RECEIVE BELIEVE ACHIEVE 2016 –2017 ANNUAL REPORT
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS Achieve partners with families to empower motivated students from underserved Boston communities to close the opportunity gap. With middle school programming and support through high school and college, our community provides transformative academic and enrichment experiences, and fosters mentoring relationships that inspire confidence, learning and joy.
RECEIVE BELIEVE ACHIEVE
ACHIEVE
WE MUST!
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FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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FROM THE DEVELOPMENT STAFF
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MEET OUR PEOPLE
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FINANCIALS
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IMPACT 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 1
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EVERYDAY INSPIRATION
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EVERY DAY AT ACHIEVE I AM INSPIRED. I am inspired by our young scholars who
work tirelessly during the summers and on Saturdays to hone their academic skills and cultivate their confidence and motivation, and I am inspired by Achieve teachers who, despite having the summer “off,” choose to spend their days at Achieve, creating a thoughtful curriculum and delivering the highest quality instruction. These teachers are invested in every aspect of student success, from teaching systems of equations to the basics of ultimate to sharing sandwiches—every moment matters and every moment is purposeful. When young people feel a strong sense of belonging, when they feel agency in their choices, and when they feel a whole lot of love, they can accomplish just about anything. I see it every day. The Achieve community continues to prove that young people are extraordinary. As we celebrate our 10th year, I hope we all stop to reflect. Scholars at Achieve receive messages every day that they are not good enough, that they are not capable, and that they cannot be successful. At Achieve, our scholars receive a different message and hear a different story. We share stories of accomplishment, stories of perseverance, stories of resilience and stories of growth. It should be of no surprise that 95 percent of our students report a significant increase in their academic motivation and 92 percent report improvement in their relationships with the peers and adults around them. They report higher empathy, learning interest, confidence. I am most proud that young people at Achieve love the community that we have created and are empowered to bring their true and authentic selves. As one Achieve scholar notes, “Before coming to Achieve, I was afraid to open up to people and let them know the real me. I was afraid of people judging me. Now I am more open to people and have more to say about what I believe in and what matters to me.” Achieve is working and the transformations are palpable. Thank you all so much for your generous support and for your deep commitment to our work. Thank you for your countless hours of volunteering and for all the people you have introduced to Achieve. Together, we have accomplished great things. Looking ahead to the coming year, we are excited to serve more students, recruit and retain the most talented teachers, and ensure the future is bright for hundreds of Boston’s most talented and deserving young people. Thank you for being a part of the Achieve family. —NORA DOWLEY-LIEBOWITZ DIRECTOR OF ACHIEVE
2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 3
FROM THE DEVELOPMENT STAFF
BEGINNING A HISTORY OF ACHIEVEMENT
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WITH ACHIEVE’S FOUNDING IN 2007, Noble and Greenough School joined a small
group of independent schools nationwide in opening its campus to a tuition-free academic support and enrichment program for urban middle school students. The program embodies Nobles’ mission to inspire leadership for the public good. The first summer session, held in 2008 with 10 staff members and 23 students, was so successful that Achieve doubled in size by 2009. Since then, Achieve has maintained its culture and quality while strategically growing, aiming to offer Nobles’ resources and commitment to education to as many students as possible. This year, 83 middle school-age students and 25 dedicated faculty members took part in the 10th Achieve summer session. Nobles’ in-kind donations of administrative support, equipment and space reflect the school’s commitment to Achieve. While Nobles serves as the fiscal sponsor to Achieve and shares its 501(c)(3) status, all fundraising efforts and accounting are held separately. Achieve must raise all funds necessary to support operations each year. Donations from just two individuals in 2007 funded the program’s initial expenses. Today, more than 215 individuals have contributed to Achieve’s operating fund. Over 400 individuals have supported the growing Achieve endowment, including the Casey Dunne Memorial Fund, which ensures the future of the program in addition to producing a meaningful annual income. While historically reliant on individual donors, Achieve is now proud to receive significant support each year from foundations and corporations, as well as revenue from fundraising events and initiatives. In addition, the ongoing challenge issued by the Edgerley Family Foundation—with the potential to raise $3.75 million— represents an incredible opportunity for Achieve to reach its endowment goal and develop exciting long-term plans for program growth. Every act of generosity in support of Achieve helps to ensure that many motivated, yet under-resourced, students will benefit from the program for years to come. Thank you for your interest in and generous support of this transformational program. —CAT KERSHAW, ACHIEVE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER —GEORGE MALEY, NOBLES CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER
2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 5
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EN T
“More students deserve the opportunities that I had— those interactions and activities that gave me confidence and made me love to learn.” MARZUQ MUHAMMAD 8 ACHIEVE | 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT
MARZUQ MUHAMMAD
NCOURAGED TO EXPLORE
S
STUDENTS THRIVE WHEN THEY’RE ENCOURAGED to explore their interests and when
they feel comfortable asking questions. Although it’s not the case in a lot of places, I was fortunate to go to a public school where it was actually cool to be studious. I was given great opportunities there, like writing for the school newspaper and participating in the National Academic League. More students deserve the opportunities that I had—those interactions and activities that gave me confidence and made me love to learn. Achieve exposes kids from urban schools to the Nobles environment where they’re encouraged to get to know teachers, ask for extra help, and pursue whatever quirky academic inquisitiveness they may have. They get that Nobles special sauce—that individualized attention and those strong student-teacher relationships. And the thing that I think is most important about Achieve is that it builds self-confidence so that, when these students go back to their respective schools, they can lead. They can help to instill a new culture of engaging with their teachers and really add value to their classrooms. I see this as another way that Nobles, through its connection to Achieve, works to develop leaders for the public good.
