Freshmen at Jackson Public Schools now have the opportunity to graduate from high school with an associate’s degree at no cost to them. JPS partnered with Tougaloo College to offer Early College High School to 49 freshmen. Students will attend a high school on Tougaloo’s campus, north of Jackson. There is no cost to attend the early college program because JPS is a public institution.
Students must complete an application and participate in an interview process. An external agency selects the 49 students. Applications for the fall are closed and interviews begin July 9.
If students meet the graduation requirements, they can graduate with an associate’s degree or up to two years of credits toward a bachelor’s degree. While earning college credit, students will also complete Mississippi high-school requirements. Program graduates must meet the minimum SAT and ACT college readiness scores.
COMPTON — As a foster kid growing up in Compton, Google software engineer Anthony D. Mays felt awkward in social settings, sometimes not believing that he could be an achiever.
Today, after overcoming personal challenges, Mays is encouraging young people that they can be all that they believe they can be.
Mays represented Google at the Compton Unified School District second annual STEAMFest, and found more than a handful of students seeking his advice. A crowd estimated at 8,000 people filled the Dollarhide Community Center for a few hours as they took in the latest technology from the likes of Apple, Boeing, Cemex, Carrot Group, Hacker Fund, Google, Charles Drew University, and other vendors.
Mays said he was more than happy to share what he has learned with students.
“I’m telling the kids that they have an opportunity unlike any other,” Mays said. “They can learn coding, they can learn engineering. They can learn science, medicine and math and apply their art skills. They can do all that stuff.
“They have the tools. They just have to use them and be willing to work hard. If I can spark inspiration in that regard, then I would love to,” he added.
There was a time that Mays didn’t feel he could be successful in anything. It wasn’t until his foster parents went out and bought him a computer that he figured out he could make something of himself.
Mays, who brought that computer to the STEAMFest event, learned to code off that technological instrument. He would later hone his coding skills from mentors that took him under their wings in middle and high school.
That proved to be the foundation Mays needed to jump headfirst into the technology field. That discovery certainly boosted his self-confidence.
“I didn’t feel like I was the smartest growing up,” Mays said. “I didn’t feel like I was the most capable. I struggled. I felt like I was an imposter every time when I went to college and all this other kind of things.
“I know that I may run into kids that are foster kids or going through the process of losing their family or during abuse or whatever that is. I’ve been through those things. So I want to be able to share with the students, ‘Hey, I’ve been there and done this. You can do the same thing. You can do it even better than me. You can go out and start your own business.’”
Part of the showcase at STEAMfest was featuring the art, robotics, science and the technology innovation of Compton students that highlighted photography, artwork and astute craftsmanship.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase what’s going on in Compton Unified School District and to show that parents and the students that the turnaround is real,” Superintendent Darin Brawley said. “It’s really an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, this is the new Compton. These are the things that are happening. Your kids can be exposed to robotics, coding, arts, performing arts, you name it. The sky is the limit in Compton.”
NEWBURGH – Eddie Ramirez often offers his friends a special kind of “economic” advice.
“I always tell my friends, don’t invest in the Stock Market,” related Ramirez. “Invest in the Latino community.”
Ramirez, the CEO of R & M Promotions as well as the Director of the Latino High School Scholarship Fund, has been diligently following his own people tip for much of his life- particularly with area youth-for over 20 years with the creation of the Hudson Valley Latino High School Scholarship Awards program. Together, with his wife Norma, the two have relentlessly sought out gracious sponsors so that these higher education monies, along with other forms of recognition, can be secured for well-deserving, often overlooked youth. Their efforts have now resulted in yet another milestone: 140 recipients have received these scholarships. A record-setting 11, who were honored at Newburgh’s Ramada Inn Thursday night, made that number official. And the selection was not an easy process: another record-setting number, 65 candidates applied. Each carried with him/her an impressive resume of academic, athletic, and community accolades as well as creative, well-written essays and stellar teacher references. That pool of candidates, along with the special ethnic flair of the scholarship, were just a couple of the reasons Newburgh Free Academy senior, Taino Caballero, was thrilled to have been chosen.
