Rendering of Civic's Achievement First Endeavor development in Brooklyn.
A new look for Civic.
Rendering of Democracy Prep's new lobby. (Click to view larger)
Resources:
Civic Builders
NYC Center for Charter School Excellence
NYC DOE Office of New Schools
Democrats for Education Reform
Center for Educational Innovation - Public Education Association
Facade rendering for Icahn development.
In This Issue:
Letter from CEO
New Project Underway in Harlem
The Broad Foundation Launches Partnership with Civic
Fast Company Recognizes Civic as Top Performing Nonprofit
Icahn Development First of its Kind
Resources
Letter from CEO
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Civic Builders quarterly E-newsletter. We have launched this newsletter as a way to keep our expanding circle of friends informed about our many developments.
This has been an exciting year for Civic. As you?ll read, we have spent a great deal of the year focusing on developments in Harlem - a community that has a dire need for more and permanent charter school facilities. We?ll be starting construction on our new Democracy Prep project shortly and expect to launch one to two more Harlem initiatives before the year closes.
In addition to Harlem, Civic is working on projects in other high-need communities including East New York, Bushwick and Astoria. We have also been invited to explore Newark, NJ and the Connecticut charter market. In order to address this robust pipeline, Civic has increased its staff by an additional two people this year. Our new outreach materials, including a revised website, this newsletter, and updated promotional materials, will help support the team?s work.
Civic has also launched bi-monthly tours of our facilities and quarterly events intended to help us educate people about Civic and the great work that our partner schools are doing. If you would like to learn more about our services or tours, please contact us.
We appreciate your interest in and support of our work and wish you all a healthy and happy holiday season.
-David Umansky
New Project Underway in Harlem
Democracy Preparatory Charter School has partnered with Civic Builders to develop a new, permanent facility for 350 of their students in Harlem. Civic Builders has secured a 22-year lease with St. Philip?s Church, on 133rd Street, to convert their vestry into a facility that addresses the academic needs of the school. The $5 million gut renovation, will yield four floors with 13 classrooms and a cafetorium (combined cafeteria and auditorium).
Construction on the project will commence in January 2008 and be completed in time for the fall 2008 semester. For more information about Civic's current developments, click here.
The Broad Foundation Launches Partnership with Civic
For the first time ever, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is sponsoring charter school facility creation in New York through a $1 million grant to Civic Builders. The grant will be used to support the development of four new facilities over the next year.
The Broad Foundation, a national venture philanthropy established by entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad to advance entrepreneurship for the public good in education, science and the arts, is a leading supporter of high-quality public charter school growth nationwide.
?We are proud to support Civic Builders? critical efforts to make school facilities affordable for quality public charter schools in New York City,? said Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundation. ?Civic Builders provides schools and the students they serve with no less than the very foundation they need to be successful.?
To learn more about The Broad Foundation?s work, visit www.broadfoundation.org
Fast Company Recognizes Civic as Top Performing Nonprofit
For the second year in a row, Civic Builders has been awarded a Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company/Monitor Group. The award recognizes outstanding ?social entrepreneurial organizations? that use the ?disciplines of the corporate world to tackle daunting social problems.?
Nearly 300 nonprofits registered for the awards, 45 winners were selected. Participants were evaluated in five categories, including social impact, aspiration and growth, entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability. Judges included Cheryl Dorsey, President of the Echoing Green Foundation; David Gergen, professor at Harvard?s Kennedy School of Government; Clara Miller, president and CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund; and Trooper Sanders, domestic policy advisor to former President Clinton at the Clinton Foundation.
Civic Builders is featured in the December/January issue of Fast Company, on newsstands now, and on the magazine?s website, www.fastcompany.com/magazine.
Icahn Development First of its Kind
Civic?s development for Carl C. Icahn Charter School Bronx North involves a groundbreaking partnership between NYC?s Department of Education (DOE), the School Construction Authority and Civic Builders. The project represents the first time that a facility will be built to house both a charter school and a traditional NYC DOE school with amenities shared by both schools and the surrounding community.
The 125,000 square foot development, which will serve 324 charter school students and 550 traditional DOE students, presents an exciting opportunity for shared educational spaces. The two small schools will stand side-by-side, each with their own entrances, classrooms, administrative offices, and cafeterias. A shared core, including a kitchen, an auditorium, a gymnasium, and a rooftop play area, will join the schools. Civic Builders will be managing the entire development for the DOE. Learn more.