Marzuq Muhammad graduated from the James P. Timilty public school in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood and came to Noble and Greenough School in 1997. After graduating from Nobles in 2001, Muhammad earned his bachelor’s in geography from Dartmouth College. Aiming to give back to urban communities, Muhammad works on transformative real estate development projects at Trinity Financial. He serves on the Achieve board, a standing committee of the Nobles Board of Trustees. 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 9
CUL O
“Achieve teaches students tolerance and the intrinsic value of a human being...it raises them up and gives them a voice.” LORIS TORIBIO 10 ACHIEVE | 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT
LORIS TORIBIO
LTURE OF TRUST
A
ACHIEVE TRANSFORMED THE WAY I saw teaching and reenergized me as an educator.
The kids come to us already phenomenal—so talented, bright and humble. The program is incredibly well run; I admire the focus Nora [Dowley-Liebowitz] places on social-emotional development and character. Even new students know that they have something unique to offer, and that being part of Achieve is a way to express that. I worked at a charter school where the culture was very driven by behavior management—Achieve showed me that that’s not always necessary if you build up a culture of trust and learning. At Achieve, I learned a lot about creating a community and developing leadership in young people. The program builds social capital so students can be resources for each other. It connects them to everyday heroes in the community—not those in history books or with glorified careers, but those who describe their own trajectories and the hardships they went through to get where they are. My work now is to create pathways to roles students don’t necessarily see because of systemic challenges their parents faced. Achieve is inclusive and teaches students tolerance and the intrinsic value of a human being instead of whatever label society may impose; it raises them up and gives them a voice. Loris Toribio, the early college coordinator at Lawrence Public Schools, graduated from UB in 2002 and from Noble and Greenough School in 2006. She earned a bachelor’s in psychology and Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, and a master’s in education from Boston University in 2016. From 2014-2016, she was a member of Teach for America and taught middle school science at UP Academy Oliver and Achieve. Her honors include the John P. Sabini Senior Thesis Award, the Sontag Prize in Urban Education and the Biogen Award for Excellence in STEM Teaching. 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 11
TAHJAY THOMPSON
STRENGTH TO SUCCE
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WHEN I FIRST CAME TO ACHIEVE, I was a completely different person. I was really shy
and would second-guess myself a lot. Achieve helped me to build the confidence that I needed. It helped me to grow as a human being. The staff and the kids created an amazing environment where I automatically felt like I belonged. They quickly became like family to me. Achieve is so much more than a summer school. Don’t get me wrong, the academics are incredibly important and definitely helped me, but the experiences and the values and the moments are what I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Like the speakers who come in on Fridays: they’re people who come from the same walks of life that we have and who have been successful. On my first Friday as a graduate intern, the two speakers were teachers. When they were talking, it just really hit me. They’d been through things similar to what I’d been through. They’d struggled, but now they’re doing such great things for themselves. It really made me look at teachers in a different light. You realize that they really do care and want to help the students. It’s just amazing. Tahjay Thompson, who immigrated to America from Jamaica in 2007, graduated from Achieve and Roxbury Preparatory charter school in 2014. He is a rising senior at St. Joseph’s Preparatory High School. He returned to Achieve in summer 2017 as a graduate assistant, where he helps Achieve with behind-the-scenes tasks and helps run a book club. He hopes to study sociology in college and be a voice for social justice.
