Greetings to all of our Providence families. It is hard to believe that we have already concluded the 2012-2013 school year. I hope that your chil-dren enjoyed their classes and are continuing to engage in learning activities this summer.

We are very proud of the more than 1,300 stu-dents in Providence’s Class of 2013 and the hard work and challenges they have overcome to graduate. At each of the eight graduations I at-tended, it was a thrill as an educator to watch our seniors cross the stage in caps and gowns to receive their diplomas. In this issue, we’ve highlighted some of those graduates, as well as a program at Hope High School designed to help more students succeed in crossing that stage.

We’ve also highlighted two staff members – Executive Director of the Acceleration Zone Schools Dottie Smith, and Community Ombud-sperson Joyce O’Connor. Providence Schools is fortunate to have an Office of Family and Com-munity Engagement (FACE) that is designed to assist families throughout our district and help strengthen the connection between home and school. Joyce is part of that staff, and is available to meet privately with parents or families to help resolve issues. Remember that the first source of assistance should be your child’s teacher or principal, but if you are not getting the answers and information you need, please contact the FACE Office and make an appointment to speak with Joyce.

Lastly, please be sure to see the article on page 7 about changes to the start and end times at our schools in the coming school year.

Many thanks to all of you for your continued sup-port during this school year, and please enjoy a safe summer. Sincerely,

Susan F. Lusi, Ph.D.Superintendentsusan.lusi@ppsd.org@ProvidenceSup

Message from Superintendent Susan Lusi

Connections NewsletterFamilies and Schools Working Together in Providence

Published for parents of the Providence School Department by the Office of Communica-tions. Questions regarding this newsletter should be directed to: Providence Public School Department - Office of Communications, 379 Washington St., Providence, RI 02903.

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Message from Superintendent LusiCornerstone Academy Planned for Hope HSClass of 2013 – Graduation Success StoriesMeet the PPSD Community OmbudspersonMeet Zone Director Dottie SmithPlan to Adjust Bell Times for 2013-14

S p e c i a L G R a D U a T i O N i S S U e

When Hope High School’s first-year Principal Tamara Sterling took at look at the school’s attendance and drop-out statistics, they didn’t tell a positive story. The average dropout rate for 2009-2010 in the Arts program was 21.5 percent; in Technology it was 21.2 percent. That meant more than one in five students was not graduating from the high school. By comparison, the state dropout rate was 14.1 percent.

Last summer, Hope was classified by the Rhode Island Department of Edu-cation as a Focus School, meaning it was one of the lowest performing high schools in the state. Principal Sterling analyzed the data and found a need

for a consistent reform strategy for Hope to promote significant academic achievement.

Hope’s principal set out to redesign the school and created a 9th grade Cor-nerstone Academy as well as acade-mies for each grade level, each with its own segregated section of the building, supports and personalized services as students move from 9th-12th grade.

“Hope High School has a 21 percent dropout rate and this was unaccept-able,” said Sterling.” Research has proven students drop out primarily in the 9th and 10th grades.(Continued on page 8)

Ninth Grade cornerstone academy planned for Hope High SchoolRedesign of high school aims to reduce absenteeism and dropouts

through a more personalized learning community

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The following stories profile just a few of our remarkable graduates from Provi-dence high schools this year. While they are graduating in strong academic stand-ing, more importantly, these graduates reflect the hard work, perseverance and hardship some students must overcome to earn their diplomas, as well as their resil-iency and desire to continue their educa-tion beyond high school.

Their stories are both heart-warming and, at times, heart-wrenching. They are sto-ries of students who have escaped war, worked to support their families or over-come a loss of hope. Many are refugees who had to learn a new language and ad-just to a new culture as teenagers. Pro-pelled by their own motivation or the care-ful guidance of a mentor, these students have never lost sight of their goals to earn their high school diploma and acceptance to college. During graduation ceremonies, these remarkable and inspirational se-niors received the degrees they worked so hard for and proudly took their places as members of the Class of 2013.

