FOCUS DC News Wire 6/15/12

 

 

 

 

Washington, D.C., Charter School's 39 Members of Class of 2012 All Head to College [Capital City PCS is mentioned]

WUSA 9

By Surae Chinn

June 14, 2012

 

Graduation is a proud moment for parents.

 

But the graduating class of Capital City Public Charter School should make the entire District proud because they are members of the first senior class to graduate at that school.

 

They've accomplished something even more remarkable.

 

The entire senior class has been accepted to college. 

All 39 students are college-bound. 

There are many firsts in this group.

 

Some are the first in their family to graduate college and even high school. That's the case for Nelson Cruz.

 

17-year-old Nelson has achieved more than his family could've imagined in his young life.

 

He spent part of his childhood in the Dominican Republic, where dreams don't always reach beyond the poor streets.

 

So it is no wonder that when the class chose him to speak, there would be a flood of emotion.

 

"I am so proud to be here." 

 

Nelson is the first of his family to graduate high school and like the majority of his classmates receiving a diploma, the first to go on to college.

 

It's an accomplishment for this group whose members have overcome many challenges. The majority were eligible for reduced or free meals.

 

Nelson's mother who only has a grade-school education understands what her sons achievement means to their family.

 

Dilicia Martinez is Nelson's mother, "I've been crying a lot."

 

Nelson graduates with a  3.3 grade point average and is heading to Ohio University to study film making. 

 

 

 

 

New Leaders Celebrated [DC Bilingual and SEED PCS are mentioned]

DC Government Examiner

By Reginald Johnson

June 14, 2012

 

New Leaders celebrated their most recent cohort Wednesday in downtown DC. Time Warner Cable generously provided the space for the non-profit to honor area residents who aspire to serve as principals for metro area public schools.

 

De'Shawn Wright, DC Deputy Mayor for Education, was in attendance; as was D. Michael Bennett, senior vice president of Information Management and the Chief Information Officer for BAE Systems, Inc., who spoke to alumni of the program, current participants and supports of New Leaders.

 

"First of all, I want to thank you all because I'm the parent of three DC public school students who have graduated and gone on to do great things with the knowledge they obtained in the DC public school system," he said. "I'm very satisfied with the education my kids received.  Fortunately, we had options.  I could have sent my kids to private school, but my wife and I decided to stick with public school."

 

"You guys have the responsibility to lead our public schools," Bennett added, who is also a 18 years veteran of Northrop Grumman and a Duke University graduate. He also received his Juris Doctorate from the National Law Center of George Washington University.

 

New Leaders is a non-profit organization that aims to recruit, equip and train public school leaders who wish to aid in improving education results for America's school system.

 

Specifically to the District of Columbia: New Leaders has trained and supported more than 100 participants, and serve 20 percent of the schools in DC; although Wards 7 and 8 are where the most DC New Leaders work and mold many of the District's future leaders. More than 85 percent of those who completed the Aspiring Principals Program remain in education roles in the District.

 

McKinley Technology High School, Powell Elementary School, DC Bilingual Public Charter, and The SEED School are just a few of the schools that have benefited by having New Leader graduates. Many of their programs have done a complete turnaround, and now the skies the limit.

 

The organization promotes system-level policies and practices that provide support to these leaders. According to New Leaders, more than 250,000 students in the US have been enrolled in schools with New Leaders as of 2011, and the program has resulted in measurably raised student achievement and high school graduation rates. The organization says it's mission is to ensure high academic achievement for students in poverty and students of color by training school leaders to drive improvement in schools with low test scores and high poverty rates.

 

Partnerships are established with area public school systems and and charter schools where the program's participants are placed into leadership-position vacancies in elementary, middle and high schools. Potential "New Leaders" are nominated by area leaders and the nominee then complete a four-step application process, with emphasis on selecting experienced professionals who demonstrate a variety of strengths, including leadership and communication skills.

 

Once they complete their residency, the participants apply for open positions in the area, and commit to at least a three year commitment to serving as a principal or assistant principal.

 

Jonathan Schnur, a former education policy analyst for President Bill Clinton, a group of teachers, and investors who believe in the public school system established New Leaders in 2000. it was formerly known as New Leaders for New Schools.

 

Harvard Business School and RAND corporation have reported that, their research has found that principals from the New Leaders program have "outperform[ed] their peers."

 

In 2009, the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government awarded New Leaders the "Innovations in American Government" award.

 

New Leaders is accredited in DC by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to provide principal certification.

 

As of 2011, the initiative operates in 12 cities across the United States, with Newark, New Jersey being the most recent.

