Education Leaders Today Spring 2010

THE MAGAZINE FOR

C A P TA I N S O F I N D U S T RY

EDUCATION LEADERS www.educationleaderstoday.com

TODAY

Microsoft’s START program p36

Roosevelt Children’s Academy get familiar with the top performing charter school in New York state p22

Lutheran South Academy This Houston-based college prep school “SAILs” above with a unique curriculum p30

Richard Milburn High School

Spring 2010 $64.00 USD $68.81 CAN

Spring 2010

See how NESI president, Robert Crosby has revolutionized the educational system for at-risk students

p16

2 Education Leaders Today Spring 2009

in this issue 06 Editor’s Note Students have more and more to live up to these days. A 4.0 GPA is nothing without 100 hours of community service. And sometimes, that isn’t even enough. Setting high standards and expecting students to take initiative is great, but what are students to do when it is physically, logistically, and financially impossible for them to deliver?

08 Guest Editorial Does the federally funded Head Start program for low-income preschoolers serve lasting benefits? Or is the 45-year-old program delivering misleading short-lived results? Dan Lips, Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation gives his view of how the current administration is handling the program.

Spotlights: 20 Combating Child Obesity 28 Self Paced Learning Response System 36 Promoting Leadership In The Classroom 38 College Exams Moving Online 48 How Children Develop Reading Skills

Case Studies: 10 Mary Help of Christians Academy Originally used as an orphanage for the Catholic Salesian Sisters, this all-girls high school is now home to an ethnically and financially diverse group of students who have been carrying on the mission of their founders since 1921.

16 Richard Milburn High School Since 1978, Non-Public Educational Services, Inc. (NESI) president, Robert Crosby has not only been revolutionizing the educational system for at-risk students, but he’s also founded one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. NESI serves over 15,000 students across 120 U.S. cities and eight foreign countries.

4 Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010

30 Lutheran South Academy Faith comes first in this PreK3 through 12th grade college preparatory school. With focuses on spirituality, academics, involvement, and leadership (SAIL), this well rounded school has a unique curriculum that distinguishes them from other Lutheran schools and public schools in the Houston area.

42 St. Aloysius Academy This all-boys Catholic kindergarten through 8th grade school dates back over 115 years and was originally an all-girls school.

Though it maintains an intimate 1:10 teacher-student ratio, the academy has excelled in hands-on science and technology applications, as well as interaction with sister schools and missions all around the world.

Education Leaders Editor-in-Chief Diana Doyle Editor Todd Weaver Executive Editor Jonathan Mack Assistant Editor Kate Darling Creative Director Art Director Photography Director Video Director

Emily Detoro Stephanie Hess Ian Palmer Susan Maybach

Editorial Director Juan Orellana Editorial Production Michael DeMatteo Correspondents Jane Caffrey Rebecca Rodriguez Joan Tupponce Cynthia Dusseault Vendor Relations Director Steve Peters Vendor Relations Todd Rogers Eric Banner Patrick Storm

8

Advertising Sales Director Peter Jostens Advertising Sales Moe Kazemi Steve Stone David Levi

22 Roosevelt Children’s Academy This New York charter school may only be celebrating its 10year anniversary, but they’ve already made their mark as the top performing charter school in New York state and it is in the top three percent of charter schools in the U.S.

50 Monument Academy In the 15 years since its establishment, this Colorado PreK through 8th grade charter school’s enrollment has ballooned from 240 to 900. Principal Lis Richard talks about how an exciting workplace and the Core Knowledge Sequence curriculum has contributed to high teacher retention despite lower salaries and the addition of new, impressive facilities.

Publisher Steve Reed

oZ WORLD MEDIA, LLC 1330 New Hampshire Avenue Suite B1 Washington D.C. 20036 www.educationleaderstoday.com Education Leaders Today is a quarterly B2B trade journal that services the education industry in private, charter, religious and magnet sectors. ELT has a readership of 20,000 headmasters within the education industry. We do not accept subscription requests from the general public, however, an abbreviated version is available on our website.

Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 5

EDITOR’S LETTER

Living up to expectations in an increasingly demanding world

Last quarter, I was pleased to announce oZ World Media’s introduction to the international market. This quarter, we continued to maintain an editorial presence beyond US borders. I am no less than thrilled to announce the grand opening of our first international office in Sydney, Australia.

Shortly after our expansion, the already impoverished, struggling country of Haiti was stricken by history’s most devastating earthquake. In an era when educational institutions of all levels and sizes place a huge emphasis on the importance of community service and global stewardship, it was fascinating to watch how educators handled the discussions in their classrooms. Twenty years ago, it was enough to ask students

6 Education Leaders Today Spring 2010

to collect General Mills “box tops” or contribute a can of tuna to the Thanksgiving food bank. As students got older, they were expected to participate in organizing the food banks and coordinate with regional efforts.

Today, students are expected to do much more. With traditional exchange programs, classroom travel abroad, mission trips, and the pressure for students to establish charities of their own, students instinctively knew that they needed to “help” Haiti.

But how? A hands-on approach is out of the question because of the violence and hostility amongst affected Hatians which far exceeds that of any natural disaster in the US. Starting a food bank is pointless since the U.S. Military and the Red Cross are still unable to efficiently deliver food and other goods to the Haitians. If our nation’s highest level trained professionals are unable to deliver adequate aid, what are students to do? We’ve taught them for so long to help the less fortunate by being hands on and showing compassion; but when a disaster of this magnitude strikes and help is needed most, there seems to be a conflicting message sent to our children. Not only is it physically and

logistically impossible for them to make an impact, but financially as well. We cannot deny that the majority of “relief efforts” have been via record-breaking monetary donations.

Another frustrating event last quarter was the outcome of the 2009 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen- another current event that lead to confusion when teaching students about renewable energy and day-to-day green efforts. While we teach students to reduce, reuse, and recycle in the classroom, the UNFCCC, filled with every diplomat worth mentioning in the world was a complete bust.

The final outcome was a wishy-washy treaty of “intent” sponsored by only five of the 193 countries in attendance. No timelines or specific goals were included in the 12-paragraph document; merely, a redundant political agreement to follow through on curbing greenhouse gas emissions and aiding developing countries. Nothing we haven’t seen before…

I’d say the whole event was about as productive as kindergarten nap time.

Diana Doyle

editor@ozworldmedia.com

GUEST EDITORIAL

POLITICIZING PRESCHOOL

by Dan Lips

Before we invest $10 billion to fund new programs for preschoolers, let’s get an answer to the $100 billion question: does Head Start provide lasting benefits?

Universal health care may top the wishlists of many liberals this Christmas -but universal preschool isn’t far behind.

President Obama is doing his best to play the role of Santa, bringing subsidized pre-kindergarten to a growing number of American families.

The president has called for $10 billion in new funding for preschool programs, and Congress is working to deliver. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act included $5 billion for preschool and childcare programs. In September, the House passed a higher education bill that included an $8 billion “Early Learning Challenge Fund” to provide grants to states to expand subsidized preschool.

The Senate is expected to follow suit.

These proposals are based on the belief that “investments” in early childhood education yield significant long-term benefits for children served. As President Obama himself promised, “For every dol 8 Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010

lar we invest in these programs, we get nearly $10 back in reduced welfare rolls, fewer health care costs, and less crime.”

If the president is right, we should look forward to a safer, healthier, and welfarefree world sometime soon, thanks to our federal “investments” in preschool. In 2009, taxpayers will spend $25 billion on the federal government’s 69 federal preschool and childcare programs.

Unfortunately, little is known about whether these programs work. One might think that Congress and the administration would be focusing on evaluating these programs’ effectiveness before spending another $8 billion on preschool. Actually, there is reason to believe that they are instead ignoring empirical evidence that undermines the case for a new federal preschool program.

