Alliance for a Better Community
ROBERT F. KENNEDY PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD
Alliance for a Better Community (ABC) and its partners seek to develop the Robert F. Kennedy Promise Neighborhood, a comprehensive pre-natal through college to career pipeline that will support the students, families and community served by the RFK Community Schools- six innovative schools colocating at a newly constructed education center on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated. The RFK Schools, built to relieve underperforming and overcrowded neighboring schools, are small K-l2 public schools that have union and district agreed upon autonomies in the areas of budget, curriculum and assessment, governance, schedule and staffing. The schools include: New Open World Academy; UCLA Community School; Ambassador School for Global Education; Ambassador School for Global Leadership; Los Angeles High School of the Arts; and School for the Visual Arts and Humanities. All six schools will work with partners to deliver coordinated, effective and comprehensive services to their children and families, strengthening a community in crisis and moving individuals and families toward an improved quality of life. The RFK Promise Neighborhood application is submitted in response to Absolute Priority One and meets all four Invitational Priorities (unique learning needs, arts and humanities, quality internet connectivity and civic engagement). The project will use indicators outlined in the Federal Register in addition to others. The RFK Promise Neighborhood is defined by the boundaries of the RFK Community Schools' high school attendance area, serving 3,800 K-12 youth within 158 blocks (zip codes 90005, 9006, 90020). The attendance area is within the Koreatown and Pico-Union communities--two of the most diverse, densely populated and underserved neighborhoods in Los Angeles with low academic outcomes, violent crime and gang activity, disturbing health trends across ethnic and age groups, limited early childcare education, insufficient art and technology connectivity, and a high need for immigration and legal services. Alliance for a Better Community (ABC) will lead the Robert F. Kennedy Promise Neighborhood planning process. ABC partners with a broad array of stakeholders to advocate for improved education, health, economic development and civic participation opportunities to improve the lives of underserved populations. ABC has successfully advocated for: school construction campaigns to relieve school overcrowding; rigorous college-preparatory classes for all students; School Report Cards that hold the educational system accountable for student performance; school based junk food and soda bans; joint use agreements and facilities to make school facilities available for the Whole community; culturally and linguistically appropriate early childhood learning standards; and a groundbreaking agreement between unions and the district to establish an indistrict model of reform. ABC is an authentic community advocate and coalition builder with an impressive track record of bringing about systemic change. Nine lead agencies will Work closely with ABC to achieve our common Promise Neighborhood goals: California State University Dominguez Hills; California State University Los Angeles; Central American Resource Center; Hope Street Family Clinic; Koreatown Youth and Community Center; Los Angeles City College; Los Angeles Small Schools Center; One Economy Corporation; and UCLA. Sixteen partner entities detailed in the MOU will participate in planning activities. Applicant Information: Alliance for A Better Community (ABC), Veronica Melvin, Executive Director,