Pine Bush High School seniors Eduardo Jaime, John DeGeorge and Sean Bergos, were recognized at Thursday’s 20th Annual Hudson Valley Latino High School Scholarship Awards.
“When I found out I was one of the winners, I was super excited; it was the first scholarship I actually got out of several I applied for,” recalled Caballero, who is headed to the University of Albany in the fall to pursue a major in Digital Forensics. “This one is special to me because it’s for my ethnicity of Puerto Rican and Dominican; I’m going into the STEM field, which is related to the sciences (and technology), a place where the Latin female presence is not really visible, so I want to inspire more Latin women to join that field.”
The evening’s guest speaker, Jacqueline Hernandez, Town of Woodbury Councilwoman and Deputy Supervisor of Woodbury, knows all about taking uncharted paths and inspiring just the way Caballero aspires to some day. Attending a predominantly white, upper class student body at Colgate University, Hernandez spoke about the discriminatory challenges that gave her a “tough skin,” helping mold her into the persistent, hard-working, “never-take-no-for-an-answer,” woman she is today. Relating her initial career path in the sciences, she spoke of the “meant to be” twists and turns that steered her toward being a businesswoman as well as politician, two paths she had no formal training in, but possessed something much deeper.
“A lot of times you have your sites set on one path, but the journey changes; every part of my journey led me to a bigger picture,” Hernandez asserted. What I thought was a dead end, actually started a new season.” Urging soon-to-be graduates to take chances, be creative, and most of all: follow their passion, she added, “You need determination and a plan, and you then need to put wings to it, execute and make it come alive.” Hernandez said. “You can achieve and overcome, as long as you put your mind to it.”
Four Newburgh Free Academy high school seniors were honored at Thursday’s 20th annual Hudson Valley Latino High School Scholarship Awards. In total, 11 high school seniors were recognized for their academic, community, athletic and other outstanding feats.
At least one of this year’s recipients appears to already be living the life Hernandez alluded to. Kayla Deleon, has been hard at work this past year with the McLymore Foundation, an organization promoting non-violence in Newburgh. The Newburgh Free Academy senior has been assisting with the group’s mission of getting kids off the streets while using art as a form of expression rather than violence. “Being Latina really shapes your mind and how people see you,” said Deleon, who will attend SUNY Cortland with a major in elementary education in the fall. “So, I want to break the mold, and not be another statistic; rather I intend to come back to Newburgh, the place and community that raised me and made me who I am, and teach here some day.”
Editor’s note: This story on school counselors is part of Map to the Middle Class, a Hechinger Report series exploring how schools can prepare young people for the good middle-class jobs of the future.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Mariano Almanza was overwhelmed. With an English paper due at the end of the week, an anatomy packet to complete, and an ever-growing pile of math assignments, the 18-year-old was at a breaking point.
“It was just an insane amount of work; I couldn’t handle it and the stress level was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced,” Almanza said. “I left class and came straight to Miss Mack and just burst out crying,” he added.
Miss Mack, as she is known to students at Coronado High School, is Colleen McElvogue, one of the school’s six counselors and the chairperson of its counseling department.
“Miss Mack looked at me and said: ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to get through this.’ I stayed in her office for a whole class hour and we just talked through everything,” Almanza recalled. “Since my parents didn’t get much education, it’s hard to talk to them about my schoolwork and applying to college, or how to plan my time and get everything done. But Miss Mack, I can come to her for just about anything…”
For the first time ever, more than half of Louisiana’s high school graduates in 2017 were eligible for TOPS scholarships to attend college, according to the state’s Department of Education.
About 52 percent of 2017’s graduates statewide qualified for TOPS, according to a news release from the department. The increase in eligible students marks a gain of 18 percent since 2012, when 16,289 of graduates, or 45 percent, qualified for the scholarship program.
Eligibility is up in each of the four TOPS award categories, both compared with last year and with 2012, the department said.
In a released statement, Louisiana Superintendent John White called rising TOPS eligibility among graduates “another testament to the great work happening in K-12 classrooms across the state to prepare our students for success after high school.”