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H EED
“Achieve helped me to build the confidence that I needed. It helped me to grow as a human being.” TAHJAY THOMPSON
2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 13
2016–2017 FINANCIALS
FINANCIAL INFORMATION*
TOTAL OPERATING INCOME
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES
$389,000
$389,000
REVENUES
EXPENSES
Individual Donors............................................................$102,429
Summer Program Expenses...................................$79,500
Endowment Income....................................................$102,636
Summer Program Stipends...................................$89,000
Foundation Grants..........................................................$119,756
Academic Year Program Expenses...................$33,000
Corporations..........................................................................$17,500
Administrative Salaries...............................................$173,400
Events (non-gift revenue).............................................$2,025
External Relations & Development.......................$14,100
Transfer of Funds.............................................................$44,654
FOUNDATION AND CORPORATE SUPPORTERS
NOTES
n Cummings Foundation
n $44,000 is spent annually on food for
n $32,500 is spent annually on transportation
for students to and from Achieve. n Forest Foundation
students, which includes a healthy breakfast, lunch and snack each day at Achieve. n Boston Bruins Foundation n The cost to fund an Achieve scholar for n Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation one full year is approximately $5,000. n Boston After School & Beyond in partnership The program is hosted at Noble and with BPS Office of Extended Learning Time Greenough School, but Achieve must n Emerson Hospital raise all of the funds necessary to n FLIK Independent School Dining support operations. n Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation
Number of individual donors to Achieve’s current operating fund since 2007: 215 14 ACHIEVE | 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT
* Information as of July 1, 2017. The Achieve fiscal year runs from September 1 to August 31.
ENDOWMENT CASEY’S LEGACY 2016
$2,175,323
2015
$1,998,957
2014
$1,758,686
2013
$1,644,356
2012
$1,086,150
$0
$0.50
$1
$1.50
$2
$2.50
Dollars in millions
ENDOWMENT MARKET VALUE n Total number of individual donors to Achieve’s
The Casey Dunne Achieve Tutoring Program endowment fund was established in 2015 in memory of a dedicated tutor at Achieve. The collective generosity through the incredible influx of gifts made in her memory has significantly increased the overall Achieve endowment total. Nearly a hundred Nobles students volunteer for this program, which has been renamed in honor of Casey.
endowment funds since 2007, including to the Casey Dunne Achieve Tutoring Program: 404 n Total committed to Achieve Endowment: $4,262,943
ACHIEVE BOARD OF ADVISORS, 2016–17 n Allison Burman-Gordon
n Heidi McNeill
n Patricia Burns
n Amy Millay
n Sherrie Selwyn Delinsky
n Marzuq Muhammad
n Anthony DiNovi
n Eric Nguyen
n Mary Dunne
n Mariel Novas
n Steve Ginsberg
n Starr Glidden Peteet
n Laurie Gliklich
n Teresa Rodriguez
n Gabriel Gomez
n Ben Snyder
n Joseph Kringdon
n André Stark
n Melissa Goodrich Lyons
n Heather Sullivan
n George Maley
ENDOWMENT CHALLENGE
In December 2016, the Edgerley family issued an endowment challenge, when the total committed to the Achieve endowment was $3.4 million. If Achieve raises $2.5 million in gifts and pledges by June 2018, the family will match donations at 50 percent and contribute $1.25 million through their family foundation. This would bring the total committed to the Achieve endowment to more than $7 million. As of July 2017, $800,000 has been raised for this challenge. 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 15
IMPACT
ACHIEVE STUDENTS Students begin at Achieve in the summer before 7th grade and graduate from the program in the summer before 9th grade. In addition, students attend Saturday sessions twice a month during the academic year. n There were 83 Achieve scholars in the 2017 summer session from 30 Boston public schools and nearly every Boston neighborhood. n Achieve’s average daily attendance rate was 98.7%, one of the highest among all summer learning programs in Boston. n 99% of Achieve scholars are students of color; 89% will be the first in their family to attend college and 68% speak another language at home.
GENDER BREAKDOWN Female...............................................................................57% Male....................................................................................43% TOTAL ACHIEVE SCHOLARS IN 2017 SUMMER SESSION
83
RACIAL BREAKDOWN African American.........................................................21% Asian, Asian-American.............................................5% Caribbean Islander.......................................................3% TOTAL ACHIEVE SCHOLARS IN 2017 SUMMER SESSION
83
Latino or Hispanic.....................................................38% White, Caucasian (non-Hispanic)....................1% Multiracial.........................................................................27% Other......................................................................................5%
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ACADEMIC GROWTH “Summer learning loss,” the phenomenon in which students lose academic skills over the summer, is one of the largest causes of the opportunity gap between lower- and higherincome youth in our country. On average, low-income youth lose about two to three months of reading skills, while their higher-income peers make gains. Achieve combats summer learning loss through six weeks of academically rigorous coursework, with instruction in math, English, and science. Our Achieve students routinely show significant improvement in their math and reading scores on STAR Assessments. The STAR Math and Reading Assessments, offered by Renaissance Learning, are computeradaptive, nationally-normed tests in math and reading. We administer these tests to students at the beginning and end of each summer session. In addition, Achieve offers social enrichment programs that are specifically tailored to the needs of middle school students.