Consider the saga of the Head Start program and its national evaluation. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson created Head Start, the first national preschool and childcare program serving low-income children. Nearly 45 years later, the

federal government has spent more than $100 billion on it. With annual funding of approximately $7 billion, Head Start currently spends at least $7,300 annually on each of the 900,000 low-income children served.

For more than a decade, Congress has been trying to figure out whether Head Start has provided lasting benefits for participating children. In 1997, the GAO reviewed the available literature on Head Start’s impact and concluded that body of research was inadequate for drawing conclusions about the program’s effectiveness. This finding led Congress in 1998 to mandate a national evaluation of Head Start’s impact on participants.

Seven years later, the Department of Health and Human Services released the preliminary findings of the national impact evaluation -- comparing the development of children served by Head Start with their peers who didn’t participate in the program. In the critical area of cognitive development, the evaluation found that Head Start’s participants experienced modestly positive benefits com-

GUEST EDITORIAL

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson created Head Start, the first national preschool and childcare program serving low-income children. Nearly 45 years later, the federal government has spent more than $100 billion on it. With annual funding of approximately $7 billion, Head Start currently spends at least $7,300 annually on each of the 900,000 low-income children served.

pared to their peers who weren’t served by the program. Head Start children outperformed their peers in four out of the six cognitive constructs: pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary, and parent reports of students’ literacy skills.

But the 2005 evaluation looked only at children’s developmental progress after one year in Head Start. It didn’t address the $100 billion question: Does Head Start provide lasting benefits?

This question would be addressed by future evaluations of the performance of former Head Start students and their peers through the end of first grade and third grade. Data collection for the initial study of first graders’ progress was completed in the spring of 2006.

Three years have now passed. According to the HHS Web site, this project was supposed to be completed by March 2009. But the findings of the congressionally-mandated evaluation have never been made public.

One can’t help but wonder: What’s causing the delay? Former HHS officials have told me that they were briefed on

the results of the first-grade evaluation in 2008. They report that the evaluation found that, overall, Head Start participants experienced zero lasting benefits compared to their non-Head Start peers by the end of first grade. These officials expressed little surprise that the report’s release had been delayed.

Is the Department of HHS burying a damaging study? Perhaps there’s a good explanation for the delay. But without raising the question, we won’t know the answer. Before taxpayers “invest” another $8 billion in another preschool program, we deserve to know whether programs like Head Start are, indeed, making a lasting difference.

President Obama has said that his administration’s only test for deciding what education programs to fund with our “precious tax dollars” will be whether it “works.” It’s time to find out whether he will keep his word -- even if it means bad news for one of liberals’ favorite initiatives.

Dan Lips is a Senior Policy Analyst at The Heritage Foundation Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 9

FEATURE

Helping hands helping young hearts and minds

by Joan Tupponce

The Sisters at Mary Help of Christians Academy have been educating and nurturing the hearts and minds of children for 35 years.

A

s she passes by the pupils at Mary Help of Christians Academy, Sister Kim Keraitis can’t help but remember her days as a student at the school. The buildings and the programs have changed over the past 35 years that she’s been away but the overall philosophy of the Salesian Sisters – to educate the whole person, spiritually, academically, intellectually, physically and socially – still remains strong.

“When I was here, the school was mostly staffed by the Sisters,” recalls Sister Keraitis who now serves as the school’s principal. “I am where I am today because of their care and education. I’ve always considered Mary Help home. It was easy to come back and take over as administrator. It was like going back 10 Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010

home.”

Located in the Diocese of Paterson, Mary Help of Christians Academy is a private, Catholic secondary school for young women owned by the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. The school’s history dates back to 1921 when the Sisters bought the 16.33-acre Muhs estate in North Haledon, N. J. to use as an orphanage.

The Academy opened in 1924 with 76 residents and five day students. Four years later it was placed on the New Jersey State Board of Education’s list of approved private secondary schools. It earned its accreditation from the Middle States Association for Colleges and Secondary Schools in 1977.

Over the past decades, the Academy has grown in size and reputation. Once a residential school, Mary Hope is now

a modern day high school, providing a comprehensive college-prep program to its 314 students. The school is currently in the midst of adding a Middle School Preparatory Program for grades 6 through 8. The program will not only introduce students to the school and its philosophies but it will also help teachers identify individual learning needs at an earlier age.

One factor that differentiates the Academy from other private schools is its Salesian spirit which promotes loving kindness and mutual respect along with self-worth and confidence. “That’s a gift,” Sister Keraitis says. “Even if the buildings disappeared, we would still have the Mary Help spirit.”

Because Paterson has, over the years, been a melting pot of nationalities, Mary Help serves a diverse population.

MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS ACADEMY

The Academy is sandwiched between the poorest section of Paterson and the wealthier part of Bergen County.

“Academies usually have a select group of students but our student body is diverse financially and ethnically,” Sister Keraitis says. “Our students are from different backgrounds but when they come together, they are all the same.

They are accepting of each other.”

The school’s foundation is built on a methodology of education that advocates prevention rather than repression.

“Everything we do is set up to prevent our students from failing,” explains Sister Keraitis. “We communicate to them that they are important and that they have meaning. We try to avoid a situation where they find they are in trouble. There is a presence of friendship in and out of the classroom.”

“

Sister Kim Keraitis Mary Help of Christians Academy Principal

Everything we do is set up to prevent our students from failing.

We communicate to them that they are important and that they have meaning. We try to avoid a situation where they find they are in trouble.

There is a presence of friendship in and out of the classroom.

Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 11

FEATURE

“

We recognized that sports build students’ selfesteem as well as an acceptance of each other.

They don’t see differences. They see the ability to work as a team.

12 Education Leaders Today

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MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS ACADEMY

The Sisters and lay teachers at the school get to know each student, creating a close bonding that equalizes teacher and student and establishes a sense of respect. “We are all on the same journey of holiness,” observes Sister Keraitis.

“Yes, there are times when we have to be in authority but there are also times when we are all the same.”

Mary Help’s spacious, attractive campus reflects the school’s peaceful ambience.

“When I went to Mary Help, things were simple,” says Sister Keraitis. “Now, we are not lacking anything that any other academy has.”

Programs at the Academy are tailored to the career needs of students. In addition to college prep classes, Mary Help students can take a variety of special-interest courses that include theatre, culinary arts and fashion design.

“We also have state-of-the art science labs and technology programs as well as IEP programs for students with special needs,” says Sister Keraitis.

Mary Help also provides real-world connections that help nurture the talents and abilities of the students interested in the fields of health care and business. For example, business students learn about lending, bank operations, accounting and marketing from bank professionals during internships at Atlantic Stewardship Bank. “This type of networking gives students exposure as well as opportunities to meet people,” says Sister Keraitis who adds that students also participate in a marketing association called DECA. To date, the Academy has won 48 gold medals and 31 trophies with that association.

Mary Help’s health care program works in partnership with St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson as well as the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey.

Classes at Mary Help are small with an average 15-to-one student/teacher ratio. That individualized attention has helped the school maintain a 100 percent college acceptance rate as well as a lessthan-1-percent failing rate.

Students at the Academy are required to have 160 credits. “Our girls are in school more hours than most,” Sister Keraitis says, noting that state schools require 125 credits and Diocese schools require 140. “Our students are taking almost five years in a four-year period.”

The school’s sports program, started in Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 13

FEATURE

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MARY HELP OF CHRISTIANS ACADEMY

2008, is a growing area for Mary Help. The Academy, which has invested money in professional coaches and training, is now in the Bergen-Passaic League. Sporting options range from volleyball and cross-country to softball and basketball. “We recognized that sports build students’ self-esteem as well as an acceptance of each other,” says Sister Keraitis. “They don’t see differences. They see the ability to work as a team.”

