In 1989, parents and principals in Seattle’s Rainier Valley began talking about how their schools were failing them – and what they’d change if they could.
The conversations grew louder and more urgent. A door-to-door survey gathered people, ideas and enthusiasm. Within two years, seeded by the city’s Neighborhood Matching Fund, Powerful Schools was born. It began as a coalition of four schools (Hawthorne, John Muir, Orca @ Columbia and Whitworth) and two community organizations (the Mount Baker Community Club and the Columbia City Revitalization Committee).
Since 1991, Powerful Schools has delivered stimulating, multi-year, school-wide academic programs integrated into public elementary schools in Seattle and South King County. Our target audience is children who are the least empowered and whom are enrolled in schools that lack resources.
During the 2011-12 school years, Powerful Schools will work with more than 4,000 children and their families inside of 12 Seattle and South King County elementary schools and five CDSA preschools.