Sematree MasonDr. Jorge alvarez High School

Sematree’s parents immigrated to the United States from Liberia in 2002. Since the family did not have enough money, she and her siblings needed to remain behind with an aunt for three more years before joining their parents.

According to her guidance counselor, Se-matree transferred to Alvarez High School just as the school was increasing its aca-demic rigor. She did extremely well her sophomore year and enrolled in two Ad-vanced Placement classes that were being offered to juniors for the first time. While many struggled with the increased work-load required for AP classes, Sematree worked hard and sought help when she needed it. As a senior, she enrolled in two more AP classes in Environmental Science and English Literature and made the Hon-or Roll in the first quarter as she has done for most of her high school career.

She leads by example by coming to school every day, having a positive attitude and completing all her assignments. Her teachers attribute her success to her or-ganizational skills, outstanding work ethic and determination to succeed.

She has given back whenever she can by volunteering at her church for food drives, at a nursery and serving on her church’s worship dance team. She has also volun-

class of 2013 – Graduation Success Stories

teered at a soup kitchen and at Go Green Rhode Island, an environmental aware-ness program. At school, she became a mentor to help teens with the college ap-plication process and show them how to contribute positively to their communities through LEAD, Leadership Education and Development.

Sematree took an active role in her fu-ture. During the summer before her junior year, she participated in the Senior Sum-mer Transition Program, which provides juniors with a head start on the college application process and exposes them to several college campuses.

Ranked sixth in her class, Sematree will graduate with an 88.90 average. She cred-its her mother for pushing her to do her best, receive a good education and become successful in the future. She will attend Rhode Island College in the fall to pursue studies in nursing.

Kiara GarciaJuanita Sanchez educational complex

Freshman year proved to be a huge stum-bling block for Kiara Garcia. She was re-peating ninth grade for the third time and had given up. Due to family issues and re-sulting depression, Kiara could not handle the pressure she was facing so she began seeking intervention. She admits to having “a reality check and acknowledged that I was throwing my future away and that I had the potential to make it.”

Her guidance counselor, Donna McKenna, entered her life and offered Kiara an op-portunity she never expected: Did she want to graduate with her class? McKenna mapped out a plan for the next two years so Kiara could indeed graduate on time. Kiara began to take school much more se-riously. She quickly enrolled in a credit re-covery program to advance to tenth grade and went to summer school to earn more credits. She was on her way.

Last September, she became a junior and worked toward reaching her senior year through more credit recovery classes. She earned all A’s and B’s as a senior this year.

In the fall, Kiara will enroll in the Nursing program at CCRI and hopes to transfer to Rhode Island College.

Says her guidance counselor, “It is a mat-ter of giving our students hope. It is their choice what they do with it.”(Continued on page 3)

Hiralmi Rodriguez, Alvarez High School SalutatorianAlvarez High School Graduation, June 7, 2013

Alvarez High School Class of 2013Roberts Hall Auditorium, Rhode Island College

Christine Duong, Central High School ValedictorianCentral High School Graduation, June 11, 2013

Central High School Class of 2013Veterans Memorial Auditorium

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class of 2013 – Graduation Success Stories (continued from page 2)

Yigralem Weldemichael or “Titi”Juanita Sanchez educational complex

SalutatorianAt the age of 16, Titi and her father arrived in the United States from Ethiopia as refu-gees. It was the summer before her fresh-man year, and she was in a new country and could not speak English.

After completing ninth grade at JSEC, she moved in with her sister and began work-ing 24 hours a week at the Boston Sports Club. She also took on a second job during the summer at the Boys and Girls Club in Fox Point. Her hardships continued. By the summer of her junior year, Titi’s sister had to move away from Providence to pursue a job opportunity and Titi was forced to live on her own while still supporting her mother in Africa.

