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What's
New???
ConnCAN Celebrates
Success of
Six
Bridgeport Public
Schools
Beardsley,
Black Rock, Hall, Madison, Multicultural Magnet,
and
Park
City
Magnet
Schools have been
recognized by ConnCAN (The Connecticut Coalition
for Achievement Now) as 2010 ConnCAN Success
Story schools in Bridgeport.
"Success Story Schools
demonstrate everyday that demographics don't
have to be destiny - that public schools can
overcome tremendous odds," said Alex Johnston,
ConnCAN's CEO. "Schools such as Beardsley, Black
Rock, Hall, Madison, Multicultural Magnet, and
Park City Magnet are critical to closing
Connecticut's
worst-in-the-nation achievement gap, and they're
showing us that it's
possible."
Each year, ConnCAN recognizes the Top 10
schools in the state in the following
categories: Improvement, Low-Income Student
Performance, African-American Student
Performance, Hispanic Student Performance, and
Performance gains. To qualify as a "Success
Story," schools must be in the top three in one
of the Top 10 lists and have a combined minority
and low-income population of at least 75
percent.
The 2010
Success Story Schools
are:
Middle
School:
Achievement First Bridgeport Academy
(Bridgeport), Amistad Academy (New Haven),
Beardsley School
(Bridgeport),
Black
Rock School (Bridgeport),
Hall
School (Bridgeport), Jumoke
Academy (Hartford), Madison
School (Bridgeport), and
Multicultural Magnet
School
(Bridgeport).
Elementary
School: Elm City
College Preparatory Elementary School (New
Haven), Gilmartin School (Waterbury), Maloney
Magnet Elementary (Waterbury), Nathan Hale
School (New London), Park City Magnet
School (Bridgeport), Rotella
Inter-District Magnet School (Waterbury), Second
Hill Lane School (Stratford), University of
Hartford Magnet School (Hartford), and
Worthington Hooker School (New
Haven).
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What's
New???
BPS
Schools Honored
for
Academic
Improvement
Park
City
Magnet and Waltersville
School
Named Finalists for the Lone Pine
Foundation’s
Fairfield
CountyAcademic Gain
Award
According
to Alana
Callahan, principal
of Park City Magnet
School, the evening was
exciting. On Tuesday, November 9,
2010,
BPS Superintendent John J. Ramos, Sr., Ed.D.,
Bridgeport Public Education Fund President Marge
Hiller, along
with Park City
Magnet and Waltersville
School teachers, staff,
administrators, parents and community members,
were in attendance at the Annual Lone Pine
Foundation’s Ceremony for the Fairfield County
Academic Gain Award.
Each
year, with this award, the Lone Pine Foundation
acknowledges elementary schools in Fairfield
County
that have made the greatest academic gain in
student achievement, created incentive for other
schools to work towards significant academic
gains, and shared effective practices. Park
City Magnet and Waltersville
School
were named finalists for the award based on
sustained academic gains.
“The
true beauty of this award process...and the
school review which came as part of it, is that
we have opened our collective eyes to the
enormous contribution Waltersville School has
made to revitalization of this community,”
said Ann de
Bernard, principal of
Waltersville
School. “We are getting
better at our work. Consequently, our
children are doing better. And the job
ahead is clearer.”
The
Award utilizes the evaluation system developed
by the Connecticut State Department of
Education and Cambridge Education which
includes the following 5
criteria:
1.
The improvement in student academic
achievement
2.
The quality of the learning environment and
education provided for all
students
3.
The quality of the partnerships with parents and
the local community
4.
The quality of the leadership and management in
the school
5.
The capacity of the school to sustain prolonged
improvement
“We
are proud of our efforts,” Alana Callahan said,
“and come back with a renewed energy to stay the
course and bring everyone on board the ship as
we are headed in a northeasterly direction for
the benefit of our students.”
This
year, Second Hill Lane School in Stratford won
the Award. Each 2009-2010 employee receives a
monetary award along with the school, to be used
at their discretion.
The Lone Pine Foundation was founded in 2001 to
help children and families in need. The
Foundation's mission is to help break the cycle
of poverty through education. It awards grants
to programs that serve low-income families and
children in the areas of
education
and youth
development.
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Hundreds
of BPS High
School Students
Learn Life Lessons Through Annual
MAAFA
Influence
Production
Does race
matter? How does slavery impact our communities
today? How are students impacted in the age of
the first African American President? Is
the history of African Americans being taught in
our schools as a part of American History?
Should it be?
 These
were the questions posed to hundreds of
students from Bridgeport Public
Schools when they engaged in a discussion after
experiencing a special matinee performance of
the MAAFA (MA-AH-FA)
Influence Production – Evoking the Pain of the
Past and Building a Strong and Powerful
Future.
