submitted by Valerie Renk; photo by Karl Wellensiek
Rotarians heard that over nine months of deliberations, surveys and thought, one project was chosen to receive a major grant of $100,000 from our Madison Rotary Foundation, One City Schools. The school is led by Kaleem Caire, School Founder and CEO, and a member of our club. He shared the school’s formula for success at the August 8 club meeting.
Caire shared a video illustrating the goals of the school: equalizing advantages. The school is designed to be a place where young students can feel school was a home, and where other families can experience diversity.
“Our goal is to decrease the achievement gap while meeting the needs of our community,” Caire says.
Ages one through five, with a total of 97 children, are served at the school. The school has been open three years and offers breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack with their own in-house chef. They offer learning, not just education.
They address the health of the family, their financial situation, and are a resource center for the families. “If we can decrease stress, we can increase opportunities and the student is happier,” Caire says.
They have many partners, the first of which was the Madison Children’s Museum. They are supported by 1,216 individuals and 63 institutional donors. This fall, the school splits into two schools with a 4k and 5k charter school addition. This will also provide new funding through charter school funding.
Why is it called One City? “People kept telling me they don’t know what to do to help,” Caire says. “Yes, you do. Invest in early childhood with deep, student driven-learning for success. “You are going to hire young people one day, and we need them to be innovators in life and in work.” Caire says.
Our thanks to WisEye for videotaping our meeting this week. You can watch the video here.
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 