At this point, she began to work nearly full-time at Abyssinia, a popular Ethio-pian restaurant on Wickenden Street. When she was initially hired, Titi worked as a waitress, but it proved difficult due to her developing English skills. The man-ager asked Titi to work in the kitchen as a cook instead, despite the fact that Titi had no culinary experience. She adapted well to this challenge and the manager noticed. At the conclusion of her junior year, Titi was pleased when her manager asked if she was interested in co-owning the business with him even though she was the youngest employee. Although she declined the offer to focus on her studies, Titi cites this opportunity as one of her greatest achievements in high school. And, in less than three years, she had mastered English.

Despite the numerous challenges she has faced, especially having to support herself while living on her own. Titi will graduate with an average of 90.13, ranking second in her class. She will attend Rhode Island College in the fall and hopes to become a pharmacist.

Laypu BeahMount pleasant High School

When Laypu Beah emigrated with her fam-ily from Liberia three years ago, she was shy and amazed. Her new school was so big and the English that was spoken was different from what she had learned in Li-beria. Her mother remained behind in Af-rica and the separation was very difficult.

At first, her adjustment went smoothly. During the beginning of her high school years, Laypu was an honor student, par-ticipated in track and field, was a member

of the Mentor Explorer Program and vol-unteered at the Knight Memorial Library.

During her sophomore year, unexpected and very difficult obstacles developed. Due to a difficult family situation, Laypu was forced to leave her home. She found a home with an “aunt” from church, but when she was unable to help pay the rent, she had to find a new place to live. With help from the school social worker, she was able to find a room without a charge so long as she stayed in school, but she had to find work for the summer to purchase her necessities. She worked at a restaurant every day after school and worked hard to keep up her grades, although she had to drop the Mentor Explorer Program and volunteering at the library. She has risen above all of these challenges while main-taining regular attendance at school.

“With a little income to provide my neces-sities, I was able to keep going to school because graduation from high school has been my number one priority,” said Laypu. “I have been through a lot of obstacles that might cause most people to drop out of high school, but yet I didn’t because I knew that education is important.”

Laypu plans to attend Rhode Island Col-lege and major in nursing.

alondra BerriosMount pleasant High School

ValedictorianAlondra Berrios needed to look no fur-ther than her own parents for inspiration. They immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico and were unable to finish high school.

“All my life, I have seen my parents strug-gle to give my sisters and I the life they never had. In knowing and seeing this, I knew that I had to show them that the sac-rifices they have made are all truly appre-ciated. Graduating from high school is just the first step in thanking them.”

Not only will Alondra graduate, she stands first in her class as president and valedictorian, earning straight A’s her ju-nior and senior years. She is the recipient of the URI Alumni Book Award, Sodexo Scholarship, Dunkin Donuts Scholarship, Fund for Children of Providence Award, Irv Black Memorial Award, Outstanding Science Achievement, Superior Achieve-ment in Mathematics, Excellence in the Visual Arts, and Outstanding Achieve-ment in English.(Continued on page 4)

Israel Jenyo, E-Cubed Academy Co-ValedictorianE-Cubed Academy Graduation, June 12, 2013

Emi Escobar, E-Cubed Co-Valedictorian & Daniel Kapustin, Salutatorian (Rhode Island College)

Willette Holt wrote and delivered the Classical High School Poem Class, “In Sight of the Vision”

Classical High School Class of 2013Veterans Memorial Auditorium

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class of 2013 – Graduation Success Stories (continued from page 3)

In her college recommendation, her guid-ance counselor wrote, “On a crisp fall day in New England, Alondra gazed at the rank posting for the Class of 2013. A smile crossed her face as she realized her dream of being ranked number one in her senior class. The hard work, persever-ance and ambition had earned her a GPA of 96.13 and it was the best for the year.”

