PAVE (Parents Amplifying Voices in Education)

This Memorial Day, we want to shout out the veterans of DC as well as LEARN DC Public Charter School, the school parents helped to bring to Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Ward 8. More than half of LEARN DC's families are military families. We thank them for their service! 🇺🇸💜

🔙 #FlashbackFriday : PAVE Parent Leaders have been out & about spreading #ParentPower all across DC! Here's where you may have spotted the #PurpleWave recently: 📣 @cmwendellfelder 's Ward 7 Education Town Hall 🏃🏾‍♀️‍@dcbilingual 's Fun Run & Community Festival ☕️️ @chairmanphilmendelson 's Meet Up with Mendo

Rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors: We want you to help shaping DC schools! Apply for the State Board's 2026-27 Student Advisory Committee. Apply by 11:59 pm on June 21: bit.ly/SACMember.

📚 Academics is the foundation for our kids' futures! 📚 PAVE Parent Leaders know that for our kids to succeed in school & beyond, we need to invest in proven academic supports: 🎯 High-impact tutoring 👩🏾‍🏫 Educator professional development 📖 High-Quality Instructional Materials 📣 Hear from Ward 7 Parent Leaders Dawn Smith @Dimlvelydarlin & Stephanie Griffith-Richardson @SGriffR and Ward 8 Parent Leader Brandi Reese about why Academics is a top #ParentPriority for them!

🎙️ PAVE Parent Leader Spotlight! 🎙️ Ward 8 Parent Leader LaSheema Burnett got a shoutout in the testimony from @OSSEDC State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Antoinette Mitchell! Turn up the volume to hear about LaSheema's experience with high-impact tutoring 🔊💜

Sign our budget petition here: link.dcpave.org/budget-petition

Learn more about Parent Leaders' budget asks: youtu.be/MO55bCtkJsQ?si…

In a tight budget year, we need to focus on the investments that make the most impact for kids! The #PurpleWave was in full force at the budget oversight hearing for @OSSEDC ! TEN PAVE Parent Leaders testified, urging @councilofdc to: 📚 Update legislation to require OSSE to publish a list of curriculum used by each school in all grades for literacy and math, indicating which meet the standards for High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM). 💸 BONUS: This is a no-cost ask! 💸 🎯 Maintain $3M in funding for high-impact tutoring, which is proven to boost students' academic achievement and their attendance 💼 Protect funding for the Advanced Technical Center so more kids graduate prepared for college & career success

💐 Happy Mother's Day! 💐 Let's raise a glass to all the mamas and mother figures - you are the heartbeat of your families and communities 💜 PAVE wouldn't exist without all the dedicated mothers advocating for their kids and all kids in DC. We are so grateful to all of you and hope you feel all the love and celebration today!

🍎 Have you thanked a teacher this week? 🍎 Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all the teachers! We're sending extra love to the PAVE Parent Leaders who are also educators (some of whom are pictured here!) - THANK YOU for all you do to support our babies, both in and out of the classroom 💜 The future of DC is bright thanks to all of you!!

📚 Parents want our education system to invest in academic supports that work for our kids! Currently only 1 out of 3 DC students are reading on grade level, and 1 out of 4 can do math on grade level. High-impact tutoring (HIT) is one of the most effective ways to boost student achievement, helping our kids close gaps, build confidence, and love learning. Hear from Ward 7 Parent Leader DaSean Jones @WDCJones2 about why he advocates for HIT - and stay tuned to hear from more PAVE Parent Leaders about why Academics is a top #ParentPriority for them! 💜 #HighImpactTutoring #ParentPower

💸 To keep up our first-in-the-nation academic progress, DC has to keep funding what works for our kids. Join us in asking our elected leaders to invest in our future by prioritizing academics and whole-child supports in this year’s budget! Add your voice to our budget petition: link.dcpave.org/budget-petition

PAVE Parent Leaders won’t stop fighting to make sure our kids have the resources & opportunities they need to thrive! In just one week, 9 Parent Leaders testified in support of their #ParentPriorities at the budget oversight hearings for DBH, @dcpublicschools, @dcpcsb, @dmefordc, @dcsboe, & @dc.advocate. Highlights from our Parent Leaders’ advocacy last week: 📣 Ward 8 Parent Leader Brandi Reese went to the Hill to meet with Congress as part of @uplan_usa ‘s National Gathering 📣 Ward 5 Parent Leader Yolanda Anderson testified in-person for the first time to advocate for proven academic supports, including high-impact tutoring (HIT) & educator professional development!

💸 We need @councilofdc to maintain DC's $3 million investment in high-impact tutoring in the FY27 budget! 💸 HIT is proven to be one of the most effective academic supports, improving students' reading & math skills, test scores, attendance, AND confidence! At a time when 62.4% of DC students are below grade level in literacy, 73.6% are below grade level in math, and 40% are chronically absent, we need to support our kids with programs that we know work. ▶️ Hear from DC students about about the progress they have made with HIT & why their tutor matters in this video 🔗 Learn more about what the research, parents, students, AND our Councilmembers have to say about HIT: mailchi.mp/dcpave/hit-fy27

🗳️🚨 Election Day is just 2 short months away, and we need our candidates to prioritize the future of DC: our kids! Hear from our Parent Leaders, partners, and community members about why they #Vote4DCKids 💜

High-impact tutoring (HIT) makes a big difference for our kids, improving their academic performance, attendance, and confidence! We are grateful that the District's $3 million investment in HIT is maintained in the Mayor's FY27 budget, ensuring students will keep receiving this vital academic support 💜 💸 Stay tuned for more updates on education funding after the full budget is released!

📣 Sound off: Why do YOU want DC kids to be a top priority for our elected officials and candidates?

This week we co-hosted Education Forums for At-Large Councilmember and Mayoral candidates, and heard from so many Parent Leaders & community members about why they're prioritizing our kids & their education when they cast their vote. Check out some of the reasons they #Vote4DCKids 💜

🗳️💜 Election season is upon us, and here at PAVE that means one thing - it's time to #Vote4DCKids !

DC already has schools that are implementing the academic practices that we know work for students. Now, we need our policymakers to continue invest in these supports in the FY27 budget so ALL kids across our public education system can access high-quality academics! 💸 THANK YOU to the Friendship Armstrong team for hosting us and sharing the incredible work you're doing for your students 💜

Our Parent Leaders were blown away by the quality of instruction they saw on our tour! Some of their favorite parts: 📚 Explicit phonics instruction building students' foundational skills 🎨 Freedom of learning for Pre-K students in the Reggio Emilia Learning Center 👩🏾‍🏫 Teachers empowering students while holding high expectations 🫶🏾 Strong classroom culture that fosters a learning-focused environment and builds students' confidence ✏️ Kindergarten students using the skills they've built in a creative writing activity 🔬 Seeing science and engineering work on display in the halls, showcasing Friendship Armstrong's strong academics beyond literacy!

📖 The best way to understand what strong academics look like in schools is to see them firsthand! 📖 Our Citywide and Advisory PLE Boards toured @FriendshipPCS Armstrong campus to see effective literacy instruction in action and learn more about how Friendship is using evidence-based supports like high-quality instructional materials, educator professional development in the science of reading, and high-impact tutoring to drive student achievement! Last year, @fpcsarmstrong grew their ELA proficiency rates by 4.5 percentage points for elementary school students & 4.3 percentage points for middle school students, and Armstrong Middle was recognized as a Bold School for how they're moving the needle for students furthest from opportunity.