NBC EMPOWERS COMMUNITIES TO TAKE CHARGE AND TRANSFORM THEIR BROKEN SCHOOLS IN NEW TWO-HOUR SPECIAL �SCHOOL PRIDE'

Based on a Successful Rebuilding Endeavor in Compton, California, Project from Executive Producer Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Denise Cramsey ("Extreme Home Makeover" and "True Beauty") Aims to Revitalize Schools and Their Communities, Encouraging Students to Take More Pride and Improve Academic Achievement

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - January 10, 2010 - NBC will empower communities to renovate their aging and broken public schools - while inspiring students, parents, and teachers to rediscover a sense of pride that will positively impact their lives and futures - in the proactive alternative project "School Pride," a new two-hour special for fall 2010.

The announcement was made today by Paul Telegdy, Executive Vice President, Alternative Programming, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

"This is a wonderful and uplifting project that will completely revitalize a school and community, while leaving a lasting legacy," said Telegdy. "These are powerful stories about the differences that can be made when committed people unite to improve their school and restore students' hope and faith in their education process."

"The success of a school transformation doesn't just help one family or one group of students. It helps multiple families, and helps them for generations to come," said Cramsey. The transformation will help teachers achieve greater success in the classrooms, raise property values, and give the community a reason to be proud of their schools again. This special will be proof of what a small group of Americans can accomplish when they work together."

"School Pride," from executive producers Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Denise Cramsey ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "True Beauty"), produced by Horizon Alternative Television, is based on a similar effort that inspired students, teachers and a community to roll up their sleeves and renovate their deteriorating school at Carver Elementary in Compton, California.

The resulting transformation and restored sense of school pride motivated the Carver elementary students, and achievement test scores there increased the year following the renovation.

In "School Pride," cameras will follow students, teachers and parents as they motivate their community to renovate the school. Making use of local businesses and skilled local labor, the community will make over classrooms, public spaces, art and music halls, and athletic facilities. The work will include everything from re-painting and re-carpeting to improving the utilities, and updating the technology systems of the school.

A team of experts will lend their expertise in the makeover process but it's up to the students, teachers, and community to execute the restoration. As the story of their progress unfolds, multiple surprises will be revealed to them, ultimately concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school. Months later, cameras will revisit the school to discover the lasting effects of the transformation - a renewed sense of school pride and an increase in student achievement scores. The experience at Carver Elementary proved those results.

"School Pride" is from Horizon Alternative Television.