She has excelled not only in the class-room but on the athletic field. A member of Mt. Pleasant’s outdoor track and field team for four years and the cross country and indoor track and field teams for three years, she was also the varsity captain for two years for all three teams! As captain, she understood that she was a leader and role model for the rest of the team and re-ceived the Most Dedicated Award for three consecutive years. She made sure she was on time for every practice and meet and helped the team warm up. She also volun-teered at every meet, checking in runners, working in the concession stand or doing whatever was needed.

She is a member of Principal’s Advisory, a group of seniors and juniors at Mt. Pleas-ant who learn leadership skills to help im-prove the school community by working with faculty and the principal. She joined the fundraising committee and helped to raise money for school events and is a member of the yearbook staff.

She will attend Providence College in the fall to major in either biology or education.

Makangba KannehMount pleasant High School

Makangba knows firsthand the struggle of war refugees. Her parents were from Liberia, but moved to Sierra Leone, where she was born, due the war in their native country. They moved to New York eight years ago in search of a better life and greater opportunities. Despite their dif-ficulties in resettling, they were grateful to be in the United States, “the land of op-portunities.”

Because of their age and health, Makang-ba’s parents were unable to work. In May 2011, they were struck by tragedy; Makangba’s father was killed by a stray bullet while sitting on the porch of their home.

Makangba and her mother relocated again to Providence. During her junior year, she joined the Educational Talent Search Pro-gram at Mt. Pleasant, where her guidance counselor led her through the college ap-

plication process. She learned of the Tal-ent Development Program at the Universi-ty of Rhode Island, which helps to prepare first-generation students for college by providing them with a rigorous six-week program, along with an advisor and schol-arship assistance. Makangba applied and was accepted.

Setting goals has helped Makangba achieve. The summer before her fresh-man year, she made a list of the goals she wanted to reach; to do well in all of her classes and stay active in her community. She joined the ROTC Program and partici-pated in numerous community projects. She also joined Youth with a Purpose and participated in neighborhood cleanups, basketball games with community youth, family dinners and provided homework help at the youth center.

Makangba participated in sports, playing on the soccer team and in track and field. She was given the Providence Scholastic Sportsmanship Award for her dedication and hard work.

She hopes to fulfill her mother’s words, “Education is the key to success.”

Nshimirmana Jacquese-cubed academy

“Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” a mother tells her son in a poem by cel-ebrated African-American poet Langston Hughes about overcoming hardships. One day, Nshimirmana Jacques could recite the same poem to his own children and tell them of his life as a refugee from Burundi whose father was killed by a rival political group before he was born.

He remembers living in the slums of a Tanzanian refugee camp after fleeing war in Burundi between rival Tutsis and Hu-tus. Schools were poorly built and hopes for a good education were dismal. When Nshimirmana arrived in the United States, he was grateful for the opportunity to re-ceive the education he had craved for so long. But, like many students from other nations, it wasn’t easy to learn a new lan-guage and assimilate into American cul-ture, especially as a teenager.

But he promised himself that he would work and study hard to improve his Eng-lish and acclimate to American life. He be-came interested in politics and, last sum-mer, participated in a weeklong internship in Washington, DC as part of the Bank of America Student Leaders Program.(Continued on page 5)

Alexis C. Villani, Mt. Pleasant HS SalutatorianMt. Pleasant High School Graduation, June 10, 2013

Alondra L. Berrios, Mt. Pleasant HS ValedictorianVeterans Memorial Auditorium

Kayla Long, PCTA ValedictorianCareer & Technical Academy Graduation, June 11, 2013

Career & Technical Academy Class of 2013Roberts Hall Auditorium, Rhode Island College

5

class of 2013 – Graduation Success Stories (continued from page 4)

He met more than 200 other politically ac-tive students and discussed the Dream Act, which would allow students in-state tuition rates regardless of immigration status. The program made him more aware of the is-sues his community faces and helped him to see his leadership potential. He has since tried to raise awareness of the Blood Diamond Civil War in Sierra Leone and pre-sented a research project on the war to stu-dents at the Youthworks411 Center.

