100% College Acceptances » Renaissance College Road Trip

Fund for Teachers – Renaissance College Road Trip Redux!

Oct 252011

On Thursday, October 21st, five seniors joined me on a day-trip to the Big City (No not Boston, but NYC!) to participate in a film project designed to promote the incredible grant funding work of Fund for Teachers. Fund for Teachers is an organization designed to fund the projects of teachers around the country as they research concepts and work to become better versed in topics that they explore in the classroom. I was lucky enough to receive a Fund for Teachers grant to explore colleges across the country with a high graduation rate for urban students of color. I took the trip because we were about to graduate our first class and while we embraced our mission of 100% College Bound, we all knew that the real test was graduating from college. So, I visited colleges that did a good job of ensuring that their students earned a college degree. I designed a Renaissance College Road Trip, met with admissions officers and created a blog to record my travels and inspire Renaissance students to create their very own college road trips. I started at Wesleyan University, rolled to colleges down the East Coast and then flew west to California. My hope was that my travels would provide me with great college search tools AND MORE IMPORTANTLY I would be able to inspire Renaissance students create a thoughtful list of colleges for themselves! Bottom line was that I wanted Renaissance students to have their very own fabulous college road trips!!!

A 6:00am trip meant that Kristal Viera and Yezenia Rodriquez were serenaded by Dr. Mahoney after he rebounded from a pre-dawn coffee spill in his car. Trevor Norrington strolled up after he was dropped off, and Kiana Collins arrived, bleary-eyed but ready to go. Trevor texted Ajaee and we learned she was on her way with 3 minutes to spare for the Amtrak headed to New York Penn Station. These students were choosen for the trip because they had a New York City college on their list of 5-7 colleges.

We arrived at Penn Station around 9:30am and hopped on the N/R train to visit Eugene Lang College, one of the colleges that I visited on the Renaissance College Road Trip. We had our own personal tour and learned about Eugene Lang from a Western MA native, Peter. While no one fell in love with Eugene Lang College, we did appreciate it for its focus on social justice and personalized areas of study.

A trip on the N/R and around Battery Park brought us to the Governor Island Ferry Station. We met three students from the New York Harbor School and learned about what it was like to attend a school that specialized in Marine Biology. Our new friend was a sophomore and she already knew how to scuba dive! The founder Murray Fisher (who’d travelled to Colorado for a rafting trip with Dr. Mahoney this past summer!). We learned the school used Learning Targets, students earned a technical degree in things like scuba diving or boat captainship AND applied to four year colleges! The ideas is that urban students will develop the skills necessary to become stewards for our community waterbodies and help save the planet! It is pretty cool school.

The filming began with me outside.

Unfortunately lots of planes and helicopters over Governor’s Island meant a bunch of interruptions. But humor and persistence got us through. It was fun to think about the Renaissance College Road Trip and how incredibly helpful that Fund for Teachers has been to helping our school develop and grow its college planning work. The I Am College Bound Facebook Page and College Admissions Guidebook are the direct result of Fund for Teachers generous funding. It is making a difference in the lives of students at The Springfield Renaissance School!!!
Ajaee, Trevor, Kristal, Kiana, and Yezenia were the REAL stars! While in front of the camera, they spoke eloquently about their college aspirations and how they engaged the college planning process at Renaissance! It was inspiring to hear their stories and how focused they were on reaching their dreams!!!

We walked back to the ferry and caught a wonderful glimpse of the Statue of Liberty prior to leaving. We walked past Occupy Wall Street and ate at Union Square before we hustled back on the 6:45 pm train. Most of us slept on the ride home.

On Friday, our trip to NYC seemed like just a dream. But it made me realize that the five students who joined me and everyone else in the Renaissance Class of 2012 has a good chance to make their Renaissance College Road Trip dreams become a reality!

Thanks Fund for Teachers!

Governor Patrick Comes to Renaissance & Talks College Boundness!

