Fund Initiatives

Building Hope

Students at Cesar Chavez Public Policy Charter High School, Washington, DC

Building Hope: A Charter Facilities School Fund

Building Hope is a non-profit organization focused on providing more students in Washington, DC with access to high-quality charter schools by helping these schools overcome the biggest barrier to expansion — identifying and financing viable facilities.

Providing Resources for Expansion

Building Hope offers charter schools a range of professional services (e.g., site selection and school design) and financial assistance (e.g., low-interest loans, guarantees, credit enhancements, and grants) to help overcome facility acquisition challenges.

The Sallie Mae Fund has awarded $28 million in grants to Building Hope: A Charter School Facilities Fund. With Building Hope's support, five new charter school facilities opened for the 2005–2006 academic school year. To date, Building Hope has helped create more than 2,000 new charter school seats.

Creating a Foundation for Growth

To meet the growing demand for quality charter schools, Building Hope partners with experienced and successful charter school administrators to identify locations for charter school expansion to serve the local community.

Building Hope has worked with Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, KIPP DC, DC Preparatory Academy, Thurgood Marshall Academy, and Community Academy to open new campuses and/or secure permanent facilities. Building Hope also helped E.L. Haynes Public Charter School and DC Preparatory to open new schools.

A Quality Choice for the Nation's Capital

The capital city of the world's wealthiest nation is also home to one of the most troubled public school systems. Early in this decade, 90% of fourth graders were not proficient in reading, and 96% were not proficient in math. This, of course, translated into low academic achievement in high school and an alarmingly high dropout rate of almost 40%.

Today nearly 20% of the DC public school population attends charter schools — the highest percentage in the nation. With funding from The Sallie Mae Fund, Building Hope gives DC's charter schools the ability to expand while providing even more opportunities for students to succeed academically.