Our Affiliated Site: Brookland Middle School in Washington, D.C.

facts about Brookland Middle School:

  • Grades Served: Sixth – eighth grade
  • Current Enrollment: 345 students
  • Facility Description: Built in 2016, the 100,000 square foot school has a full-size gymnasium, practice and performance spaces and a media center in addition to standard classrooms and office space.
  • Faculty: The schools employ a of 27 teachers and 7 administrators. The teacher to student ratio is 17:1.
  • Academic Schedule: The school year typically begins the first week of August and ends the second week of May. Normal holidays are observed.
  • Meals: Breakfast and lunch are provided every school day. One hundred percent of the students are enrolled on the Federal Free or Reduced-Price Meal program.
  • Communities in Schools: Communities in Schools (CIS) is an organization that works within the school to improve community involvement and provide support for at-risk children. CIS also serves to administer the Children Incorporated sponsorship program at the school level.
  • Basic Needs: Our volunteer coordinator determines the individual needs of each sponsored child and those basic needs are provided to them on a regular basis.

The Brookland neighborhood is located in the Northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C. in Ward 5. For a majority of the 19th century, the area was mainly consisted of farmland, until after the Civil War, in which the population increased dramatically with the expansion of the federal government. Growth continued throughout the 1870s when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened its Western Branch line and the neighborhood changed from country estates toward residential homes appealing to middle class families.

Today, development around the metro station has intensified, and hundreds of new apartments have been built to accommodate families from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, including those living in adject poverty. According to staff at the school, students from impoverished households are faced with the daily, stark realities of food insecurity and lack of basic resources in the home —which causes them to be disproportionally more absent than other students. Thankfully, Brookland Middle School serves as a beacon of hope for these students, their families, and the surrounding community by offering children an education and the opportunity for a brighter future.