Take Five 🖐🏾 - November 2025

Thank you for your incredible support of Take Five🖐🏾!
CARE Brookland is committed to advancing education in our vibrant community for Black and Brown students—and what a month it’s been!

Since launching the first Take Five newsletter, we’ve made powerful mutual aid and advocacy connections:

Through our Howard Hospital connection, we’re coordinating an in-kind baby formula donation to support parent-students at Luke C. Moore (LCM)
Community members stepping up to speak with LCM students about second chances, inspiring hope for their future
A testimonial to the council from Toni Criner, DC advocate, community leader, and LCM Logistics Director, on why overcrowding at DYRS Youth Services Centers matters:

“Overcrowding doesn’t just strain physical resources—it impacts mental health, safety, and the ability to provide meaningful programs that can help youth turn their lives around. For many DC youth, these centers are supposed to be places of support and change…”

We are amazed by the many ways our community is standing up for students. Take Five🖐🏾 is an intentional avenue for professionals to leverage their networks and resources to amplify the strategies needed for a brighter future for our youth. We got this!

Let’s keep going—you are a valuable asset to the revolution for Black and Brown children in our community. This month, we’re focusing on Noyes Elementary School.

Announcements

Join Us For Our Open House!

We’re excited to share our vision for what public education in Brookland can be. Mark your calendars for December 17th for a Holiday house gathering and come hungry for change and ready to talk!

Save the Date!

RSVP

Welcome CARE Brookland’s Educator Advancement Team!

Bunker Hill ES | Burroughs ES | Noyes ES | Brookland MS | Luke C. Moore OA

This program is designed to intentionally invest in our educators—their hopes and dreams for their students, and their vision for creating phenomenal classrooms. These visions are powerful, and together, we’re building the foundation for transformative learning experiences.

We asked our cohort what they are the most excited about:

“Meeting other leaders and educators in the CARE Brookland family.”

“Meeting new people and learning new skills!”

“I am looking forward to the interchanging of ideas…”

School Highlights

The Strength of Stability

Principal Burks loves his school and the Brookland community. For over a decade, he has served as a tireless leader, guiding the school through transformative milestones—from Obama’s Turnaround Arts Program to the challenges of the pandemic, and an educator earning the Milken Educator Award, and now being honored with the Bold Performance Award. When leaders stay, transformation happens. Join us in celebrating the heart and vision Principal Burks brings, and honor his unwavering leadership.

Noyes Elementary School

Wake Up!
If you’ve been sleeping on the power moving through Noyes Elementary School, it’s time to rise from your slumber and take notice. Each morning, as students enter their community, families—between English and Spanish—send them off with kisses, hugs, and countless “I love yous.” Brookland Middle School students walk their younger siblings to school and then walk down the block to head to class.

At Noyes, a vibrant community of students—96% of whom are students of color—continues to shine, and the recognition keeps coming:

Ariel Horton, Milken Educator Award recipient
2025 Bold Performance School
Highly successful Walking Bus Initiative protecting immigrant families

This month, we are focusing on the amazing work of Noyes Elementary’s Mrs. Colombo, and a powerful mutual aid opportunity that we should all take notice.

Breaking the ICE

Just weeks ago, families gathered to learn from a community lawyer how to protect themselves from ICE raids that tear parents away from their children. A dedicated father of Noyes was recently taken by ICE, making the journey to school feel frightening instead of joyful.

But in the face of oppression, the incredible staff and volunteers at Noyes Elementary are standing strong for our students and for Brookland.

Noyes Stands Up for Its Students

Margaret Colombo, ESOL Coordinator, took the call-to-action to keep families together. Her efforts have launched new Walking Buses, a community-driven initiative where volunteers walk with students to ensure safety and protection. Today, 15 volunteers from a nearby apartment building dedicate their mornings to this mission.

Mrs. Colombo also organized a workshop with a community lawyer to ensure immigrant families know their rights and have the resources they need to stay safe.

