Tag Archives: August Martin High School

August Martin High School Now Has Higher-Than-Average Graduation Rate

November 24, 2020 | Leave a reply

AMHS scholar-chefs with Emmy award-winning public television host, best‐selling cookbook author, and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich. Read the full story behind the photo: childcenterny.org/the-child-center-of-ny-on-pbs/.

Ready for some good news for which to give thanks? August Martin High School (AMHS) in Jamaica, Queens, achieved a 91.7% graduation rate for the 2019-2020 school year!

“This is a great achievement, exceeding NYC’s average high school graduation rate,” says Amanda Etienne, The Child Center of NY’s Senior Vice President, Youth Development.

The city-wide high school graduation rate for New York City was 77.3 percent in 2019, the most recent figure. Continue reading →

Our Culinary Stars on PBS!

December 9, 2019 | Leave a reply

Lidia Bastianich Cooks with Our Youth

**New date and time: Sunday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. on WNET, Channel 13, for the New York Metro market. PBS will run the show in most other U.S. cities on Fri., Dec. 20–check the Lidia Celebrates America website for air times in your area.

Renowned chef and Emmy Award-winning television personality Lidia Bastianich cares deeply about immigrants and under-served youth having pathways to bright futures.

On Sunday, December 15, Lidia’s PBS special Lidia Celebrates America will premiere on WNET and will include a segment of Lidia cooking with 12 juniors and seniors of the Culinary Arts Program at August Martin High School (AMHS), an inner-city school in Jamaica, Queens. The five-year innovative partnership between The Child Center and August Martin has brought about a dramatic turnaround in graduation rates from 23% to 74% in four years.

Continue reading →

Sound Bite: Saran Shields Earns 2019 Russell L. Carson Visionary Award

August 25, 2019 | Leave a reply

Thanks to generous supporter Russ Carson, The Child Center is able to honor an outstanding employee every year at our annual gala. The award is presented to a staff member who goes above and beyond for clients and epitomizes The Child Center’s innovative approach — qualities that perfectly describe Saran Shields. As Senior Program Director and Community School Director at August Martin High School, Shields and her team helped AMHS’s 24 percent graduation rate shoot to 73 percent in three years. Continue reading →

August Martin High School Celebrates the Arts

February 14, 2019 | Leave a reply

The scholars at August Martin High School sure know how to put on an event. Their Winter Arts Festival on January 8 featured percussion and dance performances set to the backdrop of culinary and fine arts presentations — and everyone in attendance was impressed by the diverse talents on display! Continue reading →

Meet Isaiah: Student and Mentor Extraordinaire

December 21, 2018 | 1 Reply

One of the things we’re proudest of at The Child Center of NY is instilling in young people that there are many avenues toward success, which they can find based on their own individual strengths. You can see this principle at work at August Martin High School, where The Child Center serves as lead CBO (community-based organization). August Martin offers students opportunities to find their niche through such unique courses of study as culinary arts and aviation. In fact, it’s the only high school where students can receive their private pilot license before they graduate. Continue reading →

Aggressive Attendance Initiative Brings Success to “Failing” School

September 26, 2018 | 1 Reply

Shows Students Have Had the Potential All Along

By Saran Shields, MSW
Community School Director, August Martin High School

Blog author Saran Shields with August Martin High School students

September is Attendance Awareness Month, and there’s no better place to spotlight the importance of attendance — and attendance efforts — than August Martin High School in South Jamaica, Queens. Continue reading →

Reversing Troublesome Trends

February 25, 2018 | Leave a reply

By Deep Ghosh
Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Community Engagement

Partners for District 27. Clockwise from back left: Deep Ghosh; Community Affairs PO Kevin Campbell; Commanding Officer of the 101st Precinct in Far Rockaway, Vincent Tavalaro; and Brandon Jeffries.

The Child Center of NY is on a path of self-assessment, taking a serious look at our customers, where and how many there are, how we are doing in delivering services, and most important: Are we making a measurable impact?

Continue reading →

Meet Our First Vivian E. Cook Scholarship Honoree!

September 25, 2017 | Leave a reply

Q&A with Latoya Mann, graduate of August Martin High School

Scholarship recipient Latoya Mann with Assemblywoman Vivian Cook

At The Child Center of NY, one of our firmest beliefs is that intelligence and drive are evenly distributed among zip codes. Unfortunately, opportunity isn’t always. That’s why we’ve been hard at work at August Martin High School, in one of the most underserved communities in the city. In the past few years, we’ve helped increase the graduation rate by nearly 40 percent — from just 24 percent to more than 60 percent — and are ensuring promising students not only can see themselves at college, but also can overcome the practical hurdles (like the steep price tag) to getting there. Continue reading →