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Tyler is proud to boast of the invaluable partnerships which have been established with various local community organizations and businesses. Currently, Tyler has partnerships with the following groups:

Akin Gump

Since 1997, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a DC law firm has had an amazing partnership with Tyler Elementary.  Akin Gump joined forces with Tyler as part of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs’ Public School Partnership Project, whose initiative was to improve public education in Washington , D.C. — school by school, child by child.  Akin Gump’s partnership with Tyler is rooted in a tutoring and mentoring program that pairs attorneys and staff with students in an effort to further academic achievement among the students.  In addition, Akin has assisted Tyler in countless ways ranging from hosting teacher appreciation luncheons and providing food for families on Back to School Night, to providing legal consultation on various issues including organizing the Tyler PTA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and arranging chartered bus transportation for Tyler students to attend various field trips throughout the DC Metro area.  The firm was integrally involved in the renovation of the school’s magnificent library, including a contribution of $50,000 and countless volunteers who helped set up and decorate.

EVERYBODY WINS!

EVERYBODY WINS! Sponsors its signature program Power Lunch at Tyler .  Power Lunch is a lunchtime literacy and mentoring program proven to improve reading skills and attitudes.  Each week, groups of adult volunteers travel on their lunch breaks to Tyler for one hour of one-on-one reading with an elementary school student who has expressed interest in Power Lunch.  Student-mentor pairs promote the skills and love of reading by reading aloud, sharing favorite stories and talking about books.  Volunteers commit to Power Lunch and their student for one year and are encouraged to continue the mentoring relationship, often following the student throughout their elementary years.

Playworks

Playworks (formerly Sports4Kids) is an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that introduces students to a regimen of traditional playground games like Double Dutch and kickball, along with a more closely supervised version of such team sports as basketball. Sports4Kids addresses the physical, emotional, and cognitive needs of children by creating a structured, safe and inclusive environment on the playground through the coordination of a variety of schoolyard sports and games during recess, lunch, and afterschool.  The program stresses conflict resolution, with disagreements mediated by, of all things, rock-paper-scissors.

Each Sports4Kids site coordinator works at their school five days a week, throughout the school day and after school, to lead games and physical activities based. Tyler teachers also receive training, so they can assist the site coordinators in reintroducing physical activity into the school day

Turning the Page

Turning the Page (TTP) is a Washington , DC based non profit organization that believes that families are D.C. public schools’ most important community resource. TTP helps local schools build connections with families and gives families the tools and resources to become more actively involved in their children’s education.  TTP sponsors a school-based parent involvement initiative at Tyler called “Community Nights.” Community Nights are fun and interactive evenings that include parent workshops, child mentoring, book giveaways, and a free, healthy dinner!!

Tyler parents receive helpful advice and share their experiences in workshops that highlight the vital role parents play in their children’s academic success. All parent workshops are based in children’s literature and feature interactive, hands-on activities. While parents attend workshops, TTP volunteers read and do educational activities with the kids. At the end of the night, each child selects a book to take for their own home library.  As a special treat, twice a year well-known children’s authors and storytellers come to perform and provide free, signed copies of their work!!  By the end of the Community Nights series, families receive more than 30 free books!

Turning the Page holds at least eight (8) Community Nights during the school year.  In the past, Tyler has hosted Community Nights on Wednesday evenings from 6pm to 8pm.  Please check the school calendar  for this year’s schedule.

DC Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative

In Spring 2005, the DC Collaborative launched the Arts Education Initiative (AEI), a multifaceted pilot project to establish a District-wide Arts Education Plan that includes arts experiences, arts learning, and arts integration.  Through a comprehensive partnership with several DC public and chartered public schools, DC Collaborative has since developed, piloted, refined, and adopted a model process for collaboration in an urban school setting, to effect school change and enhance student learning. AEI enables collaborators, classroom teachers, school arts specialists, teaching artists, and cultural organizations’ to plan, lead, and evaluate each partner school’s arts education programming more effectively. As a result, all schools involved in the AEI have greater access to equitable, high-quality arts education opportunities that support local learning standards and curriculum objectives. In 2008, Tyler was selected to partner with the DC Arts Education Collaborative to take advantage of its innovative arts program integrating art across the curriculum and improving students’ access to arts and culture.

This partnership truly flourished in the Spring of 2009 when Tyler had its first ever Arts Community Night. This evening was the culmination of a year-long partnership with the DC Arts and Humanities Collaborative. The audience enjoyed performances of poetry and dance by each class, musical and singing selections, an amazing visual arts exhibit, and Tyler’s first ever silent auction.