The new teams are being recognized for their talent. “People are starting to pay attention,” Sister Keraitis says.

Mary Help has raised its visibility in the community through marketing and a series of open houses for prospective students and their families. “We bring in about 60 students each year and, for the most part, we retain them,” Sister Keraitis says.

“Currently, we have 73 students interested and another 14 calling for information. It looks like our enrollment will be higher than it has been. Word is getting out.”

She credits part of the increase to parents who talk to friends and neighbors about Mary Help. “They are our best sellers,” she says. “They are part of the school’s outreach to different communities.”

Parents are also active volunteers and fundraisers. “Our Parent-Teacher Guild is committed to fundraising,” Sister Keraitis says. “They gave $50,000 to the school.”

The Salesian Sisters continue to sponsor and fund Mary Help.

They remain actively involved in ministering the students through the embodiment of the school’s motto, “Beauty, Truth and Joy.” “Anyone who comes back after being here, it’s as if they left yesterday,” says Sister Keraitis. “Mary Help has always been and will always be Mary Help.” ELT

Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 15

FEATURE

Stellar Students

Fast Fact: NESI also provides educational services to Richard Milburn Academies (RMA), non-profit public charter high schools with nine schools in Texas and five in Florida.

Including the charters, NESI delivers educational services to more than 15,000 students in 120 cities, across 17 states, eight foreign countries and two US territories 16 Education Leaders Today Spring 2010

&

RICHARD MILBURN HIGH SCHOOL

&Sound Success

by Rebecca Rodriguez

Non-Public Educational Services, Inc. (NESI) and Richard Milburn High Schools (RMHS), a wholly owned subsidiary, have become powerhouse providers of educational services and outstanding public high schools in the United States and worldwide.

NESI is fast becoming one of the most powerful companies in the country, with Inc. Magazine identifying NESI among the top 5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. for 2009.

“The educational market is a great market,” said Robert Crosby, president of NESI. For this $30 million company with 1000 employees, educational excellence is something for which Crosby always strives.

Behind these impressive numbers is a simple credo to help students, especially struggling students, achieve success.

Many students who attend NESI’s affiliate high schools are students who have felt overwhelmed in overcrowded public schools and have dropped out.

“Our kids are the ‘back row’ kids,” Crosby said. “Every public high school teacher wants to get rid of them, but we want to make them ‘front row’ kids by connecting with them and making them successful.”

Richard Milburn High Schools have a drop out rate of less than 10 percent, an impressive statistic considering 100 percent of the students coming in were at-risk students. A survey of students six months after graduation shows that about 40 percent have gone on to college, he said.

“I’ll put that number up against any alternative school for at-risk students in this country,” Crosby said.

Parents are overwhelmed with gratitude when they see their children succeed after having believed they would never graduate high school.

“We’ve saved lives. If you attend one of

our graduations, you’ll cry. Most parents had given up on their kids and now they’re going onto college or the military. They love us,” he said.

One such proud mother that sticks out in Crosby’s mind had come to him when her son was incarcerated in Virginia about fifteen years ago after a racial dispute.

The mother asked RMHS to please send a teacher to the jail to help her son earn a high school diploma and subsequent pardon from the governor. Crosby agreed.

Her son was Allen Iverson, a proud graduate of Richard Milburn High School.

Iverson went to attend Georgetown University, earned the rookie of the year title with the NBA and became an annual NBA All Star.

Along with operating the high schools, NESI provides educational services to other schools in the areas of Title I and Supplemental Educational Services (SES) for tutoring. NESI provides in-school Title I services and after-school SES tutoring for elementary, middle, and high school students.

NESI also provides postsecondary academic skills and language courses to U.S. military personnel stationed in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Richard Milburn High Schools (RMHS), a subsidiary of NESI, operate small high schools operated under contract with local school districts. NESI and RMHS operate as for-profit businesses.

The three RMHS schools operate in North Carolina, Illinois, and Virginia.

The RMHS schools offer smaller class sizes of a 15-to-1 studentteacher ratio.

The schools have less than 400 students. A firm Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 17

FEATURE

Supports NESI and RMHS with Award-Winning Comprehensive Courseware That Is Ideal for Education Service Providers Offering Online K–12 Self-Paced Instruction Successful Credit Recovery Solution Powerful Student Assessment Capability Effective in Alternative Learning Environments Broad and Deep K–12 Curriculum Content Complete Response to Intervention Solution Extensive Student Data Tracking Comprehensive Student Reporting State Standard Alignment

goal of the schools is to make the students feel safe, comfortable, and involved.

“A sense of family is created,” Crosby said. “Every teacher knows every student and every student knows every teacher.”

Teachers at Milburn love the challenge of an at-risk student, he said. The school attracts young teachers who are up to the task. He provides them with good pay and offers bonuses if achievement goals are attained.

“Tenure is not in the Richard Milburn dictionary,” Crosby said.

“We are a performance-based company.”

Fully-accredited high school online courses are also offered through RMHS’s Milburn High School Online program. More than 100 high school courses are offered online and credit is transferable to any high school in the U.S. This online degree program is fully-accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). The program boasts about a 90 percent success rate which is higher than the national average. Students work at their own pace while having full accessibility to teachers. Crosby has high hopes for the online high school, seeing it growing to 100,000 students in the next five years.

“It has enormous potential,” he said, adding that he plans on growing the program slowly for quality control. Just last year, RMHS partnered with Pearson, who acquired eCollege’s highly reliable platform, and BocaVox, developer of the powerful student information system called Maestro.

Just as so many colleges are now offering online courses, Crosby sees high schools following the same path.

“What’s happening with colleges will happen with high schools,” he said, stressing that he sees online learning as a supplement to regular high school, not a replacement.

Crosby started NESI in 1978 with government contracts for Title I programs and then shifted into the military market in the mid 1980s with educational contracts from the U.S. Army.

That’s when RMHS got its start, mostly running small programs for adults wanting to get high school diplomas. But Crosby had the inspiration to expand the school to include high-school aged

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RICHARD MILBURN HIGH SCHOOL

“

Robert Crosby president of NESI.

We’ve saved lives. You go to a graduation and you’ll cry. Most parents had given up on their kids and now they’re going onto college or the military. children, repositioning itself for drop out and high risk kids.

“We took RMHS from a small mom and pop operation to a big player,” Crosby said.

Jumping ahead to the present day, Crosby said he sees his company as a big player in another market. Recovering poorly performing public schools is something Crosby sees his company expanding into. Crosby is in the early proposal stage for taking over a poorly performing small high school with a high minority and poverty population in Philadelphia, Pa. It would entail hiring an entirely new staff, refurbishing the building, and garnering community support. The school, if the proposal is accepted, would be run by RMHS under contract with the Philadelphia School District.

“It’s an option for school districts to have us take over a small, poor-performing high school and turn it around into a great school,” Crosby said.

Crosby, who grew up in the working class neighborhood of Gallows Hill in Salem, Mass., - he knows what it’s like to be a Title I kid in need of a better school. He worked his way up to attend the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and eventually earned a master’s degree in administration from George Washington University.

It’s a path to success many of Crosby’s students might like to follow. And his schools are giving them the tools to achieve those dreams. ELT Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 19

SPOTLIGHTS

three over the past childhood decades the has more obesity rate for than doubled ildren aged preschool ch s d adolescent 2-5 years an it d an ars, aged 12-19 ye tripled for an th has more 6-11 years. children aged Disease -Center for evention Control & Pr

20 Education Leaders Today

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SPOTLIGHTS

Major Grant Amplifies Efforts of Childhood AntiObesity Alliance Foundation chooses CAN DO Houston “Healthy Kids, Health Communities” Initiative CAN DO Houston (Children and Neighbors Defeating Obesity) will expand its community-based efforts with a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities” initiative.