Number of students eligible for TOPS awards from 2012-2017
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 32 schools were newly designated as Model Continuation High Schools for 2018. These schools are recognized for creating innovative programs that focus on academics and social and emotional learning and helping students who have faced many challenges, including chronic absenteeism and truancy, get back on the path to realizing their full academic potential.
“These model continuation high schools provide a space where students can feel a sense of accomplishment and increased confidence and receive strong educational support,” said Torlakson. ”Creating an academically challenging yet encouraging school climate can help turn an at-risk student on the verge of dropping out into a high school graduate prepared for a future career or college.”
All the schools honored offer strategic and specialized programs. For example:
San Antonio High School in Claremont effectively supplements classroom teaching with online programs.
Olympic Continuation High School in Concord has a strong mental health team that works closely with the county mental health agency to help students succeed in the classroom and in life.
Desert Oasis High School in El Centro has a counseling staff that is exceptionally dedicated to preparing students for academic opportunities after graduation. The school has cultivated strong partnership with local community colleges, hosts college orientation and financial aid workshops, and allows dual enrollment classes on campus.
Continuation schools provide a high school diploma program for students ages sixteen through eighteen who have not graduated from high school, are required to attend school, and are at risk of not completing their education.
The schools were selected based on a comprehensive and competitive application process that involves effectiveness, assessments, and use of data. The process included a peer review panel and on-site visit.
The Model Continuation High Schools Recognition Program is a joint project of the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Continuation Education Association (CCEA). The program honors continuation high schools for the comprehensive services they provide at-risk youth through instructional strategies, flexible scheduling, guidance, and counseling.
More than 53,000 students attended the state’s 441 continuation high schools during the 2016–17 school year.
The 32 schools selected as Model Continuation High Schools retain their designation for three years and will be recognized at this year’s CCEA State Conference in San Diego on April 27–29. For more information, please visit the CDE Continuation Education Web page or the CCEA Web site.
List of 2018 Model Continuation High Schools
Albert Powell High School, 1875 Clark Avenue, Yuba City, CA, 95991-1274, Jennifer Cates, Principal, 530-822-5210
Allan F. Daily High School, 220 North Kenwood, Glendale, CA, 91206-4209, Rene Valdes, Principal, 818-247-4805
Apollo High School, 3150 School Street, Simi Valley, CA, 93065-3998, Shanna Sarris, Principal, 805-520-6150
Aurora High School, 1391 Kloke Road, Calexico, CA, 92231-4228, John Moreno, Principal, 760-768-3940
Central Coast High School, 200 Coe Avenue, Seaside, CA, 93955-6588, Alan Crawford, Principal, 831-392-3560
Century High School, 20 South Marengo Avenue, Alhambra, CA, 91801-1947, Phuong Nguyen, Principal, 626-943-6680
Coronado High School, 1500 East Francisquito Avenue, West Covina, CA, 91791-3823, Veronica Pendleton, Principal, 626-931-1810
Del Mar High School, 312 South Del Mar Avenue, San Gabriel, CA, 91776-1356, Lon Sellers, Principal, 626-291-5723
Delta High School, 4893 Bethany Lane, Santa Maria, CA, 93455-4880, Esther Prieto-Chavez, Principal, 805-937-6356
Desert Oasis High School, 1302 South Third Street, El Centro, CA, 92243-6604, Fernando O’Campo, Principal, 760-336-4555
Fernando R. Ledesma High School, 12347 Ramona Boulevard, El Monte, CA, 91732-2569, Freddy Arteaga, Principal, 626-442-0481
Frontier High School, 9401 South Painter Avenue, Whittier, CA, 90605-2729, Margie Moriarty, Principal, 562-698-8121
Gateway High School, 1550 Herndon Avenue, Clovis, CA, 93611-0598, Rees Warne, Principal, 559-327-1800
Green Valley High School, 35948 Susan Street, Yucaipa, CA, 92399-5299, Cara Prentiss, Principal, 909-790-8580
Kinney High School, 2710 Kilgore Road, Rancho Cordova, CA, 95670-6104, Dana Carrigan, Principal, 916-294-9060
