Former Samuel P. Massie principal fills new fundraising post

Sharif Salim, who was in charge of the school until June 30, now heads the school system's Department of Development, a newly created fundraising office.

Salim has earned praise from colleagues for promoting Samuel Massie Elementary to individuals, businesses and other organizations. He built relationships with the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, which Samuel P. Massie had been a member of, and the LINKS, a professional woman's group, which Massie's wife Gloria belonged to. These groups and others made generous donations of time, money and school supplies.

"I'm sowing the seeds and anticipating a bountiful harvest," he said, in regards to his fundraising efforts.

School Superintendent John Deasy said he had wanted to create a fundraising department for the school system for some time and Salim submitted a proposal for the department last year. He began work July 1 as the department's only staff member. Deasy and Salim declined to discuss the department's budget and Salim's salary.

As principal, Salim was widely praised for his success in raising funds and building partnerships to benefit the school.

Salim "was instrumental in building a strong community partner base," said Rhonda Simley, who was then the vice principal at Samuel P. Massie.

Such partnerships brought more than $120,000 to the school in four years, Salim said, in addition to tutoring by members of the organizations, and other perks such as tickets to Washington Wizards games for students.

Salim was also a member of the Washington Education Foundation, a consulting group that helped private and charter schools find funding and manage their finances.

Because he has just entered his new role, Salim says he has yet to secure any financial commitments and cannot discuss specifics until they are finalized.

But Deasy said he has high expectations, with his goal to have a $15 million endowment in the next three years through Salim's efforts.

Deasy said the school system has had $90 million cut from this year's budget, and the system is reeling from $14 million in additional cuts that were recently announced.

Salim is confident he can help fill that gap. He said he is planning to exceed Deasy's fundraising goal and close a deal that will bring in $300,000 for the school system, though Deasy and Salim declined to discuss specifics of the deal.