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center will oversee and manage the grant, which was one of only three awarded in Texas and 41 nationally chosen from more than 500 proposals.

Efforts will focus on three Houston neighborhoods: Magnolia Park, Sunnyside and Independence Heights.

CAN DO Houston was formed in 2008

by Houston organizations concerned with childhood obesity and its health effects, including M. D. Anderson’s Center for Research on Minority Health. By tapping volunteers and existing sources of funds, the organization focuses on improving nutrition, physical activity and healthy behaviors for children ages four to 12. The program’s centerpiece is establishing a tie between a school and a city park.

“Our goal is to connect a school with a city park not only for physical activity, but as a connection point for parents and students to get advice, assistance and access to good nutrition” said Beverly Gor, executive director of CAN DO Houston and post-doctoral fellow in the CRMH, which is part of M. D. Anderson’s Department of Health Disparities Research in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. “We are fortunate

to have the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and the City of Houston Parks and Recreation Department as partners in this initiative” HISD’s Briscoe Elementary, one of two pilot schools introduced to the CAN DO Houston initiative in 2008, bused children to Mason Park for exercise and sponsored student contests to win prizes for making healthy choices. “We already noticed an improvement in standardized test scores as a result of improved rates of participation in physical activity among the students” said Briscoe Principal Juan Gonzalez, who is also a CAN DO Houston board member.

Gor coordinates the various programs and volunteers that make the project work. “What we do at each school depends on the needs of the community” she said.

New activities funded by the foundation grant vary in each community.

Briscoe will address safety concerns, establish walking clubs, provide cooking classes for parents and students, and support the First Class Breakfast Program that will provide a free and balanced breakfast to every student each day.

At Young Elementary in the Sunnyside area, grant funds will bring farmers markets to area churches on Sundays, provide parenting education classes and develop the community’s gardening program. CAN DO Houston plans to expand the initiative to Independence Heights and Burrus Elementary during

the four-year grant period.

Almost one third of U.S. children are overweight or obese. In Harris County, 27 percent of fourth-graders are classified as obese and 19 percent classified as overweight.

“To reverse this epidemic, communities are going to have to rally around their kids and provide the opportunities they need to be healthy” said Risa LavizzoMourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

“Through this project, CAN DO Houston and its partners are doing what it takes to make sure children lead better lives” CAN DO Houston is a private nonprofit organization composed of representatives from M. D. Anderson, HISD, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Baylor College of Medicine, City of Houston Departments of Health and Human Services and Parks and Recreation, Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools Summit, Houston Police Department, the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, the Houston Wellness Association and the Mayor’s Wellness Council.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy focused exclusively on improving the health and health care issues facing our country.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative is the foundation’s largest investment to date in community-based solutions to childhood obesity.

To reverse this epidemic, communities are going to have to rally around their kids and provide the opportunities they need to be healthy.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 21

Above & Beyond

FEATURE

With a small community that allows for individual attention to students, Roosevelt Children’s Academy stands out as one of New York’s top charter schools

by Jane Caffrey

This year, Roosevelt Children’s Academy will celebrate its 10th birthday. There will be much to rejoice in for the K-8 charter school located in Roosevelt, New York: a strong and evolving curriculum, active parental involvement, social participation within the community, and future plans for expansion. All of these attributes have set Roosevelt Children’s Academy above and beyond within the educational system, and the academy has earned a ranking in the top 3 percent of U.S. charter schools.

Yet the school’s administration does not believe that these milestones signify the opportunity to ease efforts.

“We will make sure that our vision is carried out to be one of the top charter schools in the country,” Superintendent Roxanne Greco Ashley, said. “Not just in New York, because we’ve already reached that goal. Success is never final; we cannot let down our guard for one moment. We 22 Education Leaders Today

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SPOTLIGHTS ROOSEVELT CHILDREN’S ACADEMY

Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 23

FEATURE

have to keep up the pace.

The academy remains committed to the Roosevelt Children’s Academy is currently Roosevelt Children’s Academy was construction of a high school facility within the highest performing charter school in founded in 2000 to meet parental demand the next two to three years. the state of New York. and a clear community need. “The Efforts on the part of the school have These statistics largely arise from Roosevelt district itself was taken over not gone unrewarded. A reflection of a academy’s researched-based curriculum, by the state, and we wanted to give the personal environment and individualized which the administration designs parents of the community another option,” attention, Roosevelt students rank above based on top educational publications, Ashley said. the 90th percentile on standardized tests, samples, teacher input, and New York Starting out with grades K through 2, and the attendance rate is at 94.8 percent. state standards. Classes are designed to the school quickly expanded to emphasize leadership and learning, K through 8; it now enrolls 550 and to account for diverse levels students and is growing. With among students. Huge effort is Roxanne Greco Ashley four campuses to divide various devoted to literacy and math, while Superintendent age groups and a staff of over 100, other classes enhance education leading to a 2 to 25 teacher-student with art, music, and physical ratio, the academy retains the education.

We will make sure that our vision is ambience of a small and intimate “We make sure that the community. curriculum we use is meeting carried out to be one of the top charter “We pride ourselves as being our mission,” Doris Llaurado, a small school, which makes us Elementary Assistant Principal, schools in the country. Not just in New a small community,” Ashley said. said. “We do continuous curriculum York, because we have already reached Nonetheless, Roosevelt Children’s mapping, and we work on filling Academy hopes to extend in gaps between grade levels. It’s a that goal. Success is never final; we membership in its community to living, working document, and we older students in the coming years. cannot let down our guard for one moment. improve on it each year.” “Assistant With students currently returning Instructional Principal, Catherine to the larger public schools after Jackvony, oversees the curriculum We have to keep up the pace. the eighth grade, there is immense growth each year.” Ashley said. parental demand for a high school.

At Roosevelt Children’s Academy,

“

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ROOSEVELT CHILDREN’S ACADEMY

education also revolves around engaging in the broader world. “The school incorporates a variety of programs that offer this opportunity to students such as career exploration programs and partnerships with a number of universities that assign graduate field placement teachers, college tutors to read to elementary students, and allow eighth graders to investigate options for higher education,” said Ella Portero, Public Relations Director. “The academy also organizes a number of unique community involvement activities

such as “Elected Officials Family and Friends Night”, student art exhibits in the local library, and student participation in community events that connect curriculum to real life. These activities also demonstrate to our students and families the value of community,” Portero said.

In 2010, for instance, Middle School Principal Simone Roberts, will spearhead the students fieldtrips to Canada and Washington D.C. “We take them on field trips to many places. We go to Disney World, an annual trip initiated by Jackvony

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four years ago, not just to ride the rides, but to gain the educational experience by participating in the behind the scenes activities that show how classroom learning comes alive. It helps the students connect what they’re doing in the classroom to the real world,” Ashley said.

Students at Roosevelt Children’s Academy also have access to a network of support from teachers, social workers, and parents. “What is significant is that we have two adults per classroom: a teacher certified with the state of New York and a certified cooperating teacher,” Ashley said.

As superintendent, Ashley visits each of the four campus buildings at least once or twice a week, while principals and assistant teachers are in the classroom two to three times each day. To ensure continuous education and improvement, teachers participate in professional development every month.

“We are proud of our Board of Directors who provide oversight, strong fiscal stewardship for our school and unconditional support for our children.

