Central Neighborhood of Cleveland

Brittany Smith

Rotation and Seminar

Environmental Scan

Introduction

        There are many issues facing the Central neighborhood. Teachers and students try to overcome the struggles they are faced with every day.

School Student Demographics

Central is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It’s on the outskirts of downtown. It’s bounded roughly by East 71st Street on its east and East 22nd Street on its west, with Euclid Avenue and Woodland Avenue on its north and south. Central neighborhood has been around for a very long time, being Cleveland’s oldest neighborhood. Today the number of residents that live in the City of Cleveland are 396,830 compared to Central neighborhood being 12,738 residents. This shows that the majority of residents live in Cleveland. Central has less than 1/5 of the 1990 population and is demographically a largely poverty stricken African American /black neighborhood. The neighborhood on average consists of 53.3%  African Americans while the remainder are white.  

Many individuals in the Central neighborhood have incomes below the poverty level. This means more than 50% of the people are living below the poverty line. Although it has increased since the 1990s it still is a big concern. The average median household income in Central is $11,236, whereas the average income in the city of Cleveland is $22,415.  That is a big difference with two cities that close to each other.   There are 32.5% of people unemployed in Central compared to Cleveland where only 11.2% of the people are unemployed.

The education in the Central neighborhood isn’t the best.  More than 50% of the people aged 25+ have a high school degree, but only about 4.2% have a college degree. This may because of the mobility rates in the neighborhood. More than 50% of people aged five years and older have moved more than once. This statistic has increased from the past. This causes complications and distractions for students and adults trying to go to school and get an education on a consistent basis.

Neighborhood Health Assets

The residents do not see the Central neighborhood as “healthy” nor is it perceived to encourage healthy lifestyles. There is very limited access to medical care with many residents not having a family physician and going to the emergency room every time they’re sick. Generally in this area, residents report higher problems related to environmental health risks. This includes poor air quality, exposure to mold, etc. These issues create illness, disease and chronic health issues. There are very few recreation centers in the area as well. The lack of recreation centers makes it hard for the residents to stay healthy and keep in shape.

They don’t have the best eating habits because many  people don’t have the money to go buy healthy food choices. There are very few supermarkets and grocery stores in the area. There are many fast food chains, which have cheaper prices, causing people to eat unhealthy. There are some assets in the neighborhood that encourages healthy eating.  The Outhwaite Center lets students take home fresh produce at the end of the week provided by CMHA.   There are also free dental and counseling services provided to the residents in the community. This low-income neighborhood makes it hard to have healthy living assets with the few resources they are provided.

School Resources and Demographics

 Alfred A. Benesch is a K-8 school in the Central neighborhood. Alfred A. Benesch is dedicated to providing the necessary programs to help students meet their greatest potential. They offer many different intervention programs to assist students in becoming proficient readers by third grade, as well as providing math intervention (I-Ready) for students in third through eighth grade Along with academic excellence, Alfred A. Benesch is committed to the social and emotional needs of their students. They offer site based counseling (Apple wood) and social skills training (Pep Assist) to help students form positive relationships.

The overall number of students is 388. About 99% of them consist of blacks or non-Hispanics. Students who have disabilities consist of about 20%. The number of gifted students consists of 1.9%, a total of 7 students in the school. The attendance rate at this school is 86.2%. The absenteeism rate consisted of 59.3%. The attendance rate of teachers is 95.1%. This is good so students have some consistency and can establish relationships with their teachers.  More males attend school than females by about 12%. All the students at this school come from low-income families and are economically disadvantaged. Almost all kids get free lunches, and different services provided to them for free. Students who moved into or out of the district and didn’t spend a majority of the school year within the district is 4.8%.  This consists mostly of students with disabilities.

It’s hard for many of these students to stay on task and perform well because of other issues going on in their life. The percent of funds that are spent on classroom instruction is 66.2%. The amount of money the school spends every year is $12,271, where as the state contributes $9,228. Alfred A. Benesch is still continuing to fail in performance.

Focus Groups and interviews with community members

I  gathered most of my information while visiting the Outhwaite Community Center in the Central neighborhood. The Outhwaite Center started in 2007 for young kids to go after school for enrichment, intervention, and a safe place. It is split up by grade, so the second graders through fifth graders are in one building where the students in grades sixth through eighth are in the Miracle Village building. This program is free to all students. It is funded by HUD (Housing Urban Development.). Many of the students get to this program everyday by bus, walking, or a family guardian.

        Through many conversations I’ve had between students and teachers at the Outhwaite Center, I realized that many of the students come from a rough home lives. Teachers try to provide the best education they can for these students, but it’s  hard because of the situations these kids deal with on a daily basis outside of school. Some of the things my two students I’ve been working with have told me are so heartbreaking. Some of these kids have seen things at such a young age that I’ve never even seen in my life. I asked a couple questions off of the student inventory sheet that really struck me about these two young girls. I asked, “If you guys had one wish, what would it be, they responded, “Having a richer family, a family that cares about them, and not be so poor.” I never expected those answers. I thought I was going to get responses such as having a new car, house, etc. They also informed me that they love going to this center because they feel safe and can eat before going home. Hearing  this really made me think to myself, “wow do we have it easy compared to these kids struggling on a daily basis.” I wish I could make a difference in these kid’s lives and give them the opportunities I  had when I was their age.