March 5, 2012 The Honorable Councilwoman Muriel Bowser Council of the District of Columbia 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004 Greetings Councilwoman Bowser: As you know, violence in the community surrounding Roosevelt Senior High School has been a strong concern of the executive team, the teachers, students, families, alumni and friends of Roosevelt. At least two of our students have suffered gang-related violence in the community, and one former student was the intended victim of a drive-by shooting on Georgia Avenue within yards of the school. The violence deeply affects the learning abilities of those students who must travel through these treacherous areas to reach school, and we seek to transform this reality into something much more positive for the young adults who attend Roosevelt. Our principal, Mr. Ivor Mitchell, and others have taken action against this pervasion of violence by walking the streets with our students during arrival time and dismissal: up and down Georgia Avenue, through dangerous alleys and throughout the community in between. This unique initiative has transformatively resulted in decreased violence perpetrated against Roosevelt students as well as increased attendance at school. We would also like to see the Metropolitan Police Department play a larger role in ensuring the safety of our young adults as they arrive and dismiss from school each day. We have identified several hotspots between the school and the Georgia Avenue/Petworth Metro Station where violence tends to occur. If police were stationed near these areas we believe incidences of violence would continue to decrease. In late March of this school year we intend to display our commitment to student safety by marching the route our students take each day with 100 leaders from our school and community. We would like to invite you and Fourth District Commander Missouri to join us at this action. Preceding this event, we would like to sit down with you Commander Missouri and a small team of our leaders to discuss our recommendations for officer placement along the route. Please contact me at (202) 716-9407 to schedule this pre-meeting and to discuss dates during late March when you could join us for the march. Sincerely, Tracy Eichelberger, Chief of Transformation, Roosevelt Senior High School