We are also proud of our dedicated faculty,” said Ashley. Five percent of the teachers have been with Roosevelt Children’s Academy throughout its ten-year life, while the majority of the others joined the school shortly there after. “We’ve had a lot of staff stay with us or come back to us. We have a solid foundation with staff at RCA,” Ashley said.

In addition to academic encouragement,

Education Leaders Today

Fall 2009 25

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Roosevelt Children’s Academy strives to provide students with social support. The state of New York requires schools to hire one social worker per 800 students; yet Roosevelt Children’s Academy surpasses this goal by hiring two guidance counselors for 550 students.

Teachers and principals regularly meet with parents to ensure both the academic progress and social development of each student. Parental involvement is also high, and the school regularly organizes meetings, parent workshops, and volunteer opportunities for families on field trips.

Roosevelt Children’s Academy hosts a “Family and Friends” night each quarter.

The well attended events feature buffets for families and rooms where children can display their work or give demonstrations to share what they are learning. “The academy also brings in local elected officials, community leaders and charter school advocates to deliver speeches, including Senators Charles Fuschillo and Malcolm Smith, Deputy Speaker Earlene Hooper, Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby and New York Charter School Association representatives Peter Murphy and Ken Peterson,” Portero said.

At a “Family and Friends” meeting in January of 2010, the Roosevelt Children’s

Academy community came together in support of progress for the school. As one of the highest performing charter schools in the nation, the academy has seen reduced funding due to statewide budget cuts. At a roundtable meeting led by the New York Charter School Association, 108 parents and staff members signed a petition for the academy to receive additional funding and will take that message to their State Legislatures in Albany during Legislative Advocacy Day. “We are very much in the limelight in Albany, and in our fight for equality throughout the United States,” Ashley said.

“We’re high performing, and at a meeting everyone in the state knew about Roosevelt and held us out there as a model.”

Although facing the difficult reality of budget cuts during a tight economic period in the United States, Roosevelt Children’s Academy forges forward, fighting for the rights of all charter schools and, more importantly, seeking to ensure the success of each individual student.

At Roosevelt Children’s Academy, the focus is clear -- “Our children can and will succeed…we will continue to show all schools in New York that all children can learn,” stated Ashley. ELT

“

Roxanne Greco Ashley Superintendent

What is significant is that we have two adults per classroom: a teacher certified with the state of New York and a certified cooperating teacher.

Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 27

SPOTLIGHTS SPOTLIGHTS | TECHNOLOGY

New Self Paced Learner Response System Promethean, a world leader in the rapidly growing global market for interactive learning technology, demonstrated the self-paced learning functionality of its popular ActivExpression Learner Response System at the British Education & Training (BETT) Show 2010. With its unique ability to allow each student to work through question sets at their own pace on individual handsets, while also allowing teachers to instantly view progress via a ’teacher dashboard’, the self-paced learning proved an immediate hit with learners and educators of every age group.

Using self paced learning, teachers can pose a series of questions to the class, grouping them into categories, for example, by levels of ease. The system then automatically allows a learner to progress to the next level of difficulty if they correctly answer questions. Teachers can program rules, determining the number of questions a learner needs to answer correctly before they are moved up to the next level or alternatively set the software to randomize questions and prevent learners from conferring on an answer.

Alison Lydon, Head of Junior School Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at The Mary Erskine and Stewart’s Melville Junior School, was involved in a pilot of the new self 28 Education Leaders Today Spring 2010

paced learning application. The response from the seven and eight year olds involved in the trial was extremely positive: “We had great fun” said Alison. “The children loved it, the ease of use was staggering, and the teaching and learning potential was massive.

“The children really were able to work at their own pace. Questions appeared quickly on their screens and children who were able to answer questions easily were not held back by others who took longer. Children could progress to harder questions when they were ready to, rather than when a teacher thought they should” Margaret Allen, former teacher and Head of European Market Development at Promethean, comments: “ActivExpression has proved hugely popular in education environments. Learners respond well to the concept of ’texting in’ answers from personal handsets, and teachers have found it an invaluable assessment and inclusion tool which enhances the communication and collaboration within the classroom” The self-paced learning application is available to all users of ActivExpression through an upgrade to the latest Promethean ActivInspire software (1.3).

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FEATURE

Sailing Towards Achievement With a comprehensive academic program based in spirituality, academics, involvement, and leadership, Lutheran South Academy helps students navigate towards a secure future

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LUTHERAN SOUTH ACADEMY

A

by Jane Caffrey

t Lutheran South Academy, the central objective is to help all students “S.A.I.L.” into a successful future. That is, the academy strives to fully develop students in Spirituality, Academics, Involvement, and Leadership, preparing them to meet the challenges of the greater world. Educating children in grades PreK3 to 12th with a sound academic program, extracurricular opportunities, and the chance to minister to others through volunteer service, Lutheran South Academy is dedicated to well-rounded schooling. Academics at Lutheran South Academy are also integrated with a consistent Christian approach to learning. “Our uniqueness is that we can chose who we are, within a framework of helping our children be successful at

every level,” Debbie Baacke, Lower School Principal, said. “We are upfront about our faith standards, and that is our foundation. All of the choices we make flow from there, and our mission stands on it—securing each child’s future.”

Located in the southeast Houston area, Lutheran South Academy was founded by the Lutheran Education Association of Houston (LEAH) in 1949. The academy started as a high school, yet as the years passed, it has been further developed to include a middle school and a lower school school. The middle school was added in 1989, and after conducting a demographic study to determine the needs of the growing county, Lutheran South opened the lower school in 1996. Although the academy has changed locations several times and seen a number of renovations throughout its history, recent additions allowed each of the three sections of school to

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LUTHERAN SOUTH ACADEMY

move into their own facilities during the 2008-2009 school year. Today, the campus holds four major buildings, including the high school, a brand new two-story middle school, an early childhood area, and a multipurpose building that features a cafeteria, gymnasium, fitness center, and music rooms. Now comfortably accommodating the academy’s 804 students, the structure of the campus allows for continued growth. Future building phases will include the construction of an additional gym and an expanded cafeteria and auditorium, although the school hopes to maintain an intimate environment and does not plan to exceed an enrollment of 900 students.

Currently, small class sizes of 16 to 24 allow teachers to form close relationships with students and address individual academic levels and needs. Run by a Headmaster and three Principals, the school has 80 highly qualified teachers on campus. All of the teachers are degreed educators, with 36 percent having acquired advanced degrees. While the

“

Debbie Baacke Lower School Principal

We are upfront about our faith standards, and that is our foundation. All of the choices we make flow from there, and our mission stands on it—securing each child’s future.

academy often hires talented recent graduates from nearby Lutheran colleges, 58 percent of the teachers at the school have more than ten years of teaching experience. “We have the best of the best,” Baacke said of the faculty. “Retaining them is as simple as the fact that they love working here. We have a curriculum, but the teachers have the creative freedom to

be the best that they can be and to share their gifts with the children.”

Creative freedom in education is what defines Lutheran South Academy as a unique schooling option in the Houston area. “We are state accredited, and what makes us unique is that we don’t have to choose what the state chooses for textbooks,” Baacke said. “We don’t have to be a cookie-cutter model of other Lutheran schools or other public schools.

We examine what we want a 12th grade graduate to look like, and we align our curriculum backwards.” As a college preparatory school, curriculum plays an important role at every level of education, and students are taught to work towards higher education from a young age. The goal of progressing to college is reiterated even at the pre-school level, where degreed teachers implement an academic program appropriate for those early levels of education. At the high school level, Lutheran South offers qualified juniors and seniors the opportunity to enroll in advanced placement classes and college

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Education Leaders Today

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courses that offer dual credit. “A child can chose and work towards a college that they have a goal of attending. We prepare them from a young age, and we choose all the resources that are needed to help the students be the best they can be,” Baacke said.

