Community News
See Forever/Maya Angelou Alternative Middle School Hosts Leaders, Welcomes Community
by Colleen Miltenberg, SFF/MAPCS Executive Assistant
The See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Public Charter School welcomed District of Columbia Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, DC Public Charter School Board Executive Director Josephine Baker, Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander and other luminaries at the November dedication ceremony for its new alternative middle school. The MAPCS middle school is located in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Fletcher Johnson Educational Center, in Southeast DC, in Ward 7.
 Greeted by students at the campus, DCPCSB’s Josephine Baker, Chancellor Rhee and Councilmember Alexander offered remarks to a host of both long-term and new supporters of the SFF/MAPCS community, educational leaders from throughout the District and other dignitaries and friends: including the grandson of Dr. Maya Angelou, Colin Johnson and Stephan Huh, Director of Educational Facilities and Partnerships at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Rhee, Baker and Alexander spoke about the importance of educational initiatives geared toward the middle school population, and the importance of establishing our program in the surrounding neighborhood east of the Anacostia River. SFF/MAPCS is pleased to have brought vitality to a previously unoccupied building as a part of a one-year lease agreement with DC Public Schools.
The dedication ceremony also marked the beginning of other important collaborations for SFF/MAPCS. Concurrent to the ceremony, Leadership Greater Washington (LGW) – an organization dedicated to galvanizing the region’s diverse leaders and engaging them in improving the region – held its ‘Education Program Day’ at the MAPCS middle school campus. SFF/MAPCS Executive Director Cynthia Robbins (LGW Class of 2000), addressed the LGW Class of 2009 attendees prior to the official dedication ceremony and thanked them for their participation in this auspicious occasion, “Hosting events geared towards educational initiatives in the District provides the organization with an increased presence which supports our efforts to continue to serve as strong advocates for the unique student population we serve at See Forever and Maya Angelou.”
The See Forever Foundation and Maya Angelou Public Charter School are most grateful to the institutions that enabled us to open and beautify our new, alternative middle school campus:
- AOL
- Building Hope
- Ciminelli’s Landscape Services, Inc.
- City Year
- D.C. Office of Cable Television
- District of Columbia Public Charter School Board
- District of Columbia Public Schools
- The Melissa and Carter Cafritz Trust
- The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
- The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
- The Freddie Mac Foundation
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Office of the State Superintendent of Education
- Philip L. Graham Fund
- Venture Philanthropy Partners
- WilmerHale
In addition, we are fortunate to have hundreds of other foundation, corporate and individual donors and volunteers who have given generously to support the programs and services we provide, and we thank each of them for their support of our mission.
Back to Top
Maya Angelou Public Charter School - Evans Campus Chosen for Academic Excellence Award
by Anne Schoolcraft, SFF/MAPCS Development Manager
The See Forever Foundation (SFF) is pleased to announce that the Maya Angelou Public Charter School (MAPCS) – Evans Campus has been chosen as one of this year’s Effective Practices Incentive Community (EPIC) National Charter School Consortium award winners. New Leaders for New Schools developed the EPIC initiative to identify and learn from schools with significant student achievement gains and to honor educators in these schools for sharing their knowledge and skills with colleagues nationally. Our school’s Evans campus was in pool of 99 charter schools from 18 states and the District of Columbia. As such, we are one of only two charter high schools in the District to have shown gains that categorized us as a Silver Gain school (the second highest ranking). Further, we are one of only four high schools to have received the Silver Gain Award nationwide. Awards were determined based on state assessment (DC-CAS) test scores comparing gains from our scholars in the 8th grade and the 10th grade. This award is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our staff, teachers, parents, and most importantly, our scholars, said Thaly Germain, assistant principal of the MAPCS-Evans campus.
In the coming weeks, the SFF/MAPCS community will host a school-wide celebration for students and staff, and share our best practices with other schools nationally. As noted by SFF/MAPCS Executive Director Cynthia Robbins, “This award is evidence that our approach to education is working, and we look forward to next year’s review as we strive to achieve even higher gains.”
Back to Top
Keys to Success at Oak Hill:
Consistent Leadership, Best Practices, Relevance
by Cynthia Robbins, SFF/MAPCS Executive Director
At the end of 2007, the District of Columbia City Council held hearings focusing on the work of the District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) have afforded our community an important chance to evaluate supports and services to juvenile offenders. As evidenced in a December op-ed piece written by SFF/MAPCS Co-Founder James Forman and SFF Board Member Reid Weingarten, it is imperative that we remain steadfast to our commitment to making a difference through consistent leadership, best practices and relevant programming that will support Oak Hill scholars, while at the correctional facility and during their transition back into our community.
See Forever’s management of the Oak Hill Academy has helped our organization return to its roots. In 1997, See Forever started working with 20 teens, all of whom had been through Oak Hill. David Domenici, SFF/MAPCS co-founder and principal at the Oak Hill Academy said, “Our aim is for the school at Oak Hill to be the best school the young men have ever attended. This project is a critical component of our mission and fits with our long term goal of providing high quality education for our City’s most needy students.” Indeed, creating a climate of academic achievement while offering educational programming and activities that greatly improve upon the life prospects of our Oak Hill scholars and work to reduce their risk of re-offending are the keys to success. We are confident that with the support of city government, Vincent Schiraldi, Director and a promising reformer at DYRS and a commitment to educational excellence from SFF/MAPCS, we can rebuild the school at Oak Hill and the lives of some of the most at-risk youth in the District of Columbia.
Back to Top
Moving Forward
MAPCS Working to Address Recent Charter Warning
by Cynthia Robbins, SFF/MAPCS Executive Director
SFF/MAPCS leadership came out in force for a show of strength and support during the charter review hearing at the end of January before the D.C. Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB). Co-founder and Board Chair James Forman, School Performance Committee Chair and long-term board member, Edie Tatel; MAPCS high school principals Eugene Pinkard (MAPCS-Shaw) and Dr. Nataki Reynolds (MAPCS-Evans), joined SFF/MAPCS Executive Director Cynthia Robbins at the board table for this pivotal hearing.
MAPCS leaders and stakeholders gathered on the day of the hearing to show support and commitment during this high stakes review. While the DCPCSB voted 4:3 in favor of issuing MAPCS a charter warning, several board members spoke passionately about our mission and how important our school is to the community. MAPCS has taken this warning seriously, devoting keen attention to ensuring that we have the data to demonstrate that we have met a majority of the indicators in our Accountability Plan when we come up for our high-stakes ten year review. SFF/MAPCS views this charter warning as an opportunity to move forward with clarity and renewed commitment to the elements of our Accountability Plan and to meeting our mission of providing high-quality educational opportunities to our students that will result in academic success.
In preparation for next year’s high stakes review, the DCPCSB urged us to keep our eye on the ball, to strive to collect every pertinent piece of data and to ensure that we meet each mark on our accountability plan. We have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with DCPCSB which spells out key steps we will take as we work hard to help our students grow. The entire SFF/MAPCS community has redoubled our efforts to learn all that we can and to do all that can to ensure that we have a stellar review in our tenth year.
For more information on the Maya Angelou Public Charter School Accountability Plan, contact SFF/MAPCS Director of Academics, Principal Support and Accountability Dr. Marian White-Hood at mwhood@seeforever.org. |
