A new Chinese language immersion charter school is the latest to move into the Brookland area, where other charters are facing steep opposition from neighbors for reasons ranging from potential traffic problems to draining funds from public schools.

The Washington Yu Ying public charter school is the first in the District to offer Chinese immersion education, with all subjects taught in Chinese and English on alternating days within a curriculum of the international baccalaureate program. The school held an informational meeting and lantern festival at Turkey Thicket Feb. 23 that was very well attended with families from a range of diverse backgrounds.

A handful of residents also came to the event to protest charter schools. One sign read, “Why are 21 DCPS schools closing at the same time that charter schools like Yu Ying are springing up everywhere?” The protesters were part of the group Save Our Neighborhood Schools, which formed to oppose the school closings plan.

Yu Ying Executive Director Mary Shaffner said she is hoping local residents will see her charter school as a unique asset to the neighborhood.

But two other charter schools planning moves into Brookland are under fire from neighbors. Residents are opposing the move of Elsie Whitlow Stokes charter school to 3700 Oakview Terrace NE, because narrow streets and its location in a cul-de-sac prevent adequate access to the school. And neighbors are opposing Lighthouse Charter School, slated to move to 8th and Varnum streets NE, over traffic and safety concerns.

Many residents are concerned about the overall proliferation of charter schools and the “matter of right” they have under law to open in areas some see as unfit for a school.

Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. told DC North there are 14 charter schools planned in Ward 5 and more are coming. He said he views charters “as all public schools” and that “there has to be cooperation” among those schools and the traditional public schools.

Thomas said that while the issue of charter schools is not currently on the council’s agenda in terms of its oversight of the mayor’s school closings plan, eventually it is an issue that should be included in the discussion. He said one possibility is making traditional public schools more competitive, by having open enrollment or through other means.

Yu Ying is set to open in September at its location in Brady Hall at 4401 8th Street NE, where it plans to stay for three years. The school is currently accepting applications for PreK 4 year-olds, kindergarten and first grade. The school expects to grow to 8th grade by 2015.

Hispanic Chamber Distributes Ward 5 Small Business Grants
The Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has announced that it is distributing grants to help promote five small businesses in Ward 5 -- Café Sureia, Bobby’s Q, Bubba’s Muscogee Restaurant, Windows Café & Market and Capital Construction Group LLC.

The promotion of the small businesses is part of the Hispanic Chamber’s first-time move into Ward 5, on the heels of major development plans for the area. Each business will receive $2,000 for print advertising, the chamber announced at the Ward 5 Economic Summit Feb. 23.

The chamber is also looking at the possibility of having an additional Ward 5 business, Alston Marketing Group, produce the advertisements. Opportunities are ripe for new small businesses to open given the many development projects planned in Ward 5, several officials said at the economic summit.

“Right now is a great time to come forward with a retail idea,” said Steve Moore of the WDC Economic Partnership.

The public-private partnership is forming a “retail action strategy” in part to find local people to open stores, as the demand for more retail in the district greatly outstrips the supply, Moore said. The retail strategy will review 20 submarkets across the city to determine what services are currently available and what more is needed in specific areas. “It’s the biggest look across the city ever,” Moore said.

The funds for the Ward 5 business promotion are coming from Wal-Mart’s Jobs and Opportunity Zone (JOZ) program, an initiative designed to deepen the company’s involvement in local communities, according to Wal-Mart. The Hispanic Chamber worked with Councilmember Thomas’ office to help choose the grant recipients.

Neighbors Push For New Recreation Center on NY Avenue
Ward 5 neighbors are working to get support from the community for a new recreation center building at the New York Avenue Playground, saying expanded services at the playground would be an essential part of the larger effort across the city to reduce youth violence.

“A lack of recreation has caused a lot of the violence and the trauma to our neighborhood,” Joyce Robinson-Paul of Friends of New York Avenue Playground said at a Bates Area Civic Association meeting in February.

The coalition of concerned neighbors says the community benefits of a “safe haven” in the Truxton Circle area would be a decrease in idle, destructive youth and juvenile delinquency. They also envision the space as an all-ages center that would benefit senior citizens by reducing their isolation and improve the physical and mental well being of all the local residents.

The building currently at the playground is insufficient for the multiple uses and expanded programming the coalition envisions, Robinson-Paul said at the meeting. The coalition wants the building torn down and replaced with a bigger facility that can house a range of recreation and leisure services for all ages.

The coalition of neighbors working to get city funding for the new recreation center building have already had major successes in improving the playground. In 2000, the coalition’s efforts to replace concrete playground equipment reaped a $160,000 grant from the city that went for safer, new equipment for the tot and teen area.

And just last year, after a several years long effort, the playground finally got refurbished basketball courts. The new courts are now the best in the city, according to Terrance Judge, president of the Metropolitan Basketball League.

The League hosts a big basketball tournament at the site in the summer, and Judge says the NY Avenue Playground is special in the city because kids from different areas feel welcome there and come together without conflict.

The coalition is working with Councilmember Harry Thomas to look at other new recreation centers in the city and decide what kind of facility would be best at the site. They are also asking for community input on what kinds of services people would want to see.