Yet according to the S.A.I.L. philosophy of the school, a well-rounded education goes beyond academics. For this reason, the academy also offers several opportunities for involvement, leadership, and spiritual growth. Outside of the classroom, students can chose to become involved in variety of activities in music, drama, and sports. The Fine Arts department at the school contends that music is an integral aspect of a comprehensive education, and students may chose to discover music through band or choir. Similarly, students can broaden their horizons and become part of a team by participating in theatrical performances or competitive sports.

While leadership is often discovered through involvement in extracurricular activities, leadership skills are also fostered through hands on activities and school-wide projects. Following the idea that leadership is taught, modeled, and practiced, project-based activities allow students to learn the qualities of strong leader. For example, students often do partner reading with younger children, make morning announcements, clean the cafeteria for their peers, or lead activities in chapel. “We try to find ways for them

to show that they can be the leader by finding ways to use their different talents in different ways within the school. This often depends on how different grades can interact and work with each other. We look for opportunities on a daily basis for

“

Debbie Baacke Lower School Principal

A child can chose and work towards a college that they have a goal of attending.

We prepare them from a young age, and we choose all the resources that are needed to help the students be the best they can be. the students to serve,” Baacke said.

Leadership also extends to providing service to the larger community.

Lutheran South arranges a number of service projects each year, and while the academy organizes food and clothing drives and collects offerings in chapel, emphasis is placed in giving personal time and energy, rather than on monetary goals. “Service to the community isn’t just bringing something, but it is giving

of yourself too,” Baacke said. “We have been trying to find ways for them to give of themselves, we want to make a little bit more of a connection to that.”

For instance, high school students take turns going to the Star Hope Mission in Houston to serve meals; younger children create cards to send to overseas missions; and religion classes make ornaments to decorate Christmas trees that will be auctioned off, with the money donated to the ministry. Parents and teachers also become involved in number of handson volunteer opportunities, serving as models and collaborating with students.

At Lutheran South Academy, the ideal graduate will have learned how to provide Christian leadership in the home, church, workplace, and community for the next generation.

Lutheran South Academy is forthright about the faith standards practiced at the school. At the academy, it is believed that God gives people the opportunity to live, learn, and love each day, and the mission of the school is to partner with God to change this world for the better. Solidly based on this foundation of faith, education at Lutheran South Academy addresses both of these beliefs: allowing students to meet their full academic potential; developing them as well-rounded and involved members of a community; assuring graduates of their spirituality; and producing leaders with strong moral courage in a changing world. ELT

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SPOTLIGHTS

Microsoft pilot rogram will redefine role of students in community six schools chosen to transform learning a nd communit y service through technology Microsoft Corp. and the Corporation for National and Community Service announced six schools — from California, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia — have been selected to participate in the Service & Technology Academic Resource Team (START). The initiative recognizes the leadership shown by students and teachers in schools across America who are working together in meaningful ways to revitalize learning, schools and communities through the use of technology.

START redefines the role of the student in the classroom and creates a new kind of collaboration between students and teachers through technology-focused service-learning. The goal is to utilize the technology skills of students to partner with teachers and determine where technology best fits into the learning environment.

The selected schools will receive grants and serve as national laboratory sites and as examples of how schools can integrate service-learning and technology into the classroom. The schools will present their scalable best practices today for Karen Cator, director of Education Technology for the U.S. Department of Education.

“At first I wasn’t sure how a project like this could work and how it could improve my students’ academic outcomes. After I stepped back and let my students teach me about technology, I realized the tremendous 36 Education Leaders Today

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SPOTLIGHTS

benefits of these service-learning projects,” said Linda Clifton, principal at Tupelo Middle School. “Teachers have been amazed at the things students can do with technology and by integrating students’ expertise in technology into the learning process, you give them the opportunity to expand their learning opportunities, while creating a much-needed technology support system for the teachers.”

The teachers participating in the START initiative gain valuable technology and computer skills, while their students improve their problem-solving, critical-thinking, troubleshooting and communication skills. For example, students at Tupelo Middle School in Tupelo, Miss., use technology to help create materials for other students and classes, as well as maintain and service computers. The teachers depend on these students to do more than just keep their computers functioning; they also help them prepare instructional resources in digital formats.

“We must start thinking differently about traditional teaching and learning models and how we can prepare our students for the future,” said Mary Cullinane, director of innovation for U.S. Education at Microsoft.

“Combining service opportunities with technology needs in the classroom prepares students with the 21st century skills they need today and in the future.”

Microsoft and the Corporation have designed the START initiative with input from 40 youth development, education and nonprofit leaders throughout the country. START is an extension of the innovative work of national leaders in the field including organizations such as GenerationYES!, MOUSE, Students Working to Advance Technology, Urban Technology Project and CREATE for Mississippi. As part of the partnership, the group plans to highlight best practices nationwide for other schools to replicate and create a virtual student-led help desk where students will support teachers and nonprofit leaders using online, phone and onsite approaches.

The selected START schools are the following: Winston Churchill Middle School: Carmichael, California Students participating in the GenerationYes! program assist teachers with support needs ranging from software installation to the creation and implementation of contentspecific lessons. Currently, 90% of the students in the program go into classrooms and teach their classmates about a specific subject using technology.

Forest Park High School, Woodbridge, Va. The VA Star program offers students a fully integrated service-learning model including a rich IT curriculum, hands-on training to refurbish and recycle used computers, and a full spectrum of community service opportunities to meet the IT needs of the school’s community.

Lower Eastside PS 515: New York, N.Y. The MOUSE Squad has 25 participants who routinely tutor their peers in the basics of computing and work in teams to provide custom professional development courses to faculty on evenings and weekends. Students provide technical support for their school and use their technology skills to help design the school’s yearbook cover and for detailed page design.

Parkway West High School, Philadelphia, Pa. With the support of the Urban Technology Project, about 80 10th graders serve as “Guides by the Side.” They are trained to provide project-based digital media support in K-8th grade classrooms, including developing lesson plans, working one-on-one with students in the areas of literacy, math and reading, and creating “legacy projects” to address community and school technology needs.

East Garner Magnet Middle School, Garner, N.C. Students serving on the Students Working to Advance Technology team teach fellow classmates about technology in computer labs, take part in community service projects, designing Web sites for teachers, assisting teachers with Internet research, and videotaping news broadcasts.

Tupelo Middle School: Mississippi

Tupelo,

TMS is part of CREATE for Mississippi, and 56 of its students are leaders in the Excel Tech program. Students maintain and service computers for teachers, install software, ghost machines, set up new equipment for teachers, develop PowerPoint presentations, and work on special projects for the school. TMS will become a one-to-one student to computer school in 2010–2011.

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SPOTLIGHTS

Goodbye Scantron: college exams move online

38 Education Leaders Today

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NEWS

A

s the number of college students taking courses online grows exponentially some progressive schools are offering their students the opportunity to take exams online. According to Jarrod Morgan, co-founder and vice president of ProctorU, Inc., which claims to be the leading provider of webcam based, proctored online exam services, it’s natural for a student who takes his or her courses online to expect tests and exams to also be available online.

Morgan, whose company provides live online exam proctoring for about twenty colleges and universities, said the service was originally developed for internal use

by Andrew Jackson University, an online institution in Birmingham, Alabama. “AJU students were complaining of the inconvenience and high cost of locating a proctor and traveling to the proctor’s location for their final exams,” he said. “So the school, where I was director of technology, decided to develop an online exam proctoring system in early 2008 to accommodate its students,” Morgan related.

The online proctoring service was a hit with students, who paid about $30 for the service – according to Morgan far less than testing centers charged – and by the end of 2008 almost every student was taking all their finals online supervised by the university’s live proctors via webcams.