To learn more about the crucial work Mrs. Colombo does, reach out to us for a slide deck and additional critical information.

Mutual Aid Opportunity

Check Up from the Neck Up

District Dads is a powerful, intentional program for Black fathers in Ward 8—but somehow Ward 5, and especially Brookland, often gets left out of opportunities designed for fathers navigating fatherhood, trauma, street life, and the journey of turning their lives around for their children.

Noyes Elementary listens to their Black fathers and want to create space for their growth and progress. Truth is, when parents are strong, children thrive.

We need your support to make this happen. We saw the incredible work you did for Luke C. Moore; now let’s explore how you can help Noyes:

Provide a social worker or mental health professional willing to lead a fatherhood series at Noyes
Donate resources and/or funds, to contract a mental health specialist for this initiative
Share connections—anyone you know who can help make this critical touchpoint a reality

Together, we can build a stronger foundation for fathers and families in Brookland.

Need inspiration? Check out this music video from Sho Baraka👈🏽

Click here to share your connections, ideas and ways to support.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” ~ President Barack Obama

Youth Policy Now

Last month, a day after CARE Brookland’s Take Five newsletter, Ward 5 Councilmember Parker released his 16-bill policy package named “Coordinating Assistance, Rehabilitation, and Empowerment (C.A.R.E.) for Youth Plan”. CARE Brookland’s Philip Villano has created accessible summaries for each bill. As public hearings for these bill begin this month, CARE Brookland believes in an informed community. Together we can hold our city government accountable.

Note: With Brookland Middle School and LCM students in mind, we’ve highlighted three key policy points every Brooklander should watch closely.

Wed, Nov 5

What’s in the C.A.R.E. for Youth Policy Proposals?

What you need to know about the new C.A.R.E. for Youth Policy Package.

Fresh Off the Press: 🗞️🗞️🗞️

Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit

CM. Parker’s Video Statement

Community Events

In the month of Thanksgiving, make sure that our entire community has enough to eat. Consider donating to an area food bank.

Don’t know where to look? Use this map to find when and where to donate!

Together, we can work to ensure that no student or family goes hungry!

Where: Anywhere on the map!
When: Anytime!

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The Burroughs Elementary School PTO is running their second annual Holiday Pie Sale and would truly appreciate your support! They are selling fresh-baked pies from Clement's Pastry Shop in Hyattsville. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any fall get-together and 50% of sales help fund JBES school programs.

Where: Order with this online form.
When: Today, November 5, is the last day to order!

Pickup:
- Where: Outside of 1925 Newton Street NE
- When: Monday & Tuesday, November 24 - 25, 3:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
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Public Hearings on the C.A.R.E. for Youth Plan: The Committee on Youth Affairs has announced 2 hearings on this policy package. If you are available, consider attending these hearings to ensure our lawmakers hear your support and questions for these important bills. You may also submit written testimony to make your voice heard.

Hearing #1:

Where: Room 123 at the John A. Wilson Building
When: Thursday, November 13, 9:00 a.m.
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Hearing #2:

Where: Room 123 at the John A. Wilson Building
When: Wednesday, November 19, 10:30 a.m.
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Grocery Bags for our Neighbors: Councilmember Parker is distributing Thanksgiving grocery bags this month! Grocery bags will contain green beans, cornbread mix, stuffing mix, instant mashed potatoes, gravy mix, and corn.

How: To reserve a bag, click here. To volunteer, click here.
When: Thursday, November 20

Take Action!

We’d Love Your Feedback!
Got ideas to make the CARE Brookland Take Five newsletter even better? Whether it’s topics you’d like to see, ways to improve the format, or creative additions—we’re all ears. Share your thoughts, suggestions, or feedback here. Let’s build something great together!

Click here.

A Note to You

Thank you for joining this journey to make our schools a better, safer, more empowering place for our students. We are building in Brookland, and this letter is just the start. As we continue, join us with your time, your ideas, and your community.