The MAAFA
Production is a thought-provoking,
historical psychodrama. The experience
took place center stage for students
on Thursday, November 4,
2010 at Mount Aery Baptist Church,
73
Frank
Street .
The production is written and produced by
Gina
LeVon Simpson, a local
resident, member of Mount Aery Baptist Church and
staff member of the BOE's Parent
Center, alongside a cast of
more than 200 local residents ranging in age
from 7 months to 70 years
old.
‘MAAFA’ is a Kiswahili word describing calamity
or disaster as it refers to the period in world
history known as the Middle Passage of
the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, a time during
which millions of African
people journeyed from freedom
in Africa to bondage in the New World .
The MAAFA Influence
Production addresses
how the history of a painful past still affects
communities today.
This
historical drama featured music and dance while
providing an educational, eye-opening experience
for everyone through the history of dramatic
expression. Not only does this drama help
African-American communities gain healing
through revisiting the horror experienced by
their ancestors, but it also aids people from
ALL backgrounds to understand the extent of the
suffering and oppression faced by generations of
African-Americans in the U.S.
“MAAFA…is
the search for ourselves,” James L.
Vines, a
volunteer
and Harding High
School Alumni
said in an article he wrote about the
production. He has seen it twice. “It is a
journey through time that personifies the pain
that our ancestors faced. MAAFA is the book of
knowledge that escaped the burnings, whippings
and crucifixions. MAAFA inspired me to give
back, and play the cards life dealt because I am
destined to win--we are designed to win. We are
designed to win no matter what is placed in
front of us.”
Immediately
following the production the cast and students
of the production assembled to discuss the
everyday effects of slavery, racism as well as
solutions in the age of the first African
American president.
The MAAFA
Influence Production is sponsored by the Mount
Aery Development
Corporation.
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BPS
Social Worker Honored
with
the
Greater Bridgeport
Adolescent Pregnancy
Program's
Inaugural
Geraldine W. Johnson
Award
 At the
Greater Bridgeport
Adolescent Pregnancy Program's
(GBAPP)
30th Anniversary dinner celebration on Friday,
October 29, 2010, BPS social worker, Carmen
Ayala, received the GBAPP's Inaugural "Geraldine
W. Johnson Award."
In
the 20 years that she has worked with young
people in Bridgeport,
GBAPP recognizes that Ms. Ayala embodies the
passion and dedication to the success of young
people, just as the distinguished educator and
dedicated volunteer, Mrs. Geraldine W.
Johnson.
The
Greater Bridgeport Adolescent Pregnancy Program,
Inc. has been providing direct services for
at-risk youth and adults in the Greater
Bridgeport area for 30 years. GBAPP's
foundation was built on dedicated individuals
from the community who cared about the success
of young people; thus GBAPP initiated the
"Geraldine W. Johnson Award" to recognize
dynamic people who hold the torch for addressing
the issues of teen pregnancy in the Bridgeport
community. As former Superintendent of
Bridgeport Public Schools, Ms. Johnson is
founder and Emeritus Member of GBAPP's board of
directors.
GBAPP
recognizes Ms. Ayala for her dedication as a
social worker for students and families, as a
caregiver to biological and adoptive daughters,
and as an active member of the Bridgeport
community, improving the quality of life for
all.
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Sweet
Dreams to Come for Bridgeport
Students in Need through the
Pajama
Program
In an
effort to aid Bridgeport scholars who may
be financially disadvantaged, now through March
2011 the Bridgeport
Public
Schools and the City of
Bridgeport is
collecting new pajamas and books for children of
all ages. The goal,
1 million
pajamas and
books.
The Pajama
Program, a
501(c)(3) organization, provides comfort and
love in th e way of new pajamas and books to
children-in-need, many waiting and hoping to be
adopted. Snuggling up in new, warm pajamas with
their very own book to read gives lonely
children a secure and nurturing bedtime
environment. Please help make a difference
by: donating new pajamas—all sizes are needed,
donating new books, and/or making a financial
donation.
Although
BPS is making an effort to support and nurture
Bridgeport youths through this event, the Pajama
Program has traditionally served many children
that have been abuse d or those who have been
abandoned, and have never enjoyed the feeling of
having a mother or father tuck them in with a
story at
bedtime.
To
participate in the program, please drop off new
pajamas, books and/or a financial donation at
the following drop off points in Bridgeport:
The
Parent Center
900 Boston
Avenue
Bridgeport
Police
Headquarters
300
Congress
Street
Bridgeport Fire
Houses
Fire
Headquarters
30
Congress
Street
Engine
12
265
Beechmont
Avenue
Engine
7/Ladder 11
245 Ocean
Terrace
Engine
6/Ladder 6
1035
Central
Avenue
Pajamas
and books are needed for all
children/scholars.
For more
information about the Pajama Program, please
visit their website
at
www.pajamaprogram.org. |
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