After discussing their success with online proctoring at an education industry conference Andrew Jackson University was approached by several schools who asked if the proctoring service could be made available to them. The university then decided to commercialize the service and spun it off into a separate corporation, ProctorU, Inc. “Our students absolutely love the online exam proctors and the convenience the service offers,” stated Tammy Kassner, director of admissions at Andrew Jackson University. “They might be intimidated a bit taking their first exam online as an exam is critical to the computation of their grade for the course. But when they see how professional and helpful the proctors are they relax. They even look forward to their next exam,” she commented.

“Several other companies offer online testing services, but our research indicates these companies burden schools with additional requirements that put the cost of their service out of reach for many students and institutions. Others have technical issues that preclude them from providing their service to students using Macintosh computers. And they all charge far more than we do,” said ProctorU board member Joseph Schmoke. “We like where we’re positioned. We have a real opportunity to be a dominant factor in the fledgling business of online testing, especially in the area of supervising college exams using live certified proctors,” he concluded.

Education Leaders Today

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Educational Records Bureau (ERB)

S

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Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 41

FEATURE

F

aith, Service,

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Sister Stephen Anne Roderiguez Principal

We embrace the idea that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. It’s the whole concept of community where you can make a difference; where who you are matters more than what you do.

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ST. ALOYSIUS ACADEMY

Leadership & Education

by Joan Tupponce

S

tudents graduating from St. Aloysius Academy carry with them a strong foundation in faith, service and leadership.

The school’s guiding philosophy is based on the spirit of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. “We embrace the idea that we are part of something bigger than ourselves,” says Principal Sister Stephen Anne Roderiguez. “It’s the whole concept of community where you can make a difference; where who you are matters more than what you do.”

Students at St. Aloysius learn in an environment that promotes selfawareness and self-reflection. “It gives our students an edge in finding their niche,” says Sister Roderiguez. “There is so much here that boys can take and run with. We are open to their interests and try to provide a diverse variety of curriculum and activities.”

The school offers its students a wellrounded educational experience that includes a top-notch academic program, a strong spiritual component, athletics

and outdoor activities.

The private, Catholic elementary school for boys in kindergarten through 8th grade dates back to 1895 when the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, opened a school in West Chester, Pennsylvania. At the time, the school accepted only girls. When parents asked if the Sisters would provide education for their sons as well, the Sisters agreed to start a boys’ school in one wing of the building.

As the boys’ school began to grow, the Sisters started looking for a new location. In 1949 they purchased the 48-acre Wootton Estate in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The original owner, George Childs, owned the Philadelphia Public Ledger. The land later was bequeathed to George and Mary Drexel who passed away in the 1940s. The stately estate, located along the upscale Main Line of suburban Philadelphia, has been featured in “Main Line Mansions.”

“The first task the sisters had to do when they purchased the property was to take the actual mansion and turn it into a school and boarding house,” Sister Roderiguez says.

The original building was transformed

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FEATURE

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We offer choir and/or band and we have individual music lessons.

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ST. ALOYSIUS ACADEMY

into dormitories. The Carriage House became classrooms for students. In 1962, the Sisters added a new school building to the property.

The modern school facility includes a multi-media center housing two computer labs and a state-of-the-art library along with a large all purpose room, science lab, art room, private chapel and classrooms.

Instead of classrooms, the Carriage House now houses a large Music Center and a small gymnasium. “We offer choir and/or band and we have individual music lessons,” Sister Roderiguez says.

The original stables on the estate were redesigned and turned into an area called the Clockhouse, now home to the school’s co-educational pre-kindergarten and kindergarten Montessori programs.

The campus also includes a full-size gymnasium with a stage area.

Classrooms in kindergarten through eighth grade are equipped with the latest in technology. Each contains an interactive white board and Internet access.

“We also have a laptop cart with 20 laptops that can go from class to class,” says Linda Hanson, curriculum strategist.

“We are getting ready to launch into our first classroom with Netbook.”

Students are even using Skype with their sister academy, Villa Maria Academy.

“The Sisters have schools in Lima, Peru and that’s the next step,” Sister Roderiguez says. “We will be going international.”

Learning at St. Aloysius goes beyond the walls of the school. The handsome

grounds of the estate provide an outdoor environmental science classroom where students can study various species of trees and plants.

“We have a miniature arboretum,” Hanson says. “We have a stream that runs through the campus where the boys can test the water and we have sugar maple trees so we make maple syrup.”

Most of the school’s 220 students come from the counties that surround Philadelphia.

“We also have two international students from South Korea,” Hanson says. “That’s been wonderful.”

Classes are intentionally small with a 1:10 teacher/student ratio. Even though St. Aloysius’s prime location along the Main Line puts it in competition with a large number of parish and private Education Leaders Today

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FEATURE

schools in the area, it continues to attract students.

Like other schools, St. Aloysius is challenged by the current economic environment.

“We are working hard to increase enrollment,” Sister Roderiguez says, adding that some students have left the school for financial reasons. “We also had families that have reconsidered us because the school they were looking at was in a higher bracket.”

Currently the school has eight Sisters on staff with 22 full-time and five parttime teachers.

“There is very little turnover,” Sister Roderiguez says. “We have a wonderful, devoted faculty here. I believe it is one of the strengths of the school.”

The camaraderie in the school helps students build a sense of belonging and

personal identity. “We have the whole package: spiritual formation, emotional development and academic success, “Sister Roderiguez says.

The school spirit that students and teachers share is priceless. In a conversation with his mother, one of the students at St. Aloysius told her it was his “dream school.” “Many of our boys would reply similarly,” Hanson says.

Because St. Aloysius is a boys’ school, students don’t contend with social pressure. “They have confidence because they are so accepted here,” Hanson says.

The entire student body participates in special events held at the school as well as state and regional projects.

“I like to say this is a school of possibilities,” Sister Roderiguez says.

“There are so many ways to encourage boys and support them. We provide the

space for each boy to understand the greatness God intends for his life.”

Teaching emphasizes a handson approach that stresses gradeappropriate principles of social justice.

“We tell the boys not to ask what’s in it for me but rather what’s in it from me,” Sister Roderiguez says.

As an example, students learn about accomplishments and overcoming disabilities from a Vietnam veteran who is paralyzed from the waist down.

“Instead of watching a video about disabilities they get to meet this person,” Hanson says.

That type of stretch learning prepares students for life. “We think that learning environment is our edge,” Sister Roderiguez says. “When you start teaching a student for life it changes the way you see the curriculum.” ELT

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We provide the space for each boy to understand the greatness God intends for his life.

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SPOTLIGHTS

Study Shows Key Role Environment Plays Part In Developing Reading Skills

Stephen Petrill Professor of Human Development & Family Science at Ohio State University

Understanding the causes of why kids differ in reading skills, and the roles of genetics and environment, could help us understand how to teach them better 48 Education Leaders Today Spring 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio – While genetics play a key role in children’s initial reading skills, a new study of twins is the first to demonstrate that environment plays an important role in reading growth over time.

The results give further evidence that children can make gains in reading during their early school years, above and beyond the important genetic factors that influence differences in reading, said Stephen Petrill, lead author of the study and professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University.

“We certainly have to take more seriously genetic influences on learning, but children who come into school with poor reading skills can make strides with proper instruction,” Petrill said.

“The findings support the need for sustained efforts to promote reading development in children that take both genetic and environmental influences into account” While other studies have shown that both genetics and environment influence reading skills, this is the first to show their relative roles in how quickly or slowly children’s reading skills improve over time.

The study appears online in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

The study participants were 314 Ohio twins participating in the Western Reserve Reading Project. This study included 135 identical twins and 179 same-sex fraternal twins.

