Georgetown’s Jumpstart team will end its operations at the end of this semester, according to an email sent by Center for Social Justice (CSJ) staff to program members on March 28.
Jumpstart, Inc is a national pre-K literacy program working with underserved children. Georgetown has hosted a Jumpstart program for over 15 years, and the program joined the CSJ nearly eight years ago.
Next school year, Jumpstart will not be renewing any grants with any of the 31 colleges and universities in its profile, according to both the March 28 email from CSJ leaders and a statement a university spokesperson wrote to the Voice. Jumpstart’s national closure coincides with concerns that AmeriCorps, the national partner that funds Jumpstart’s activities, may face a federal funding cut.
The university spokesperson wrote that the CSJ would continue to communicate with community partners about the transition and that students currently involved in Jumpstart could continue until the end of the semester.
“Our CSJ team members are in touch with our community partners about this transition and will discuss if there are ways that CSJ/Georgetown can continue to partner with them,” the spokesperson wrote.
Almitra Guart (SFS ’27) has been in Jumpstart since her freshman fall and said it has been one of the best parts of her college experience so far.
“I joined as soon as I got to college back in August of my freshman year. I’ve always worked with kids, so I knew that coming to college I would really miss that since there’s just no children around on campus,” Guart said.
The CSJ hosts several other education and mentorship programs such as DC Reads and After School Kids, which have not been affected by federal cuts so far. However, Jumpstart serves the youngest population among the CSJ programs.
“The thing that sets Jumpstart apart is that my kids I work with are three. So we work with the youngest population in the whole CSJ,” Guart said. “The foundation is preschool for these kids. They’re just learning how to even be in a classroom, so it’s really hard for those teachers to have 20 kids and no help. And having no Jumpstart just makes it worse for them.”
Students who work at Jumpstart worry that the closure of the program will negatively impact the communities it serves. In D.C., Jumpstart programs are primarily located in Wards 7 and 8, which experience the greatest levels of food insecurity, housing insecurity, and poverty in the District.
Through Jumpstart, Guart works at Ketcham Elementary School in Ward 7, where 88% of students qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are homeless, or are in foster care.
“What we try to do is go help teachers in that area and then also kids who are struggling with keeping up with literacy rates and being a companion for them,” Guart said.
Georgetown’s Jumpstart student workers will also be affected by the program’s closure. Students who work for Jumpstart can volunteer with the program or earn income through federal work study, if they qualify. Members who complete 300 hours of service in Jumpstart in an academic year are also eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,300.
The program is set to shut down on May 10, so students who planned to stay for the summer to work for Jumpstart are now unable to do so.
Annabelle Kim (CAS ’27), a current Jumpstart team leader, expected to receive a Segal Award for her work. Now, she will be losing a source of income after the program’s closure.
“May 10 is when final exits have to be. So in order to exit, you have to complete an exit interview, but you have to complete the 300 hours before that. So realistically, given finals and everything, like it’s maybe two weeks left,” Kim said. “If you already have a job, it’s hard to do all those things.”
Kim worked at Jumpstart for a few weeks last summer to earn her award. She said that it will be difficult to reach the 300 hour minimum this year without the benefit of summer hours.
Kim also said that Cheyenne Baltimore, Jumpstart’s program director at the CSJ, had provided many opportunities and resources following the announcement, but even with these extra hours, it’s difficult to make up for lost time.
“Cheyenne is really good with providing a lot of extra hours and opportunities. She said this in an email, like, ‘Here’s some volunteer opportunities,’ or ‘Here’s this thing, you can help out with this program and then still log hours for it,’ but it’s just people’s schedules are off at this time,” Kim said.
There were foreshadowings of Jumpstart’s closure at least a week before the official announcement, according to Kim. At a team training, her supervisor pointed out that the mission statement from Jumpstart’s official website had changed, Kim said.
According to an archived webpage from January, the statement used to read, “Jumpstart advances equitable learning outcomes for young children in underserved communities by recruiting and supporting caring adults to deliver high-quality programming to children and drive systems change through teaching, advocacy, and leadership.”
Now, the mission statement reads, “Jumpstart advances learning outcomes for young children by recruiting and supporting caring adults to deliver high-quality programming to children.” The phrase “underserved communities” has been removed.
This change coincides with President Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions and programs in educational programs and the federal government. Government agencies have flagged hundreds of words related to DEI, including the term “underserved.”
To minimize disruptions to Jumpstart team members, the CSJ has reached out to them with resources and potential transitions into similar opportunities within the center.
“It is challenging to transition from one beloved strategy to another and, at the same time, we encourage the students not yet graduating to reflect on how they might now most effectively and joyfully support CSJ’s mission and vision. CSJ team members are here to meet with them about CSJ programs,” a university spokesperson wrote.
Kim emphasized that in addition to uniquely serving preschool students, the community at Jumpstart—both within the team of Georgetown students and between the mentors and preschool children—is also irreplaceable. She said that the news came as a shock to all the team members and left a deep emotional impact.
“A lot of the students I had my first year are in my class now. Last year, I was with a younger class, and this time with an older class. That relationship is now two years long. So losing that is really devastating for me and everybody else I’m working with,” she said. “The community at Georgetown’s Jumpstart team was really special. I know that’s unique to each program, and we just really like our community, and that’s not going to be the same anywhere else.”
