East Durham Pilot Project

KidZNotes launched a three-year pilot project in East Durham during the 2010-11 school year. We are working initially with children from Kindergarten and Grade 3, ages 5  to 9, in after-school sessions at three of East Durham’s elementary schools.

As the program rolls out, we will add the after-school program at other local elementary schools and, subsequently, at the local middle school. All instruments, instruction, and materials will be supplied at no charge to children and their families, and participation will be strictly on a voluntary basis. KidZNotes will also sponsor field trips and local activities for neighborhood children and their families.

As a collaborator in the East Durham Children’s Initiative (EDCI), KidZNotes‘ three-year pilot project will serve children in East Durham’s poorest neighborhoods, where the elementary schools are the lowest-performing in the city.  Census data from 2000 put the general area’s median per capita income at $11,184 – 50 percent of the citywide average. Median household income was $25,616 – 62 percent of the median for the City of Durham. At the time of the 2000 census, only 25 percent of the housing units were owner-occupied, a persistent challenge that contributes to unstable populations in the neighborhoods.

Holton Center

Like the EDCI, KidZNotes plans to take advantage of the newly-renovated Holton Community Career and Resource Center, which serves the East Durham area.  The Holton Center is ideally situated and affords opportunities for KidZNotes’ weekend and evening concerts and events. Housing a vocational school and career center, a Duke Medical Clinic, and extensive recreational facilities, the Holton Center is designed as a comprehensive community resource.

With carefully-documented success in East Durham’s pilot project, KidZNotes will expand to other areas of Durham and North Carolina.

To learn more about the East Durham Children’s Initiative, go to: http://eastdurhamchildrensinitiative.org/