In addition, Nshimirimana is responsible for helping to support himself and two other family members. He needs to work to help pay the rent, phone and electric bills when he attends Connecticut College in the fall.

His major and minor were carefully select-ed with his home country in mind. Nshi-mirimana plans to major in economics to learn how a government can balance its budget and stimulate its economy, hoping to reduce the rampant corruption in Bu-rundi. He also hopes to minor in pre-med-icine to help diagnose and treat diseases in Burundi so “I can go back to my country and start making a difference.”

israel Jenyoe-cubed academyco-Valedictorian

Born in Nigeria, Israel came to America with his parents, both medical profession-als, in 2002. He has always been a very driven student and willing to help others. He recognized students were struggling in math and science so he created a tutoring program to help them.

He was one of only two Rhode Island stu-dents accepted into the Neuroscience Summer Program at Brown University. The recipient of multiple college accep-tances, Israel plans to enroll in the doctor-al program in pharmacy at the University of Rhode Island.

He embodies his motto, “Never give up no matter how difficult the challenge is that you may face.”

Daniel Kapustine-cubed academy

SalutatorianSometimes, a problem can turn into an opportunity, lemons can become lemon-ade. That is the case for Daniel who began working at Burger King at age 14 when his family needed financial help because his father was no longer able to work. All of the money he earned went to help pay the family’s bills. At age 17, he began taking management courses at the company and

became the youngest assistant manager at the location where he worked.

During his senior year, Daniel held three jobs, working close to 50 hours/week to support his family and save for college with any money left over, all while juggling his school responsibilities. He created the school store, which helped to raise money for the prom, field trips and other activi-ties. He participated in many clubs, includ-ing the Science Olympiad and the Brown University Science program.

Never afraid to take on a leadership role, Daniel was the finance and marketing di-rector for E Cubed’s anthology of student works. He also participated in community service as part of the Go Green Effort in Rhode Island, increasing awareness of pollution, and pulled E Cubed from last place in their recycling effort to third in the district.

His exposure to running a franchise has led him to Bentley University, where he will major in business management/administration. He hopes to become a project manager for a large company and own his own business one day to give back to the community that has sup-ported him.

emi Marisol escobar Quiroze-cubed academyco-Valedictorian

Two years ago, Emi arrived in the United States from Bolivia. She overcame many obstacles; learning a new language, com-municating with her teachers and adjust-ing to being a teenager in a new country and culture.

Writing was a particular struggle for her because, she said, “I did not have the words to express myself, to speak my mind.” But she worked through her frustration and on one of her papers, she received the best grade in her class.

She has become an inspiration to other students and is living proof that a student can come to the United States from an-other country, learn English and find suc-cess.

As her principal wrote, “She should stand as an inspiration to all of us, because of her tenacity. She did not quit. She kept on going and she kept on growing.”

Emi has an overall average of 93. She hopes to attend a four-year college fol-lowed by law school.c

Candido Moya Ariza, Juanita Sanchez ValedictorianJuanita Sanchez Graduation, June 7, 2013

Former Juanita Sanchez Principal Janelle ClarkeRoberts Hall Auditorium, Rhode Island College

Hope High School Graduation, June 12, 2013Veterans Memorial Auditorium

Hope High School Class of 2013Veterans Memorial Auditorium

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Joyce A. O’Connor is a very familiar face in the Providence community. An employee of the City of Providence for over 30 years, including 26 years with the Providence Public School Department, and the recipient of several community service awards, O’Connor was recently named the first Community Ombudsperson for the Provi-dence school district.

As ombudsperson, O’Connor draws upon her years of experience working for the city, as a community activist and an advocate for minorities to help Providence fami-lies work through issues related to their child’s education. She fields inquiries and works to resolve problems, ranging from transportation to student attendance and behavior issues. She is based at the Office of Family and Community Engagement.

“Parents should call if they have an issue,” O’Connor said. “Those issues should be worked out and I can act as a liaison between families and the school department to help resolve them. But families should always touch base with their principals first.”

