: Annual PTA budget of ~$25,000
• Burroughs ES: Annual PTA budget of ~$10,000
• Brookland MS: Annual PTA budget of ~$5,000
• Luke C. Moore Opportunity Academy: Annual PTA budget of $0

The Financials

A foundational element of our partnership is that Hearst’s PTA donates 15 percent of the money raised from our fall Owl Fund drive to CARE Brookland, which then supports planned and emerging needs across all five schools, such as providing $1,000 to each school during a city budget freeze to ensure that they did not have to cancel their end-of-year celebrations. This approach was put in place to ensure that any Hearst families who choose not to support this partnership have other opportunities, like the annual spring auction, to donate solely to Hearst students. 

The Hearst PTA opted to structure our partnership on a two-year cycle in an effort to promote ongoing accountability, while also giving CARE Brookland some financial stability. We are currently in our THIRD cycle of support:

• Spring 2021: Passed a PTA budget that included a commitment to partnering for the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years
• Spring 2023: Passed a PTA budget that included a commitment to partnering for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years
• Spring 2025: Passed a PTA budget that included a commitment to partnering for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years
  
  • We are currently in the second year of this support cycle!

The Hearst PTA brings in ~$200,000 annually, while holding reserves that comfortably exceed that amount in recent years. The fall Owl Fund raises ~$100,000, approximately half of the annual income. Through this partnership, we donate ~$15,000 each year to be shared between the five schools CARE Brookland supports. We have already voted to do so again this year and are excited about the opportunity to deepen and extend this partnership going forward.‍

The Impact 

‍To provide more direct and intentional support, The Village of Brookland transitioned into CARE Brookland, establishing three programs that target root causes, aiming to move beyond material aid to create transformational impact that strengthens our entire village. The programs focus on supporting educators, families, and neighbors. Capacity-building opportunities for educators further strengthen their classrooms. Bridging the gap between neighbors and schools shapes a new narrative and grows collective power. And supporting families who need a safe space to share and love their children enhances collaborative opportunities and elevates the learning experience. ‍

The partnership with Hearst initially boosted The Village of Brookland’s budget from $12,000 to nearly $30,000. Material support for all five schools grew, however, there was not a notable change in the academic outcomes.‍

‍This approach requires investments in community, increasing advocacy strategies, and providing resources to enhance the educational experiences of our youth. Our partnership aims to remove barriers and bring life and care back into Brookland’s traditional DCPS schools. 

The Next Steps

We’d love to have more people helping support and grow this partnership. If you’re interested in joining the HOOT Force, which will be meeting monthly this school year, please reach out to Julia Krahe at juliakrahe@gmail.com.

‍

Thank you for your support!

‍