NBCDI (SPARK)

Wards 1 - 7 - 8

Ward 8:
Frederick Douglass II Center and Turner Elementary School

Neighborhoods included in this ward for participation in the SPARK initiative are Douglass, Shipley Terrace, Congress Heights, Bellevue, and Washington Highlands. According to year 2000 indicators of child well-being 46% to 56% of the child population in these neighborhoods lived in poverty (DC Agenda).

The Frederick Douglass II Center is a District of Columbia Public School Head Start program that provides multiple services including education, family support, health and dental services for children in the community. The center serves infants to four-year olds. Additional services operated out of the Center include a community Wellness Clinic, a teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program, and a network of family child care providers in the community. Although some Latino families live in the neighborhood, the current population of children served by the Center is 100% African American. Children leaving Frederick Douglas typically attend Turner Elementary School.

Turner Elementary School will serve as the first partner elementary feeder school for the SPARK initiative in this ward. Over ninety-nine percent (99.6%) of the children attending Turner are African American and 0.4% are Latino. Ninety-One percent (91%) of these children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. (DCPS)