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Sep 092011

Mass. Gov. Patrick Visits Springfield’s First Innovation School – Welcomes Students Back

Edited by Terry Windall
Published on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 – 18:32:46 +0000 UTCNo Comment

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. /Massachusetts Newswire/ — Mass. Governor Deval Patrick today welcomed students back to school at the Springfield Renaissance School, the city’s first Innovation School, which provides a personalized approach to helping each student succeed, while promoting college readiness.

“Innovation Schools give local communities the tools to close achievement gaps and create an environment where every student can access a high quality education,” said Governor Patrick. “I welcome students back to school and thank the team at the Springfield Renaissance School for leading the way forward on educational innovation.”

The Springfield Renaissance School is an expeditionary learning school serving grades 6-12 and focuses on active, interdisciplinary learning. It has been approved as a cost-neutral innovation school by the Springfield School Committee. For the past two years, the school has had a 100 percent college acceptance track record for its senior class. With 58 percent of its students reported as low income and 73 percent reported as students of color, the school has been successful in closing achievement gaps and supporting its diverse student population’s academic growth.

“The flexibility that the Innovation School model provides is a powerful way of enabling educators and community members to take on enhanced leadership,” said Executive Office of Education Secretary Paul Reville. “The opportunity for teacher leadership and community involvement abounds in Innovation Schools.”

The Innovation Schools initiative is a signature component of the Patrick-Murray Administration’s education reform efforts and was authorized as part of the Achievement Gap Act of 2010. Innovation Schools provide educators, and a wide range of community stakeholders, the opportunity to create in-district schools that operate with greater autonomy and flexibility while keeping school funding within districts. These schools can implement creative and inventive strategies related to curriculum, budget, school schedule and calendar, staffing, professional development, and school district policies to improve learning outcomes for all students and reduce achievement gaps.

“I extend my thanks and appreciation to Governor Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Murray for their commitment to Springfield and our school district,” said Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. “It is pleasing to be recognized and awarded funding to allow our students to achieve education excellence. I commend Principal Steve Mahoney, teachers, staff, students and parents on their innovation status.”

“Innovation schools are an important part of closing the achievement gap for students here in Springfield as well as across the Commonwealth,” said Senator Gale D. Candaras. “These investments in education are imperative to the success of our young people.”

Innovation Schools are approved by local school committees through a collaborative process that invites community and school stakeholders to engage in solving their communities particular issues by taking advantage of the flexibilities and autonomies afforded to Innovation Schools. These schools have been established for varying grade levels (e.g. elementary, middle and high school) and school types (such as new or converted schools or programs within an existing school).

Many of these schools are organized around specific themes like Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), dual language instruction, International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, alternative education opportunities (such as dropout prevention and dual enrollment at community colleges), virtual platforms and wraparound services. Many of the schools also operate with novel schedules that will significantly increase instructional time for students and professional learning opportunities for educators. There are currently 18 established Innovation Schools located across the state.

Class of 2012 Starts the Year with College Planning Workshop 8.31.2011

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Aug 282011

Beginning with two years of 100% college acceptances behind them, the Class of 2012 has a tall order to fill – Threepeat!!! Seniors will start the year with a College Planning Workshop on Wednesday, August 31st from 6-8pm, where they and their parents and guardians will have a chance to take advantage of workshops geared to help them negotiatiate all aspects of the college application process. Joseph Paige from Springfield ACCESS will join to conduct a workshop on Finacial Aid and the FAFSA, workshops will also include Common Application, Finding the Right Fit, and writing the college application essay. Seniors and their families will also learn of the requirements and deadlines specific to The Springfield Renaissance School. This year seniors will have a College Planning Handbook to help guide them through every step of the process.

Ultimately The Springfield Renaissance School’s College Planning Team is acutely aware of the need to ensure that students make good college choices to ensure that they graduate from college within four years. This is an important hurdle for many students who enter college and falter due to lack of academic preparation or financial aid.