Civic Builders will host its 2014 "Making the Grade" Benefit on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7 p.m. The event will take place at Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy I, a charter school built by Civic Builders on 245 West 129th St. Ted Mitchell, chief executive officer of NewSchools Venture Fund will serve as the event's keynote speaker. With support from underwriters Citi and Jill & Brian Olson, the benefit will celebrate Civic Builders' mission of transforming children's lives and revitalizing communities by building inspirational schools for students in underserved areas. At the event, Civic Builders will announce the recipients of the first "Day in the Life Scholarship," established in memory of Alan Epstein, which celebrates students attending Civic Builders-developed schools. For more information on event tickets and sponsorship, please visit www.civicbuilders2014benefit.com. Founded in 2002, Civic Builders helps ensure all students have the opportunity to attend high quality schools. Civic Builders works with the nation's best educators to help solve the ongoing challenge of finding educational space so teachers can remain focused on students, not the buildings that house them. With 18 schools across New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, Civic Builders schools give 9,100 children—82% of whom live in poverty and 96% of whom are minorities—access to school buildings where generations of students learn and grow. These schools are having an impact. Last year, Civic Builders' schools outperformed peer district schools in both English and math, and an amazing 94% of graduating high school seniors were accepted to college.