Time to celebrate 20 years of the Freddie Mac Foundation!

Higher Achievement, D.C. Metro has a lot to celebrate this week. In recognition of the Freddie Mac Foundation’s 20- year anniversary, Higher Achievement created a video to highlight the investments made in the organization since 2000.

Over the years, Higher Achievement has grown in many ways thanks to the strong partnership with the Freddie Mac Foundation. In 2000, Higher Achievement’s operating budget was a small 200,000 dollars, and the Freddie Mac Foundation invested 13,000 dollars to impact 50 scholars. Eleven years later, Higher Achievement, D.C. Metro has grown to a 2.6 million dollar organization impacting over 500 scholars.

Thank you, to the Freddie Mac Foundation for positively impacting the lives of our scholars and the organization since 2000. Congratulations on 20 years!

Groundbreaking Study Proves Impact of Higher Achievement

About the study

Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) and Dr. Leigh Linden from The University of Texas at Austin recently conducted a groundbreaking summer study and 24-month preliminary evaluation (the study, in its entirety, will last 48 months) of Higher Achievement’s rigorous afterschool and summer academic program.

Key findings

The studies find that Higher Achievement's program signifcantly increases students' reading and math scores. Additionally, the findings point to an increase in students' desire to attend competitive high schools.

• The longstanding Higher Achievement model is making a difference in the academic lives of motivated, at-risk students who could easily fall through the cracks.



• Higher Achievement's intensive year-round program had a signifcant impact on youth's standardized reading and math test scores.



• The study also shows that Higher Achievement regularly engages parents, with 64 percent of parents of children attending the program confirming at their first-year follow-up that they spoke to Higher Achievement staff about their child's progress at least once a month.

Looking ahead

Many recognize that there is not one all inclusive solution to improving student achievement, but these shorter-term results show positive momentum and concretely demonstrate the ongoing value of HigherAchievement - a program that warrants, and is undergoing, further research to demonstrate its effectiveness as youth transition from the program into high school.

Higher Achievement embarked on a national expansion in 2009 and currently operates in Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, Richmond, VA and will open operations in Pittsburgh, PA in 2011.

DC Metro GoingPlaces! Gala – Thank You, Sponsors!

The DCMetro GoingPlaces! Gala is coming up on October 13. A big thank you and shout out to the amazing sponors who have made it possible!

If you’d like to purchase tickets or add your company’s name to this star-studded list, visit us by clicking here.

$25,000
First Potomac Realty Trust
Bates White Economic Consulting
Quadrangle Development Corporation
Vornado/Charles E. Smith
Freddie Mac Foundation
EagleBank
Annette M. & Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation

$15,000
Stephen B. Goldstein & Antonietta Corvasce
Clark Construction
Mollie and Sam Schear
Robert H. Smith Family Foundation
Robert & Arlene Kogod Family Foundation
Arnold & Porter

$10,000
Lehman Smith McLeish
Velsor Properties, LLC
The Jerry Taylor and Nancy Bryant Foundation
Metropolitan Properties
Building Maintenance Service
HFF, L.P.
Douglas Development
ADI Construction
HITT Contracting
Eastern Waterproofing and Restoration, Inc
Artemis Real Estate Partners
Altria
Ratner Companies

$7,500
Mayer Brown
Turner Construction Company
Eastdil Secured/Wells Fargo
Sameer and Nimisha Bhargava
Schindler Elevator Corporation
Otis Elevator
Noblis

$5,000
John and Carol Boochever
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Unifor
Williams & Connolly LLP
OTJ Architects
KPMG
SIGAL Construction Corporation
Red Coats, Inc.
Cushman & Wakefield
US Bank
Holland & Knight
EvensonBest/Knoll
Raymond & Anne Ritchey
Balfour Beatty Construction
Tom & Alison Cassels
The John Akridge Company
Cassidy Turley
Admiral Security Services
Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company - Commercial Services, Washington DC
Mark G. Anderson Consultants
Tishman Speyer
Securitas Security Services
Offit Kurman
Arent Fox LLP
GHT Limited
Pelli Clarke Pelli Architechts
The JBG Companies
Harmon Inc
VIKA Incorporated
Eng Garcia Properties, LLC
USAA Real Estate Company
Forest City Washington
The Kaplan, Small, & Gewirz Families
WDG Architecture
Wilkes Artis, Chartered
Venable LLP
Noblis
Hartman Design Group, Inc.
Burns & Associates
Restoration East, Inc
The Bresler Family Foundation
Bowman Consulting Group
Kastle Systems International, LLC
Angelo, Gordon & Co.
Western Development
Capital One
Cooper Carey
KeyBank MA
The Eisen Group
Federal Realty Investment Trust
CB Richard Ellis
StructureTone
Kettler Inc.
Donatelli Development
Perseus, LLC
James G. Davis Construction Corporation
Pickard Chilton
Steven Roth

$2,500
Scott & Jamie Hoffman
Ernie & Julie Wittich
Tadjer Cohen Edelson
Laurie Kramer & Family
Events DC

$1,000
Art Display
Edge Construction
International Limousine
ECS Mid-Atlantic
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
SK&A
CresaPartners
JP Morgan
Bender Foundation/Blake Real Estate
Atlantic Services Group
Anna Flores
Bohler Engineering
Mitch Bonanno
Federal Capital Partners
The Ezra Company
Ted Billies
Brendan & Delphine Owen
Bruce McNair
Tracy & Adam Bernstein
Shalom Baranes Associates, P.C
Michael E. Kelley
Ober Kaler
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Global Impact Funding Trust, Inc.
Paul Sowter
Bruce McNair

The Power of Higher Achievement Mentors

Christa making ice cream with her three scholars, Abby, Alvir and Ryan, during mentoring at Higher Achievement.

Higher Achievement mentors are making things happen! This week, a partnership between Georgetown Cupcake and Higher Achievement was born thanks to the hard work of one dedicated Alexandria mentor.

Christa Koskosky, an Assistant Manager at Georgetown Cupcake, started mentoring at the Alexandria Achievement Center in 2010 and successfully mobilized her company to donate over 1,000 personalized Georgetown Cupcakes for three of Higher Achievement DC Metro’s regional events this year.

“As you can imagine, my scholars were excited to learn that I worked at Georgetown Cupcake and the good news quickly spread throughout Center! I had other scholars asking me if I could bring in cupcakes for their birthday or their mom's birthday or their brother's birthday--it was pretty adorable,” said Christa when asked about her inspiration behind her idea.

“I realized that I couldn't meet all these needs, so I decided to approach the management at Georgetown Cupcake to see if they would be interested in supporting Higher Achievement. Needless to say, they were eager to support an employee who works with such an upstanding and wonderful organization.”

Higher Achievement creates lasting change – putting individual students on a path to success, breaking the cycle of poverty for families, and strengthening the social fabric of communities. A champion of Higher Achievement’s mission, Christa builds awareness around education and middle school youth by mobilizing her personal network in support of Higher Achievement’s mission, always looking for ways to support the organization and its middle school scholars.

Since opening in 2008, Georgetown Cupcake has donated tens of thousands of cupcakes to charitable causes. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter, and check their community page regularly for information on exciting upcoming fundraisers and events.

Thank you Christa and thank you Georgetown Cupcake!