Prior to this position, O’Connor was the EEO/Affirmative Action Officer for the Provi-dence Public School District for 26 years, where she fielded complaints from em-ployees regarding discrimination, sexual harassment and other issues. She has been at the forefront of initiatives to increase minority employment in PPSD and has provided leadership, insight and understanding in a sensitive arena.

She was first hired by the Providence Public School District in 1971 as a Human Relations Specialist at Central High School, where she worked closely with guid-ance counselors and students. Two years later, she went to Roger Williams Middle School, where she worked with staff, teachers and students, also as a human rela-tions specialist. When students were chronically absent, tardy or had discipline is-sues, she would visit their homes to try to resolve the problem.

Not only is O’Connor a longtime employee of the City of Providence, she has given back to the city as a very active volunteer in the Providence community. She is vice president of the Rhode Island Affirmative Action Professionals (RIAAP) and is a for-mer member of the Rhode Island Coalition for Affirmative Action (RICAA). She is a founding member and first vice president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women/RI Chapter, in which she serves as a mentor for the LEAD Middle School Mentoring Program held at Central High School every Wednesday evening.

She has served on the board of directors of the Urban League of Rhode Island and was a former board member of Stop Wasting Abandoned Properties (SWAP). In 1997, she served on the Mayor’s Advisory Commission for People with Disabilities. In the late 1970s, she was the treasurer of the Henrietta P. Borge/R.I. Chapter of Black Social Workers and on the board of directors of Girl Scouts of Rhode Island. She has received several recognitions including the NAACP Community Service award, the RICAA Women Who Make a Difference Award, the Urban League Com-munity Service Award, the Yolanda Gonzalez Unsung Hero award, given by DARE, and RIAAP Member of the Year award.

A South Providence resident, O’Connor loves helping people, especially youth.”I love this community,” she said. “When people call, it’s usually because they don’t know where else to go, and I am happy to help them.”

O’Connor can be reached at (401) 456-0686 and is located at the Office of Family and Community Engagement at 379 Washington Street. For other information, please visit: www.providenceschools.org/ombudsperson

Meet community Ombudsperson Joyce a. O’connor

c

After teaching health and physical educa-tion for 20 years, East Providence native Dorothy “Dottie” Smith sought a broader, more global view of education. She has certainly found it, based on the variety of positions she has held throughout her ca-reer.

Throughout her many years in educa-tion, Smith has served as a physical education and health teacher, assistant principal and principal, K-8 supervisor, director of professional development, executive director of school transfor-mation and in her current position as executive director of the Acceleration Zone overseeing 12 Providence elemen-tary schools.

“I wanted a challenge beyond teaching,” Smith said of her move from teaching to administration. “I wanted a broader per-spective of what’s impacting schools.”

After graduating from East Providence High School, Smith received a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education at Rhode Island College (RIC). She also earned a master’s degree in elementary education at RIC and a master’s in edu-cational administration from Providence College.

Her first teaching job was at a residen-tial program for autistic children, where she stayed for two years. She then taught health and physical education at Rhode Island College for nine years and then spent eight years at The Gordon School, an independent Nursery-Grade 8 school in East Providence.

She left teaching in 2002 to become as-sistant principal at Charles Fortes El-ementary School. Two years later, she was named principal at Laurel Hill (now Spaziano Elementary), where she stayed for five years.(Continued on page 7)

Meet acceleration Zone DirectorDottie Smith

Dottie Smith

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Our bell times

providenceschools.org/belltimes

Find your school's startand end times on our website:

have changed!

Providence Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Susan Lusi has announced a plan to ad-just and align the start and dismissal times of Providence’s 37 public schools in the 2013-14 school year. The plan, endorsed by the Providence Teachers Union, creates flexibility for common planning time while preserving needed instructional minutes for students, and simultaneously provides a projected $2.3-2.5 million in transportation savings.