The twins began the study when they were in kindergarten or first grade and were assessed in their homes when they enrolled, and annually for the next two years.

At each home visit, the twins were given a 90-minute battery of readingbased measures. Among other things, the tests measured word and letter identification, the ability to sound out words, and the speed at which children could name a series of letters.

The researchers compared how twins scored on the tests and then used

NEWS

a statistical analysis to determine how much growth in their performance could be explained by genetics and how much by environmental factors.

Environmental factors include everything the children experience – how they are cared for by their parents, how much they are read to, the neighborhood they live in, nutrition and their instruction in schools, among other factors.

“We believe that both factors play a role in reading, which is very similar to what researchers find in health issues such as heart disease and obesity. But we know a lot more about the relative impacts of genetics and environment on the biological systems that influence heart disease than we do in reading.”

The findings showed that when children start out reading, both genetics and environment play a role in readings skills, depending on the skills assessed. For word and letter identification, genetics explained about one-third of the test results, while environment explained two-thirds.

For vocabulary and sound awareness, it was equally split between genetics and environment. For the speed tests, it was three-quarters genetic.

But when the researchers measured growth in reading skills, environment became much more important, Petrill said.

For reading skills that are taught, such as words and letters, the environment is almost completely responsible for growth.

For awareness of sounds in reading, about 80 percent of growth was explained by the environment. Speed measures were the only ones where genetics still played a large role.

“Regardless of where children start as far as reading skills, and the impact that genetics and environment had on their initial skills, we found that their environ-

ment had an impact in how fast or how slowly those reading skills developed,” Petrill said.

Petrill emphasized that a child’s environment is much more than just the instruction he or she receives in school.

However, instruction is likely a key part of how reading skills grow over time.

Petrill said much more research needs to be done examining the roles of genetics and the environment in shaping how children learn to read.

“We believe that both factors play a role in reading, which is very similar to what researchers find in health issues such as heart disease and obesity,” Petrill said.

“But we know a lot more about the relative impacts of genetics and environment on the biological systems that influence heart disease than we do in reading.”

For example, people can change their environment to help lower their risk of heart disease, no matter their genetic susceptibility to the disease, he said.

Petrill said he hopes we can do the same to help children improve their reading.

“Understanding the causes of why kids differ in reading skills, and the roles of genetics and environment, could help us understand how to teach them better,” he said.

Education Leaders Today Spring 2010 49

FEATURE

A public school of choice

by Joan Tupponce

Monument Academy brings a sense of community to education 50 Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010

MONUMENT ACADEMY

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he charter school legacy born from actions taken by parents in Lewis Palmer District 38 in Monument, Co. in 1996 continues to flourish at Monument Academy.

A “public school of choice” Monument’s foundation is deeply rooted in the community.

“In 1995, many parents felt strongly that they wanted a choice other than their neighborhood school,” says Lis Richard, Monument’s principal.

The group’s goal was to create a school that valued high academic standards and small class sizes as well as respect and responsibility.

When it opened, Monument (then known as LewisPalmer Charter Academy) had an enrollment of 241. Today, that number has swelled to 756. “Next year we expect 900 students,” Richard says. “We will be full-to-capacity then.”

Until 2009 when it opened a pre-kindergarten and Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010 51

FEATURE

preschool program, Monument served students in kindergarten through 8th grade. The school decided to open the new programs so children could become more kindergarten ready for Monument’s core knowledge curriculum. “We want the kids to leave kindergarten as proficient readers,” Richard says.

The school’s curriculum follows the Core Knowledge Sequence which stresses the importance of literacy and shared knowledge. The K-8 Sequence is based on content, sequenced from year-to-year to guarantee consistency and continuity.

The content-rich curriculum can help schools raise student achievement and narrow achievement gaps.

“We have two tenets here – core knowledge and core virtues,” Richard says. “We believe you need to educate mentally and academically.”

Teachers at Monument emphasize one or two of the school’s 32 core virtues, ranging from courage and patience to integrity and self-discipline, each month throughout the school year.

The school’s academic success is in direct correlation to its high academic standards, Core Virtue Program and small class sizes. Currently, Monument has a teacher/student ratio of 9:1.

Most classes have 22 students. Kindergarten classes average 16 students. “Our largest class is 24,” Richard says. “We won’t go over that number.”

Students at Monument are high achievers not only scoring at 52 Education Leaders Today

Spring 2010

the top of the scale on tests but also in national competitions.

For example, a middle school team recently took home first place in the national Brain Bowl competition. Students also placed first in their region in a national Math Olympiad contest.

“One of our 7th-grade girls just broke a nine-year record in the math competition,” Richard says.

Monument’s lesson plans are well-paced and well-purposed.

“We take the job of educating very seriously. We have an effective cycle of instruction that cuts down on a lot of wasted downtime in the classroom,” Richard says. “We try to keep instruction as the premiere part of the day. We don’t waste time with long lunches or long, unnecessary assemblies.”

Courses at Monument are fully balanced so that students receive a well-rounded education. All students in kindergarten through 8th grade take Spanish instruction as well as art and physical education. “We have an excellent physical education program,” Richard says. “We build the child physically as well as academically. Our whole program ties together.”

Learning goes beyond the classroom. A recent medieval festival brought in students, teachers and parents. “We even had knights here,” Richard says. “We are all involved in making these types of special programs happen.”

Parents at the school continue to be very involved in their children’s education, which is a huge plus in the academic

MONUMENT ACADEMY

world. “Each day we have about 50 parents in the building. We ask parents to serve 16 volunteer hours per semester,” Richard says. “They are vested in their children’s education. That’s a big key for us.”

The school’s teachers are yet another factor in the school’s success. “Some of our teachers have been here since we started,” Richard says.

Even though the population in the school district is declining and the economy remains sluggish, Monument Academy continues to increase in enrollment. Last year, the school grew by 140 students. “Next year it will be over 100 in growth,” Richard says. “We are very solid financially and very stable. We have been virtually unaffected by the economy.”

The school’s reputation is well-known among other private charter district schools in the area that recruit Monument’s graduating 8th-grade students. Currently, Monument is in the

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top 8 percent of schools in the state. It has been the recipient of the John Irwin School of Excellence Award for six consecutive years.

Monument Academy differs from its public school counterparts in many ways, including its financial responsibilities. Because it is a “public school of choice” Monument Academy pays for its facilities. There is no public transportation; parents must drive their children to school each day. Teacher compensation differs, as well.

“Our teachers made 20 percent less than their district counterparts and our administrators are paid 40 percent less,” Richard says. Nevertheless, teachers remain loyal to the Academy. “There is a real feeling among our faculty that this school is a calling. It’s much deeper than a job or a career. They believe in what we are doing. Our teachers are dedicated and that’s what makes this an exciting place to work.”

Monument’s new 75,000-square-foot state-of-the-art school building is an eco-friendly asset for teachers and students. “All of our students breathe clean air,” Richard says. “Each classroom has some filtration units so the air is filtered and cleaned before being circulated. Also, all of our classrooms slope to natural light.”

School officials conducted a great deal of research before planning the building. “We wanted to create the best learning environment for our students,” Richard says. “We have plans for expansion in our middle school area. We’re looking at adding six extra classrooms which would include a soundproof music room.”

Richard joined the school’s administration last year Monument Academy, from after 24 years in education. “I love charter education,” she says. “One of the big draws for me at this school was American National Bank the two tenets – core knowledge and core virtues. I’m a firm believer in both.” ELT

54 Education Leaders Today Spring 2009

T O A D V E R T I S E , C O N TA C T I N F O @ E D U C AT I O N L E A D E R S T O D AY. C O M