The nonprofit D.C. Fight for Children has announced the seven District schools that are finalists in a new program offering $100,000 awards based on academic gains and the percentage of students from low-income households.

The initiative is designed to reward improving city schools.

Finalists were whittled down from a pool of 22. Jeff Travers, director of external relations for D.C. Fight for Children, said a panel of education experts then visited the seven top candidates. Ultimately, three schools will be crowned winners on April 24 and receive $100,000 each.

Unlike awards programs that either honor individual educators or public schools, this one includes traditional public, public charter and private schools in D.C.

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“A big aspect is cross-sector collaboration, which often doesn’t happen in this city,” Travers said. “We want to start that initial conversation.”

The finalists are: Cleveland Elementary School, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, Strong John Thomson Elementary School, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, Capital City Public Charter School, San Miguel Middle School and Washington Jesuit Academy,

The first three are public, next two are charter and final two are private institutions.

Each one is on the list for a different reason, but according to the panel, there are common traits.

Both charter schools provide a teacher and mentor in every classroom, creating stronger levels of instruction, the panel found. The two private schools are male-only with San Miguel focusing on the city’s Hispanic population and Washington Jesuit emphasizing nearly 12-hour school days.

Parental involvement is key, Travers said, particularly at Strong John Thomson, where parents don’t just raise funds, they “play a role in how the school year unfolds.”

Once the winners are chosen, Fight for Children will create a best-practices guide that will be distributed to all city schools, and it will hold a principal forum led by honored schools. The nonprofit also requires the prize money to go back into education pursuits.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com