Nonprofits will be playing a significant role in many of the 42 new schools which the New York City Department of Education will be opening in September.  Eighteen of the new schools announced last week by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein will include participation by nonprofit intermediary groups and community-based organizations.

Three new Transfer Schools which serve “over age and under credited” youth at the most serious risk of dropping out of school entirely are being planned using DOE/CBO partnership models that have been developed and tested in recent years.   These Transfer Schools typically feature a team approach in which a DOE principal and teachers work together with a CBO school leader, advocate counselors and other staff to provide both academic instruction and social supports.

SCO Family of Services will be the CBO partner at the East Brooklyn Community High School using a transfer school model developed by Good Shepherd Services at its own South Brooklyn Community High School in Red Hook.  Good Shepherd subsequently went on with support from the Gates Foundation to assist in the development of five additional Transfer Schools, two of which it runs itself and three which are operated  by other CBOS.  SCO partnered with Good Shepherd and DOE last year to open the North Queens Community High School.   This school year, JCCA opened the Brooklyn Democracy Academy. “The process is very interesting and unique from a CBO perspective,” says Renee Skolaski , Assistant Executive Director at SCO.  

“Usually when you talk about working with schools, you are a service in the school.  In the transfer school model, the CBO is a full partner.”  Two additional Transfer Schools will be opened in the Fall with guidance from Diploma Plus, which has served as intermediary for seven schools in New York City as well as for schools in other Cities.    

A proposal for The Emma Lazarus High School on the Lower East Side was developed by Diploma Plus in cooperation with New York City Mission Society.    The two organizations have already partnered on two other Transfer Schools – the Brownsville Academy in Brooklyn and Harlem Renaissance High School. “ It is particularly exciting that Emma Lazarus High School will be the first Transfer School that we have in New York City that will be all ELL (English Language Learner) students,” says Willair St. Vil, Network Manager for Diploma Plus.  “All the students will be learning English as a second language but their primary languages will be very diverse.”Diploma Plus is currently finalizing its negotiations with a CBO partner for the second  Transfer School to be located at the Louis D. Brandeis High School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Funding for CBO participation in Transfer Schools comes through a combination of Learning to Work (LTW) contracts with the Department of Education.  LTW supports a cadre of Advocate Counselors to work with students and an internship coordinator to help match them with work experience opportunities in the larger community. 

 “The other great thing about LTW is that it provides stipends for the young people in internships,” says Rachel Forsyth, Director of Transfer Schools for Good Shepherd Services. “Because many of these students are older, they have real life responsibilities so the job is a great hook for them.”

“The students are given access to valuable work experience that they can use in their own resumes,” says Dorothy Whyte, Director of School Based Programs for the New York City Mission Society.  Even with the LTW contracts, Transfer Schools represent a significant commitment of private resources for these CBOs.    Forsyth estimates that LTW covers a little more than half of CBO expenditures for the Good Shepherd program model. 

“In this new atmosphere, partners have to come to the table with a lot more,” says Maria Orengo, Associate Executive Director at NYC Mission Society.In addition to these three transfer schools, nonprofits will also be playing a variety of roles in elementary, middle and high schools opening in the fall.   Intermediaries such as Institute for Student Achievement, New Visions for Public Schools, Urban Assembly and Replications are assisting schools to develop partnerships with nonprofits and business groups in their local communities.

Click here for a link to a full list of new school openings and their intermediaries.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites

COMMENTS

B

i

u

Quote

Code

List

List item

URL

NAME *
EMAIL_VERIFICATIONS_REPLIES
URL
CODE   
ChronoComments by Joomla Professional Solutions

SUBMIT_COMMENT