Transportation savings will be realized through tiered bus runs, allowing an hour between the start times of elementary schools and middle schools to maximize utilization of a smaller fleet of yellow buses. The recommendation for such a structure was derived from a transportation study commissioned by the Providence School Board and conducted by Management Part-nership Services, Inc. of Rockville. Md. ear-lier this year.

The bell time schedule also allows for ear-ly dismissal (or late arrival at some high schools) one day per week across all grade levels, making way for teachers’ common planning time while maintaining instruction time through four slightly longer school days. Common planning time is used for

such activities as coordination within and across subject areas, monitoring progress for individual students and looking at data to identify strategies for improvements.

New schedules are as follows:• Elementary school schedule changes

generally add 5 minutes at the start of the day, and 16 minutes at the end of the day, Monday through Thursday. Fridays then have a dismissal time 80 minutes earlier. A few elementary schools have more substantial changes to start and end times, so parents should check the schedule for their child’s school care-fully.

• Middle schools will start at 8:00 a.m. All will end at 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and dismiss at 1:20 p.m. on Fridays.

• High schools will start at 8:00 a.m. and end a standard day at 2:45 p.m., except PCTA, which will remain on its 7:30 to 3:30 day. Each will then have either an early dismissal Friday (1:20 for Alvarez, E-Cubed and Hope; 12:30 for PCTA) or a late start (9:25) Wednesday (Mt. Pleas-ant, Birch, Sanchez, Central, Classical).

A full schedule is available on our Web site at www.providenceschools.org/belltimes.

providence Schools announces plan to adjust Bell Times for 2013-14Change projected to save millions in transportation costs

c

(Acceleration Zone Director/Continued from page 6)

In 2009, Smith was named supervisor of K-8, a new position. A year later, she took on the position of director of professional development, which she held simultaneously. When the first cohort of underperforming schools was announced in 2011, Smith be-came executive director of school transformation, leading the effort to reform those schools.

Last year, the Providence Public School District divided its schools into three zones. Smith heads the Acceler-ation Zone, a group of 12 elementary schools with ELL programming; Marc Catone heads the advancement zone, with a “feeder model” of K-12 schools; while Kregg Cuellar oversees the In-novation Zone, comprised of schools identified as underperforming.

The zone model is designed to stream-line communication more effectively from school administration to the school’s leaders, offer more focused support for principals and monitor the schools’ progress. Its focus, said Smith, is always to improve student achievement.

“Our goal is to strengthen and support principals. We are the main contacts for them so they can get things done more quickly and more effectively,” said Smith. “The goal of the entire zone is to lead our principals and sup-port them in any way we can.”

Although they meet weekly, the three zone directors collaborate daily. “We get together to talk things through. We collaborate well and we find that we are all on the same page,” she said.

Smith and her husband, Steve, are the parents of three grown children, two girls and a boy. One daughter gradu-ated from Boston College and lives in Washington, DC while her other daughter graduated from Fordham University and lives in New York City. Her son still resides in Rhode Island. She enjoys golf, cooking, baking and travelling.

Smith and her husband recently vis-ited Turks and Caicos and are busy planning for their daughter’s wedding in early fall.

For information on our school zones, visit: www.providenceschools.org.

8

(Ninth Grade Cornerstone Academy/Contin-ued from page 1)

This was the reason that I wanted to re-design the school to provide our students with a better chance of successfully mak-ing it to the 12th grade and ultimately graduating.”

The 9th grade will be located in two “houses” on the lower level with their own lunch period. The houses are divided randomly; however students who wish to be in JROTC are clustered together in one house. The 10th grade academy is on the second floor and the 11th and 12th grade academies are located on the first and third floors.

An analysis of the school’s data the led to establishing goals regarding instruction, advising, scheduling, academic perfor-mance and monitoring.

“These goals ultimately developed our reorganization plan for Hope High School. The overall vision of the plan was to cre-ate smaller learning environments within the school so each student can personally connect with an adult and mentor during their four years at Hope,” said Sterling. “However, our major concern was the 9th grade students that either had chronic at-tendance issues or they just dropped out of school.

