Cityscape Schools is the first urban school designed to break the cycle of poverty of children and young adults who have grown up in the inner cities of America. During the 1960s, the federal government declared a “war on poverty,” which has been a dismal failure.

Its purpose was to end poverty, reduce crime, and abolish inequality. Yet, these entitlement programs, 60 years later, have failed to improve children’s educational opportunities, improve their long-term outcomes, or eliminate poverty and inequality.

Leonard and Glenda Brannon have spent over 35 years in urban ministry in Dallas, Texas. After 20 years, they realized that children and youth needed more than just faith-based after-school programs, summer camp programs, and church. These programs and church alone were not enough to break the “spirit of poverty” off children and their families. So, Cityscape was founded with a mandate to build a comprehensive quality educational opportunity for all children, regardless of their zip code.

Cityscape Schools was founded as a school of choice that is publicly funded but operates like a private school; located in the heart of Dallas’ inner city of East Dallas (including Pleasant Grove). These regions, over the decades, have seen increased poverty and a generational dependency on government programs perpetuating substandard housing. These neighborhoods are crime-ridden areas overwhelmed with addiction, students dropping out of school, homelessness, concentrated levels of returning felons, and the breakdown of the family unit.