Dear Friends of CLI,
I am pleased to announce that the William Penn Foundation has awarded Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) a $1 million grant to dramatically expand our proven model in Philadelphia public, charter and parochial schools.
Check out the coverage:
• William Penn Foundation
Recently, CLI presented at the Council of Great City Schools Conference in Indianapolis, IN. CLI’s CAO, Rahshene Davis’s, presentation was called “Building on the Strengths of Teachers: Improving Student Literacy Achievement in Chicago, IL.” Check out the student writing and teacher reflection below that demonstrates the great work i3 work happening in Chicago!
Kindergarten Classroom, i3 Chicago
The Chicago Tribune recently published an article detailing CLI’s impact on increasing student literacy in Chicago. The article includes an interview with Cardenas principal Jeremy Feiwell and first-grade model teacher Marisela Aguirre as well as a tour of Aguirre’s classroom. This article reflects the great work that CLI staff and PDs are doing as well as the effectiveness of our model in raising student reading proficiency.
Earlier this week, Frederick Douglass Charter School hosted a visit from Philadelphia’s Mayor Nutter. The visit demonstrated the new partnership between Young Scholars Academies and Children’s Literacy Initiative. Scholar Academies is a non-profit, charter management organization that exists to close the achievement gap by operating a network of urban charter schools.
CLI was nominated by Chase card members and employees to participate in the 2012 Chase Community Giving Program.
As we continue to gear up for the start of the school year CLI would like to share reflections from CLI Model Classroom teachers about the impact they had on their students. We are excited to continue our work this year by building on the strengths of teachers to create sustainable change.
To gear up for the upcoming school year CLI would like to share letters from last year’s students reflecting on what they learned. Check back next week for reflections from CLI Model Classroom teachers!


?Recently, we held our i3 National Meeting “Investing in Excellence: Building on the Strengths of Teachers” which was an opportunity for principals and district leaders to gather and discuss current topics in education.
The Fund for CLI’s Future, an evening reception, was held at WHYY on June 27, 2012.