Fifty fourth- and fifth-graders at KIPP DC Smilow Campus will get after-school academics, athletics, mentorship and meals three afternoons a week under a new Washington Commanders program that launched Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The Junior Academy Pilot Program, part of the new Commanders Youth Academy, pairs the team's 2026 rookie class with students at the Ward 7 school, located at 5300 Blaine St. NE. The Washington Commanders Foundation also reopened the campus athletic field after a six-figure renovation, WJLA first reported.

At the launch event, students painted alongside rookie linebacker Sonny Styles, wide receiver Antonio Williams, quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, running back Kaytron Allen and center Matt Gulbin. Then they hit the field. The group ran plays with the Commanders players on the newly refurbished turf.

"When you're an NFL player … you have a lot of resources, you have a lot of outreach in terms of people recognize the Commanders logo, people recognize the NFL logo," Styles told WJLA. "So now it's about how do you use it?"

Commanders owner Marjorie Harris also attended the event.

The academy will run throughout the 2026-27 school year. Susan Schaeffler, who founded KIPP DC in 2001 and led the charter network for more than two decades, serves as founding executive director of the Commanders Youth Academy, according to Hoodline. KIPP DC now operates 20 schools serving more than 7,500 students. Smilow Campus itself is a 110,000-square-foot facility dedicated in 2016 after a $4.2 million gift from philanthropist Joel E. Smilow. It houses three schools and can hold up to 1,100 students.

The program targets neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, where poverty rates are roughly double the District average. A 2024 D.C. Hunger Solutions report found median household income for Black residents in Ward 7 at $45,674 and in Ward 8 at $45,281, with a combined poverty rate of 20.5 percent across both wards. Nearly 38 percent of Ward 8 households and 34 percent of Ward 7 households include children.

The Commanders Foundation described the pilot as a model it plans to expand to additional schools, though no timeline or specific sites have been announced. The launch comes as the team prepares to relocate back to the District.