Lopez Continuation High School, 1055 Mesa View Drive, Arroyo Grande, CA, 93420-3311, Jennifer Bowen, Principal, 805-474-3750
Mountain View High School, 1000 Ramona Boulevard, San Jacinto, CA, 92582-2576, Kenneth Swanson, Principal, 951-487-7710
Mountain Vista High School, 1901 Clinton Avenue, Madera, CA, 93638-1941, Aimee Anderson, Principal, 559-675-4580
Nueva Continuation High School, 8600 Palm Avenue, Lamont, CA, 93241-2212, Mark Weir, Principal, 661-845-1532
Olympic Continuation High School, 2730 Salvio Street, Concord, CA, 94519-2599, Lynsie Castellano, Principal, 925-687-0363
Orange Grove High School, 300 Buena Vista Avenue, Corona, CA, 92882-1937, Henry Torres, Principal, 951-736-3339
Palomar High School, 480 Palomar Street, Chula Vista, CA, 91911-3098, Karen Hernandez, Principal, 619-407-4800
Rancho Vista High School, 32225 Pio Pico Road, Temecula, CA, 92592-6200, Reggie Ingram, Principal, 951-695-7320
Salisbury High School, 1050 Kimball Road, Red Bluff, CA, 96080-2502, Barbara Thomas, Principal, 530-529-8766
San Andreas High School, 599 William Avenue, Larkspur, CA, 94939-1554, David Luongo, Principal, 415-945-3751
San Antonio High School, 125 West San Jose Avenue, Claremont, CA, 91711-5205, Sean Delgado, Principal, 909-398-0316
Sierra High School, 1134 South Barranca Avenue, Glendora, CA, 91740-4916, Paul Hernandez, Principal, 626-852-8300
Vail High School, 1230 South Vail Avenue, Montebello, CA, 90640-6312, Horacio Perez, Principal, 323-728-1940
Valley View High School, 1801 East Sixth Street, Ontario, CA, 91764-1599, Julie Prestsater, Principal, 909-985-0966
Village Oaks High School, 1900 West Swain Road, Stockton, CA, 95207-3439, Josef Schallberger, Principal, 209-953-8740
Vista West High School, 7115 Rosedale Highway, Bakersfield, CA, 93308-5845, Mike Mullings, Principal, 661-589-4242
Wasco Independence High School, 1445 Poso Drive, Wasco, CA, 93280-2353, Martin Lonza, Principal, 661-758-7450
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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100
Schools are under growing pressure to make sure that students are ready for work or job training, as well as college, when they graduate from high school. But employers say their young hires haven’t learned the reading, writing, and verbal-communication skills that are most important to a successful working life.
That gap between reality and expectations begs a boxful of questions about whether there’s a preparation problem and, if so, how to solve it.
Should K-12 schools add workplace-oriented literacy skills to their already-heavy lineup of classics like the five-paragraph essay? Who should teach young people how to write an environmental-impact report or explain quarterly business results to investors: High schools? Colleges? Or are such skills better learned at work or in job-training programs?
Surveys of employers paint a picture of discontent. Executives and hiring managers report that they have trouble finding candidates who communicate well. Good oral-communication skills, in particular, rank especially high on employers’ wish lists, alongside critical thinking and working in teams.
But do companies’ hiring struggles mean that K-12 schools, colleges, and job-training programs are doing a poor job of preparing students for work?
Some labor economists argue that the much-ballyhooed “skills gap” is caused not by inadequate career preparation but by companies’ refusal to provide the pay and training necessary to get the workers they need. And many educators argue that the primary purpose of schooling isn’t to create a jobs pipeline but to prepare young people to be informed, active citizens.
Education Week‘s new special report on literacy and the workplace won’t be able to resolve these arguments for you. But it can give you a glimpse of how some schools and employers are grappling with the workplace-literacy demands that young people face. Relatively few K-12 schools, it seems, are seriously exploring this kind of work…
Read full article click here, may require ED Week subscription
In the summer of 2017, Charleena Lyles, a pregnant 30-year-old black mother was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers in her home as her three young children looked on. Lyles, who had called the police to report a burglary, reportedly suffered from mental illness. She pulled a knife out of her pocket when the police entered her home, but rather than tasing or subduing her with pepper spray, they shot her seven times.
