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Atlanta, Georgia Community Redevelopment - A National Model for Community Redevelopment - East Lake has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute as a national model for community redevelopment. The new East Lake includes: The Villages of East Lake, a mixed-income apartment community with half market-rate and half government-subsidized apartment homes and on-site resident programs managed by Mercy Housing; Charles R. Drew Charter School, the city of Atlanta’s first public charter school, which is managed by Edison Schools, Inc., now serving grades K-8 and offering a comprehensive curriculum and before and after school programs emphasizing high achievement and character development; the East Lake Family YMCA located adjacent to the school; the Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Center for children from birth to kindergarten; and the Charlie Yates Golf Course, a public, mid-length, 18-hole golf course, that is the home of The First Tee?of East Lake, a year-round golf and mentoring program for area youth. Net proceeds from the Charlie Yates Golf Course, the East Lake Golf Club and the PGA Tour’s season-ending TOUR Championship held at East Lake Golf Club every year benefit East Lake community programs. TOUR Championship tickets are available online. As beautiful as the buildings are, it’s what happening inside them that is making all the difference. With adult residents taking advantage of career development, job and life skills training and financial literacy classes and East Lake youth being offered strong educational support from pre-school to high school, the East Lake community is thriving.
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Atlanta Business Chronicle
September 7-13, 2007
By Jan Costello
Charter School's first class bound for graduation
While the PGA Tour stars are competing for top honors at The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola, a sweeping victory is unfolding at Drew Charter School, one of the major programs supported by the East Lake Foundation, a tournament beneficiary. The fifth graders who walked through the doors of the new school in 2000 now are seniors, and all of them are on track to graduate.
The high graduation rate contrasts sharply with Georgia's public school average: Roughly 56 percent graduate on time, according to the Education Research Center, putting Georgia third to last in the nation.
"Our first group of Drew alumni has distinguished itself with high academic achievement," said Eurith Bowen, High School Connection Program adviser.
The high graduation rate is the result of a comprehensive, well-funded and focused effort beginning with Drew's High School Connection Program, which targets sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.
Beginning in sixth grade, Bowen works with Drew Charter's middle-school students, helping them learn about their high school options, from magnet to private schools. By eighth grade, she has helped every student and their families pick the best high school to meet the student's needs.
In high school, the support network continues with the CREW (Creating Responsible, Educated and Working) Teens program, which offers after-school tutorials, standardized test preparation, community service and leadership training, career advisement, and help with navigating the college admissions and financial-aid process.
Chris Bennett, the program's director, also attends parent-teacher meetings (with the parent's permission) when the parent can't get off work or attend.
This support is available to all youth in the East Lake community, not just the charter school alumni.
When Atlanta real estate developer Tom Cousins decided to restore the East Lake Golf Club, he already had been working on rehabilitating the neighborhood. East Lake Golf Club's founding sponsors have contributed more than $20 million to the revitalization effort, which included the creation of the Drew Charter School.
Other support is provided by foundations, governmental entities and individuals.
The result of this wide net of support is that the students graduate and many go on to college or vocational schools. Nearly $1 million in college scholarships have been established exclusively for Drew alumni, including special endowments at The University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.
Jessica Stillwell, a 17-year-old senior at Southside Comprehensive High School in Atlanta, has not yet decided where she will attend college, although she is attracted to the business school at UGA. She transferred to Drew Charter School in sixth grade, and appreciates the opportunities it gave her.
"If you place people in a good environment, where they see good opportunity for themselves, it gives people more hope," Stillwell said. "It's a new atmosphere. When people are placed in this situation, they end up doing better, and I ended up doing better myself."
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