A festive celebration for families and the community marked the official beginning of the Promise Neighborhoods grant in San Francisco recently. Dozens of families in the city’s Mission District attended the more than three–hour festival at John O’Connell High School to officially announce a $30 million Promise Neighborhoods implementation grant from the Office of Innovation and Improvement.
U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was on hand to congratulate the community and leaders of the new Mission Promise Neighborhood, and cited the important contribution the grant will make to local leaders committed to the basic principle of the Promise Neighborhoods initiative: focusing on high academic achievement through wrap-around support for students and families to minimize the impact of a difficult economic environment on the classroom.
The deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Marco Davis, also noted that the Promise Neighborhoods program “is an outstanding example of engaging all aspects of a community.”
Also on hand for the launch was Joe Barlson, communications and outreach director for ED’s regional office in San Francisco. Click here to read his blog about the event.