Days after the shooting, seven black Seattle high school students formed “New Generation,” a school activist group that led a walkout at Garfield High School to raise awareness about the young mother’s death and to organize in their school and community for racial justice. Uniting students with Charleena Lyles’ family on the one-year anniversary of her death, New Generation held a powerful assembly that launched the hashtag #RememberHerName to make sure that people don’t forget Charleena Lyles and the police violence that led to her death.
The death of Lyles is a symbol of the injustices the group of students has experienced and witnessed in their communities and even within their school. They wanted to take action not just for Charleena Lyles but for all people of color, especially their fellow students.
“We’re students of color and we share similar struggles, experience the same disadvantages, and strive to become more than what society has labeled us,” says Chardonnay Beaver, who founded New Generation along with classmates Janelle Gary, Myles Gillespie, Kevon Avery, Israel Presley, and Umoya McKinney.
“We’ve discovered that action is the first step in turning ideas of equality into reality. Because we’re students we have the opportunity to reach our peers directly.”
New Generation was a recipient of the 2018 Black Education Matters Student Activist Awards (BEMSAA), which gives recognition, support, and a $1,000 award to student leaders in the Seattle Public Schools who demonstrate exceptional leadership in struggles against racism—especially with an understanding of the intersections with sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamaphobia, class exploitation and other forms of oppression—within their school or community.
Over the past three years, nine Seattle Public Schools students and one youth organization – New Generation — have been honored with the award.
The program was founded by Jesse Hagopian, an Ethnic Studies teacher and co-adviser to the Black Student Union at Garfield High School in Seattle. Just like New Generation was spurred by violence, the award program was a positive outcome of a clash with police.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Seventy West Virginia high schools were recognized for achieving exemplary graduation rates of 90 percent or greater during the 2015-16 school year. Schools were honored by Governor Jim Justice’s Chief of Staff, Nick Casey, State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano and the West Virginia Board of Education.
“Our state becomes stronger with each student that graduates high school,” Martirano said. “The high schools here today deserve the praise they are receiving for achieving a 90 percent or higher graduation rate. Our schools see the potential that a high school graduate holds for our state and they, along with the Department of Education and Board of Education, have made it a top priority to ensure our students show up, work hard, and earn a diploma.”
Recent data show more students in West Virginia are graduating from high school when compared to previous years. Several statewide initiatives contributed to the steady increase in the graduation rate. Most notably the creation of the state’s Early Warning System, which tracks 45 different indicators – the most important being attendance, behavior and grades – to identify students at risk of dropping out.
West Virginia’s graduation rate has continued to rise throughout the last several years. Data from the U.S. Department of Education placed West Virginia among the top 20 states for graduation rates in 2014-15, with a rate of 86.5 percent. The average graduation rate in the Mountain State for the 2015-16 school year increased even more to 89.81 percent.
Of the 70 schools recognized, four schools achieved a graduation rate of 100 percent. Those schools include; Union Educational Complex, Harman High School, Pickens High School and Paden City High School.
The 70 schools recognized represent 60.3 percent of the 116 high schools in West Virginia. The overall graduation rate for all West Virginia high schools was 89.81 percent.
A complete list of recognized schools can be found by visiting: http://static.k12.wv.us/tt/2017/2015_16_Graduation_Rate.pdf
By Jennifer L. Warren
SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 32 schools were newly designated as Model Continuation High Schools for 2018. These schools are recognized for creating innovative programs that focus on academics and social and emotional learning and helping students who have faced many challenges, including chronic absenteeism and truancy, get back on the path to realizing their full academic potential.
Web site.
Schools are under growing pressure to make sure that students are ready for work or job training, as well as college, when they graduate from high school. But employers say their young hires haven’t learned the reading, writing, and verbal-communication skills that are most important to a successful working life.
In the summer of 2017, Charleena Lyles, a pregnant 30-year-old black mother was fatally shot by two white Seattle police officers in her home as her three young children looked on. Lyles, who had called the police to report a burglary, reportedly suffered from mental illness. She pulled a knife out of her pocket when the police entered her home, but rather than tasing or subduing her with pepper spray, they shot her seven times.