Tag Archives: M.S. 72

September Photo of the Month: Community School M.S. 72 Celebrates Attendance Awareness

Seventh-Grader Leasia’s current year-to-date attendance is 100 percent.

September is Attendance Awareness Month, and there’s no better place to celebrate it than at Catherine and Count Basie Magnet School for Multimedia and Performing Arts M.S. 72.

The school’s theme this year is “Lights, Camera, Learn.” The bulletin board in this photo represents the Daily Homeroom Challenge, which involves classrooms competing for a place on the “Walk of Fame.” The homeroom class that receives the highest attendance percentage rate for the month is rewarded with a “Spin-the-Wheel” event to earn prizes such as Bluetooth headphones, free uniform attire, cosmetics, backpacks, snacks, and more.

M.S. 72 is what is known as a New York City Community School: a school defined by partnership between the school and an embedded community-based organization (CBO), like The Child Center of NY, that coordinates and delivers services to young people and their families—from mental health for students to adult education resources for parents and caregivers. Students, often known as “scholars,” receive high-quality academic instruction, and the CBO addresses barriers to academic success by collaborating with parents, teachers, community members, and, most importantly, students.

One of those barriers is absenteeism, especially chronic absenteeism, which New York City Department of Education defines as missing 20-37 days—a month or more of school—per academic year.

“If scholars aren’t in school, they can’t learn, they can’t be inspired, and they can’t be engaged. The more school they miss, the harder it becomes to catch up, and the more hopeless it all starts to seem. At the high school level, this cycle can cause dropping out to feel inevitable,” explains Saran Shields, Vice President of Youth Development here at The Child Center.

The Child Center works with its 18 Community Schools, from elementary to high school, including M.S. 72, to reverse this cycle so that scholars can be present and engaged in their learning—and see how much they are capable of.

Understanding that young people don’t exist as students in a vacuum, Community Schools support the whole child, their entire family, and their learning both inside and outside the classroom. For example, healthy young people attend more days of school, and so Community Schools offer services such as vision care, medical care, and mental health centers. The more time students spend at school, the more they learn, so Community Schools stay open after school and over the summer, offering enrichment activities such as arts, music lessons, and robotics.

With a strong school administration and support from our team, results are profound at The Child Center’s Community Schools. At August Martin High School in Jamaica, for example, the graduation rate rose from 24 percent in 2015, when The Child Center first became lead CBO, to a remarkable 73 percent three years later. The graduation rate now stands at 91.67 percent—higher than the NYC average of 83.7 percent.

At M.S. 72, the 2022-23 school year closed out with an attendance rate of 90 percent. It is currently at 91 percent with a goal of increasing that rate by 4 percent by June.

“The attendance team at M.S. 72 meets every week to continuously find ways to combat severely chronic absenteeism and chronic absenteeism,” says Nicole Johnson, community school director at M.S. 72. “These strategies include but are not limited to home visits, daily tardiness and absenteeism phone calls, parent meetings, and ongoing attendance incentive events throughout the year. Our team is extremely dedicated, and we are so proud of our scholars and their families for making education their priority.”

To learn more about how Community Schools help young people thrive, visit the NYC Department of Education’s Community Schools page, and to learn more about how The Child Center fosters increased attendance at its Community Schools, read Saran Shields’ 2018 blog post on the subject (yes, we have been working on this a long time!)

Kesha’s Story

Kesha when she was a student participant at The Child Center’s Parsons Beacon and in TIPP (Teen Impact Prevention Program)

I started with The Child Center of NY Parsons Beacon as a participant at the age of 11, in 1999. I knew about the program because my older brother attended Parsons Junior High School and was enrolled in the program.

I attended Parsons Junior High School from September 1999 until June 2002. I also continued to be a participant and was able to be involved in many things. Because of the willingness of Deepmalya (the program director at the time) to create a relationship with my very strict mother, I was able to partake in talent shows where I danced with groups of friends.

I was a part of the Parsons Beacon step team, and we were afforded the opportunity to travel the tri-state area and perform in competitions and showcases. We also were invited to step at Deep’s wedding! I had the honor of being a part of the first TIPP group (Teen Impact Prevention Program) ever, which was led by Amanda Etienne at the time. We were a group of preteens/teens who went out to high schools and teen conferences to put on skits and hold town hall discussions regarding HIV/AIDS and STD prevention. I was a part of this for several years, and it overlapped with my official hire as SYEP [Summer Youth Employment Program] in 2004.

I worked as a junior group leader at Basie Beacon M.S. 72 which led to me wearing several hats at that site for about five years. I made ID cards for new applicants and made replacements for those who have lost their ID card; helped with office tasks; took on the roles of senior group leader, recreational coordinator (orchestrated the tournaments, sign in, and set up of gym and activities), and basketball coach for our middle school boys’ team; and was still involved with TIPP.

Around 2008, I began to work at P.S. 223 OST [Out-of-School Time] as a group leader. The following year, I requested to become a specialist (Step specialist), where I had to demo a lesson and articulate why the participants of P.S. 223 would benefit.

Kesha speaking at a Child Center board meeting

I was a step specialist with them for the next three years and ran a video journalism club in 2011. I then left P.S. 223 and the organization in December 2012 to pursue other opportunities within the filed of Youth Development. In 2017 I applied for a program director position and I came back “home” to The Child Center in February of 2018.

I always tell everyone I was raised by afterschool programs and this is why. This organization has supported my growth from a preteen into adulthood.

If it wasn’t for Deep and his determination to keep me in the program during those times my mom wanted to take me out, I would have not learned my true passion in life, which is helping inner-city youth like me experience things I would have never been able to experience outside of the program.

 

 

 


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