Deputy Mayor for Educations Quality Schools Community Engagement Initiative What is the Deputy Mayor for Educations

Community Engagement Initiative? This initiative will provide a thoughtful community input process to help provide information that will inform the improvement and legitimacy of new measures to ensure that all DC Public School and DC public charter school students have access to quality education opportunities. The initiative will include community-wide conversations, Community Conversations, in five different wards of DC that will bring together a diverse representation of parents, teachers, school administrators, community residents, elected and appointed officials, and various organizations. The purpose of these community conversations is to identify, discuss and move to action strategies that will improve access and quality of education for DC students. To carry out this initiative, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education is partnering with Public Agenda, a national non-profit, non-partisan research and public engagement organization. Conversations will be held in Wards 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8 throughout the months of July and August. These Wards are home to the ten neighborhood clusters identified as having a high need for additional quality seats in grades K-12. Community-based organizations in each Ward have agreed to organize and host each individual Conversation. These lead organizations are recruiting a diverse set of stakeholders to assist in planning and facilitating the engagement events which will each include between 80-100 participants. Current dates for Community Conversations are as follows: Cluster 2/Ward 1 -- Lead Organization: CentroNia Community Conversation Thursday, July 26 @ 5:30-9PM, CentroNia Cluster 18/Ward 4 - Collaborating Organizations: AJE, S.H.A.P.P.E, GAC & OSSE Community Conversation Saturday, August 18 @ 10 am 2pm, Emery Recreation Center Clusters 22 & 23/Ward 5 -- Lead Organization: Ward 5 Council on Education Community Conversation Tuesday, July 31 @ 6:30PM, Providence Hospital Clusters 31, 33, & 34/Ward 7 - Lead Organization: Advisory Neighborhood Commission 7A Community Conversation Saturday, August 11 @ 10 am 2pm, Kelly Miller MS Clusters 36, 38 & 39/Ward 8 - Lead Organization: Ward 8 Education Council Community Conversation TBD, early August What are Community Conversations? Community Conversations are carefully constructed problem-solving dialogues that bring diverse stakeholders and community members together to discuss an important public issue. Such conversations are frequently a first step in a larger process of community engagement, collaboration and action and have been put to good use in hundreds of communities nationwide. The Community Conversations in the District will focus on how parents, schools, communities and the city can work together to ensure access to high-quality education opportunities for all children in Washington DC.

What are the Results of Community Conversations? For Washington DC, a Community Conversation can have a range of concrete impacts, including: identifying the top community priorities for programs that support quality education options building community awareness of and support for new or existing programs informing current or newly developed district and government policies and practices strengthening or building community relationships and partnerships

Following the Community Conversations, the Deputy Mayor for Education will release a brief report that includes summary notes from each Conversation. The Deputy Mayor will use these community suggestions to inform a list of recommendations to DCPS, the Public Charter School Board, and charter LEAs as to how they can increase the number of quality seats in high-need neighborhood clusters. This report will be released in Fall of 2012.