1140 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite 1200 - Washington, DC 20036 - info@dcscores.org - (202) 393-6999
MISSION
To create neighborhood teams that give kids in need the confidence and skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom, and in life.
VISION
DC SCORES strives to build the whole child. They envision a DC where every child – no matter their family income – experiences the joys of childhood: sports, arts, service, and being part of a team. Where every child is empowered to find academic success and grow into an emotionally and physically healthy teen and adult and every neighborhood supports and celebrates its children and their accomplishments on and off the playing field.
DC SCORES enrolls 3,000 students that are between first and eighth grade. Our program engages approximately 30 students each day at 72 schools and recreation center-based sites in the District of Columbia.
Program Model
DC SCORES is the flagship of national nonprofit America SCORES, which serves 10,000 students annually at more than 175 public and charter schools in 12 major cities. Founded by teacher Julie Kennedy in 1994 who realized that relationships built through teams on soccer fields all the way to activities such as poetry, were imperative to children growing and maturing in their lives. DC SCORES believes in equipping every child with the skills and confidence they need to succeed.
Serving 2,200 low-income DC youth, the innovative model combines poetry and spoken word, soccer, and service-learning projects, and proudly hosts the city’s biggest poetry slam and only public elementary and middle school soccer leagues. Each season, teams of 32 students participate in all aspects of the program: poetry, soccer and service learning. Coaches work with elementary and middle schoolers during the critical after-school hours for over 24 weeks each year.
Soccer
DC SCORES runs the only consistent public soccer leagues for both elementary and middle school youth in the District. During both the spring and fall, each team practices twice a week. Thursday and Friday are game days, when teams from throughout the city play a girls game followed by a boys game.
Service Learning
During the 12-week spring season, students at each school will work together to identify and research an issue in their school and/or community, and then address it with a service-learning plan. Projects range from neighborhood and school cleanups, to awareness campaigns, to raising money for the homeless, and more.
Poetry and Spoken Word
During the 12-week fall model, students learn how to write creatively and perform. Every student writes at least five original poems, and the model culminates with each school performing at the DC SCORES Poetry Slam.
DC United Partnership
In 2015, D.C. United and DC SCORES publicly announced that beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the D.C United Foundation and its United Soccer Club would join forces with award-winning youth development nonprofit DC SCORES to serve more than 2,000 young people across the District of Columbia. By combining efforts, the organizations dramatically enhanced and extended their shared mission to improve low-income children’s physical fitness and confidence while building literacy, increasing school engagement, and deepening their connections to their community.
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