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RICH’s MATHLETES PARTICIPATE IN MOODY’s MEGA MATH CHALLENGE

March, 2010: Four students of the Capitol Hill campus of the Cesar Chavez Public Policy Charter High School iarticipated in the Moody’s Mega Match Challenge on Saturday, March 6. These students were led by Paul Penniman, RICH executive director. The four students are part of RICH’s MATHletes program.

RICH’s MATHletes program targets the best math and science students at Chavez and enriches their curriculum with topics to help prepare them for a rigorous college program.

In Moody’s Mega Math Challenge, students in teams of 3-5 try to solve a real-life math modeling problem. Over 600 high schools along the I-95 corridor participated. The scholars have one day to attack the problem. The Chavez students who participated were Corey Johnson, Kwang Kaeo-Khao, Jose Maheda and Jaquan Settle. They spent nine hours answering a question about the census and reapportionment.

The problem on which students worked was titled, “Making Sense of the 2010 Census: to count or not to count, that is the question …”

Coach Penniman commented, “It was a great problem for a public policy school. I really am proud of this group for sticking it out all day. They said the problem was difficult, but they learned a lot. What more can you ask?”

GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY EVALUATES RICH

March, 2010: Two two-person teams from George Washington University's graduate school programs are evaluating RICH's programs. One team will evaluate the social return on investment from RICH's high retention (non dropout) rate by comparing the population RICH has served over the years at its partner schools to the students at RICH's schools but whom RICH does not serve. The other evaluation team will focus on one year of RICH's programs, 2008-09, and compare grades, attendance, and standardized test scores of RICH's students against the same data of the students at RICH's schools but whom RICH does not serve.

SATURDAY ACADEMY EXPANDS

Fall, 2009: RICH Executive Director Paul Penniman shakes hands with Cesar Chávez Schools founder and CEO Irasema Salcido as they launch a Saturday Academy at Chávez’s Parkside campus. Chávez will fully fund, and RICH will administer, $50,000 worth of supplemental instruction in English, math and tesis (term papers) at Parkside in 2009-10. In 2009, 63% of the tenth graders at the Capitol Hill campus were able to score at “proficient” (grade level) or better on the District of Columbia-Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS), nearly twice the number (31%) of the tenth graders from the previous year. Most of these tenth graders attended RICH’s Saturday Academy at the Capitol Hill campus from 2007-09. The increase in students scoring at proficient or better was the second highest of any public high school in Washington.

RICH STUDENTS EXCEL ON TESTS

Summer, 2009: Sixty-three percent of the 10th graders at the Cesar Chávez School-Capitol Hill scored “proficient” or better on the recently released DC-CAS (Comprehensive Assessment System) tests. These students have been attending RICH’s Saturday Math Academy at Chávez for the past two years. Only 32% of the previous tenth-grade class scored at “proficient” or better. RICH’s Saturday English Academy was also partly responsible for 57% of the 10th graders this year scoring “proficient” or better on the reading DC-CAS, compared to 31% for the 10th grade in 2008. The two increases in reading and math were two of the three largest increases of all the high schools in Washington, D.C.

FOUNDATIONS AWARD RICH FIRST-TIME GRANTS

Summer, 2009: The Anthony F. Lucas-Spindletop Foundation and the Dimick Foundation recently awarded RICH grants. RICH is especially grateful considering that many foundations are not issuing grants to new applicants during the economic recession.

RICH ACCEPTS GRADUATION DIPLOMA FROM FAIR CHANCE

Winter, 2009: RICH Director Paul Penniman accepts a plaque in recognition of RICH’s growth and development in 2008. RICH has more than doubled its services to inner city schools since partnering with Fair Chance. Fair Chance partners with D.C.-area nonprofits that serve children, youth and families to help them increase capacity and strengthen their organizations.

© RICH 2008 • Resources for Inner City Children (RICH) • 1342 K Street SE • Washington, DC 20003 • (202) 966-4814