 

New York City, established 2001

Chicago, established 2001

San Francisco Bay Area, established 2001

Washington, DC, established 2002

Memphis, Tennessee, established 2004

Baltimore, established 2005

Milwaukee, established 2007

Greater New Orleans, established 2007

Prince George's County, Maryland, established 2007

Charlotte, North Carolina, established 2008

Newark, established 2008

 

If you're not in the DC area, but are interested in learning more about their various programs, like the Aspiring Principals Program for example, you can contact Warren Palmer at wpalmer@newleaders.org.

 

 

 

 

13 DC Schools to Extend Their Days Next Year

The Washington Examiner

By Lisa Gartner

June 14, 2012

 

Thirteen D.C. public schools will offer extended school days next year, using part of a $10 million grant the school system is giving its campuses to boost student achievement through innovation.

 

Overall, 59 schools are splitting the Proving What's Possible grant money, with most of the $10 million going to DC Public Schools' 40 lowest-performing schools. Ward 8's Stanton Elementary, where less than 10 percent of students can read proficiently, is using its $300,000 grant to start a small academy within the school for struggling students, among other strategies. Ward 7's Kelly Miller Middle School is implementing not just an extended school day, but summer sessions for its students with a $490,000 grant. More than 100 schools submitted 135 applications.

 

Dunbar Senior High School, C.W. Harris Elementary School and Noyes Education Campus are also among the 13 schools choosing to offer more class time each day, with each school proposing a different timetable for students. Even one of the District's biggest success stories, Ward 1 magnet Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, is getting in on the grant by offering tutoring and homework assistance after normal classes end each day.

 

Longer school days are the norm in the District's charter schools, which 41 percent of the city's public school students attend. Henderson and Mayor Vincent Gray said Thursday they consider the grant programs "a test run" for potentially moving the entire school system to a longer school day, year or both.

 

Though the adjustments are voluntary -- parents can opt out of the extra hours -- school leaders believe most children will participate.

 

"Kids, of course, have reservations for obvious reasons, but parents think it's a good idea," Gray said.

 

Washington Teachers' Union President Nathan Saunders said that longer days are something teachers at these schools want. "It'll be interesting," Saunders said.

 

Gray is supporting Henderson's decision to not disclose where the $10 million is coming from. Henderson has acknowledged that she freed up funding by discontinuing unsuccessful school programs, but has refused to name those programs.

 

"It doesn't serve any purpose to disparage or cast a negative shadow on programs that weren't successful," she said.

 

 

 

 

D.C. Schools Win $10 Million in ‘What’s Possible’ Grants to Experiment with Technology, Extended Day

The Washington Post

By Bill Turque

June 14, 2012

 

Fifty-nine District public schools, most of them the system’s lowest performers, will use $10 million in grants to experiment with extended days, technology and other initiatives to spur academic achievement, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) and Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced Thursday.

 

The schools are winners of the “Proving What’s Possible” grant competition, established by Henderson to catalyze teaching and learning in struggling schools. Henderson said she hoped the grants, which range from $10,000 to nearly $500,000, would allow educators to try some of the ideas they’ve had on their wish lists for years.

 

“There are so many great ideas we know can work coming out of the schools,”said Henderson, who has pledged to lift the test scores of the system’s 40 lowest performing schools 40 points by 2017. She was joined by Gray in announcing the winning schools at Thomas Elementary in Ward 7.

 

Thirteen schools will try some form of an extended school day in 2012-13. Dunbar High School in Ward 5 ($300,000) will expand by 45 minutes in the morning and afternoon for grades 9 and 10, with the time devoted to project-based learning and tutorial service for struggling students. C.W. Harris Elementary in Ward 7 ($340,000) will extend the school day to 5:15 p.m. for all students Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, teachers will receive extra professional development after the traditional 3:15 p.m.dismissal.

 

In addition to a longer day, Kelly Miller Middle School in Ward 7 ($490,000) will start summer camps for rising 6th-to-8th graders. Stanton Elementary in Ward 8 ($300,000) will establish a small, highly-structured academy for students who have struggled, with an emphasis on social and emotional support and small group instruction. You can see the full list here.

 

Teachers must vote as a school to work beyond hours set out in the 2010 collective bargaining agreement. In some instances the votes have not occurred, according to Washington Teachers’ Union president Nathan Saunders. At Dunbar, for example, the vote must be repeated because it wasn’t done by closed ballot..

 

Saunders cautioned that not all research on extended school days suggests that it enhances learning, but he said the union is willing to cooperate.

 

“The teachers and the union do not want to throw a wet blanket on ideas that the citizenry or mayor or chancellor believe would be effective,” Saunders said. “The union is going to work with the mayor and chancellor to implement programs consistent with the union contract.”

 

Thursday’s announcement said money from the grants comes from “funds previously spent on centrally-mandated pilots and programs.” But Henderson declined to specify which pilots or programs have been discontinued to underwrite the grants.

 

“It doesn’t serve any purpose, I think, to disparage or chastise or cast a negative shadow on programs we’re not funding,” Henderson said.