By the time she graduated nine weeks later, she says she knew she wanted her boys to stick with the Zone, drawn in by the sense of community. She enrolled Isaiah, Ezekiel and later Sarah, in the "Harlem Gems" preschool program. Next came the Promise Academy. About that time, however, New York public housing moved her family to a high-rise project in Staten Island.
But she says of the Zone: "This is not something I'm willing to give up."
She says the four-hour round-trip commute is well worth it. Ezekiel, a quiet child who devours books during the bus, ferry and subway rides to and from school, got perfect scores on his state tests this spring, his mother says.
Isaiah, an extroverted, smiley kid who charms other commuters with his short, neat dreadlocks and eyeglasses chain and sweater vest, hasn't done as well academically. However, the charter school acts as a second parent, she says, reinforcing her own values about reading and studying and being polite.
The Zone's programs are expensive; last fiscal year's budget was $50 million and this year's is $58 million.
To keep the coffers filled, Canada and his board members court millionaire donors, New York's hedge-fund managers, bankers and investors. The donor list from the past two years includes 153 private citizens, corporations and government sources.
With the money flowing, Canada has assembled an army of 1,300 part- and full-time employees. More than 100 "PeaceMakers," given small stipends by AmeriCorps and by the Zone, are deployed at Harlem's charter and public schools. And dozens of grateful parents, like Altheo Serrao, volunteer at the charter schools, setting up chairs or helping teachers keep their rooms tidy.
Canada has created a disciplined environment; he says he fires about a dozen employees a year who do not meet his standards. A four-person evaluation department tracks and measures each program, and Canada shares that information with his donors and would-be donors.
Program results from last year show that mothers who take the Baby College parent education classes made their homes safer and physically disciplined their children less. Almost half of toddlers enrolled in the Harlem Gems pre-kindergarten classes tested as "advanced" or "very advanced" in school readiness. Those tots are learning three languages: English, Spanish and French.
