Thursday, December 30, 2010

Photo of the Week: December 30, 2010

Experience Corps Member Pat Blakeney Reading with Marquis at South Boston Boys & Girls Club

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Posted by Lilly Page-Blau under Photo of the Week | Leave a Comment

Friday, December 17, 2010

Starting 2011 with a Bang!

In January, our Experience Corps Program will expand to two new schools in Dorchester. The Holland Elementary School and the Dever-McCormick K-8 School are two of the City’s largest “turn around” schools. Mid-year start-ups are rare for Generations Incorporated, but the timing is actually good.

Both schools have suffered from under-performance issues for several years. Now, with new principals in place, new strategies to address the inadequacies, and many new teachers, a huge effort is underway to improve academic achievement for the students in these two schools. At the Dever-McCormick School, located adjacent to U. Mass Boston, the need is for literacy support for the students in kindergarten and first grade. At the Holland School, in the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood of Dorchester, the need is for literacy support for oral language development for 7 classrooms of kindergartners (K1 and K2).

We will begin the year at each school with small teams of 5-6 Experience Corps members. They will be accompanied by a Site Team Leader for each team. Our hope is that by September, 2011, the teams at both schools will double in size, enabling us to serve twice as many children. The mid-year start also gives us the opportunity to really learn the schools, the cultures, the teachers, and the students so that by September, we will easily be ready to scale.

Mass Mentoring Partnership assisted in developing the partnership with the Holland School. Generations Incorporated along with Big Brother, Big Sister of Massachusetts and Big Sister of Greater Boston will all move into the Holland School together in January, with a coordinated effort to serve different grades and different students.

Mass 2020 assisted us in the partnership with the Dever McCormick School. As a state and national advocate and leader for longer school days, Mass 2020 is assisting schools who add more time to their day. Trends in education are happening fast and furiously, some as a result of recent reform efforts, and some as innovative change that makes really good sense in the 21st century.

We are honored to be partners with these new schools and with their respective turn-around efforts.

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