“The rate at which this was happening at Hope was alarming and something need-ed to be done about it immediately. This ultimately led to the development of the 9th grade Cornerstone Academy,” she ex-plained.

9th Grade cornerstone academyAccording to Sterling, the mission of the Cornerstone Academy, so-named be-cause it is the first building block of the student’s high school career, is to ensure a smooth transition into a more personal-ized high school environment.

“Through this experience, we will address and provide academic intervention, con-nect students to a culture of high expec-tations that are driven by our core values, improve student retention through atten-dance initiatives and increased academic opportunities to succeed,” said Sterling.

“The Cornerstone Academy will also pro-vide an inclusive environment to encour-age parental and community involvement. Through collaboration with teachers, par-ents and administrators, students will de-velop the skills, goals and confidence nec-essary through high school and beyond.”

Among the many goals, the academy aims to increase the on-time freshman promotion rate and the number of fresh-men passing Algebra 1 to 85 percent; increase the number of freshmen pass-ing English, history and science to 90 percent; increase freshman attendance to 90 percent while reducing tardiness to 5 percent; increase student participa-tion in extracurricular activities during freshman year to 80 percent; decrease freshman behavior referrals to 10 per-cent; increase parental involvement for 70 percent of the freshman class; and provide freshmen with 100 percent aca-demic support.

critical components of thecornerstone academy

Each of the two “houses” of the academy contains an interdisciplinary team, which will be scheduled for common meeting/planning time to monitor student prog-ress, provide individual support and in-crease parental communication.

Creating a more personalized learn-ing community is designed to encourage strong connections between staff and students while the “house” concept will also encourage flexible scheduling to meet individual learner needs.

Options and requirements are in place to provide extra academic support. Fresh-men scoring below 70 percent in any core content course will be required to attend an academic support course at Hope on Saturday mornings. Hope will offer a va-riety of enrichment classes for Corner-stone Academy students during extended learning time after school. This extended day program, scheduled two days a week for 9-week periods, will focus on academ-ic enrichment, performing arts and fresh-man seminar.

The Freshman Seminar Course, conduct-ed during the Extended Learning Hours, will provide freshmen with a guide on how to complete the required Digital Portfolio Presentation.

The Digital Portfolio Presentation will be a culmination of reflective documents that provide the Interdisciplinary Team with a complete overview of the stu-dent’s freshman year. This presentation will be conducted each May. Parents are also part of their child’s interdisciplinary team and will have the opportunity to pro-vide critical feedback about their child’s freshman year. They will also be asked to grade the Digital Portfolio as well, but it will be used only in the team’s reflection for the student.

All Cornerstone Academy students will be required to apply for one of the Hope High School Pathways. The Digital Portfo-lio will be used as their application to the pathway of their choice.

All Cornerstone Academy students will be required to participate in ten hours of community service each semester. The projects will become a part of the Digital Portfolio.

Each freshman will be assigned a men-tor who will meet with their fresh-man mentee during scheduled times throughout the year. They will engage in team building activities, social rap ses-sions, academic tutorials and special social events.

To support the overall social and emo-tional development of each student, as well as the academic, all Cornerstone Academy students will be required to se-lect one club or organization to join during the school year. This will also be a critical component of the Digital Portfolio. Each freshman is also expected to participate in a variety of freshman athletics and per-forming arts opportunities. “It is our goal to ultimately graduate productive citi-zens,” said Sterling.

Ninth graders will have the opportunity to select between two AP/Pre-AP courses that include World History and Human Geography and Development.

Freshmen will also be encouraged to plan for further education beyond high school and will participate in fall and spring community college tours.

The school’s Instructional Leadership Team, led by Valerie Kline, a teacher at Hope, aligned the redesign plan to meet state and federal requirements with the goal of rapid improvement. c

Hope Principal Tamara Sterling