PRE- AND POST-TEST PERCENTILE SCORES ON
GAINS IN PERCENTILE SCORE ON THE
THE STAR MATH AND READING ASSESSMENTS
STAR MATH AND READING ASSESSMENTS 12
80
+12 70 70
10
73
60 8
50 40
6
30
35
47
39
44
+5
4
20 2
10
+3
0
0 Math
Targeted Math Instruction
Reading
Math
Targeted Math Reading Instruction
Pre-Test Average Percentile Post-Test Average Percentile 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 17
IMPACT
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL GROWTH Per social-emotional surveys conducted at the start and end of each summer session, Achieve students report significant improvement in the three assessed areas: resiliency, relationships and engagement. Resiliency refers to a student’s ability to cope with stress. Relationships refer to a student’s connections with peers and adults. Engagement refers to a student’s commitment to the program and learning environment.
PERCENT OF ACHIEVE STUDENTS REPORTING AN IMPROVEMENT IN LEARNING AND PROGRAM ENGAGEMENT 100 80
91%
89%
91%
Critical Thinking
Perseverance
95% 84%
60 40 20 0 Learning Interest
Academic Motivation Program Bonding
PERCENT OF ACHIEVE STUDENTS REPORTING AN IMPROVEMENT IN RESILIENCIES 100 80
92%
88%
92%
92%
Empathy
Reflection
81%
88%
60 53%
40 20 0 Action Orientation
Emotional Control
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Assertiveness
Trust
Optimism
OUTCOMES HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT
During the 2016-2017 school year, Achieve Assistant Director Janim Sayles led the high school placement (HSP) process with 8th grade students. Students spent their mornings of Achieve Saturday sessions working with specially trained tutors on standardized test preparation. Every Saturday afternoon, they stayed for an additional two hours to work with an HSP volunteer coach on their applications to secondary schools. n On average, each scholar completed applications for six selective admission schools. n Over 1,150 total hours were spent by students on test preparation and applications during Saturday sessions. n Twelve of 13 students who took the ISEE were accepted to a BPS Exam School. n Twenty-three acceptances to tuition-charging schools resulted in offers of nearly $348,000 awarded in aid to families. n One-hundred percent of participants were accepted to at least one selective admission school. GRADUATE SERVICES
Achieve students "graduate" from the program just before starting 9th grade, after completing significant work to ensure successful high school placement. To help support the transition to high school, and to ensure strong performance throughout high school years, we implemented a graduate services program in 2014. Graduate Services Coordinator Meghan Kelleher tracks and supports our scholars throughout their four years of high school and into college. This service aims to collect and analyze data around student success and ensure that all of our graduates are college ready. During the 2016-2017 school year, we tracked 64 graduates across all four grades of high school. Ten students attended independent schools and 12 attended parochial schools; the remaining were in Boston Public Schools, including pilot, exam and charter schools. The average GPA among Achieve graduates was 2.8. All Achieve graduates in their senior year of high school were accepted to college with affordable options. Acceptances included Bowdoin College, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Curry College, Howard University and Wellesley College. Many Achieve graduates also benefit from the program’s partnerships with Bottom Line, Summer Search, Crimson Academy and City Term.
2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 19
QUICK FACTS
12
100
%
A+
OF ACHIEVE GRADUATES ATTEND HIGH-PERFORMING COLLEGE-PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOLS.
OF THE 13 STUDENTS WHO TOOK THE ISEE EXAM WERE ACCEPTED TO BPS EXAM SCHOOLS.
30
98.7 %
ACHIEVE’S DAILY ATTENDANCE RATE
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE REPRESENTED IN A STUDENT BODY OF 83.
90
%
OF STUDENTS REPORT AN INCREASED INTEREST IN LEARNING AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION.
$5,000
$
THE COST TO FUND AN ACHIEVE SCHOLAR FOR ONE FULL YEAR
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89 %
OF ACHIEVE STUDENTS WILL BE THE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILY TO ATTEND COLLEGE.
389K
$
THE ANNUAL ACHIEVE OPERATING BUDGET
DIRECTOR OF ACHIEVE
Nora Dowley Liebowitz ACHIEVE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Cat Kershaw ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Janim Sayles GRADUATE SERVICES COORDINATOR
Meghan Kelleher DATA SPECIALIST
Eric Nguyen NOBLES CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER
George J. Maley DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Heather Sullivan ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Kim Neal WRITER/CONTENT MANAGER
Alexis Sullivan DESIGN
2COMMUNIQUÉ PHOTOGRAPHY
Ben Heider Kim Neal 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT | ACHIEVE 21
WWW.THEACHIEVEPROGRAM.ORG 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026 | 781.320.7125 | achieve@nobles.edu 22 ACHIEVE | 2016–2017 ANNUAL REPORT