Posted on 09/03/2009 8:06:51 PM PDT by Dianna
Since 2008, former Chicago Public Schools’ CEO, Arne Duncan, has been calling for residential schools that afford Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students the opportunity to learn in safe, academically-challenging environments, free from negative influences and distractions from education.
Residential schools, also called boarding schools, allow students to live and learn together well beyond the traditional school day. The underlying premise of the residential education model is that early preparation for the academic rigor and independent living of the college experience, especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college, offers an advantage when they embark on this new phase in life.
Some of the most striking benefits of the approach include higher academic performance, inclusion in a tight-knit community of college-bound peers, and the formation of positive relationships with adult role models.
Historically, the benefits of residential education have been reserved for students and families of considerable economic means and have remained largely unattainable for those unable to afford the tuition – students who may stand to gain the most from the residential experience.
In response to Arne Duncan’s call for public boarding schools, a design team has emerged to even the playing field and make residential education a possibility for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
The inspiration for Earn Academy emerged from a transformative experience of founder and former CPS teacher, Leah Marshall, and one of her students, Jermaine.
During his senior year, Jermaine and his family became homeless. Rather than use his personal situation to justify poor performance or absenteeism, Jermaine turned to school as a resource and found meaning and purpose in academics.
Every day after class, Jermaine spent time in Marshall’s office, a safe place where he could concentrate on his schoolwork and focus on his future. As a result, his grades began to rise, his confidence grew, and for the first time, Jermaine decided to aim for college as the next step in his academic career.
With the help of a college counselor, he navigated the application process and made the decision to pursue a college-bound path to opportunity and purpose.
After witnessing Jermaine’s transformation, Marshall considered, “What would happen if more young men like Jermaine had the opportunity to learn in a safe, academically-challenging environment with regular exposure to high-performing role models and door-opening experiences?”
Eight months later, the Earn Academy design team has submitted a proposal to CPS that envisions a public boarding high school, created to prepare motivated young men from Chicago neighborhoods to graduate from college, enter into meaningful careers, and become agents of change in our communities.
The school’s mission suggests both an unwavering faith in the promise of the young people it hopes to serve and a resolute dedication to the power of positive peer culture and leadership cultivated and honed in a boarding school environment.
The team believes that a rigorous, college-preparatory education in a residential setting can empower young men with the skills to excel professionally and the character to positively shape our communities.
Earn Academy initially seeks to serve young men, as the increased levels of security and supervision required to operate a co-educational boarding model render that option prohibitively expensive. And because young men are at greater risk of academic underachievement, the team opted to launch with a single-sex, all-male, residential model.
Building on the notions of personal responsibility, higher learning, and professionalism, Earn Academy students will engage in paid internships on college campuses and in corporate settings, modeled after Cristo Rey schools’ Hire4Ed program.
Such opportunities will offer career exposure and job experience for students. Furthermore, students’ internship compensation will partially cover the cost of their residential experience and afford them over 600 hours of college exposure prior to college enrollment.
While the Earn team seeks to connect students with the college and professional worlds, they also view the school’s location in Rogers Park as a vital part of its success. The values that animate Rogers Park - community, collaboration, and quality of life, are values that Earn Academy shares.
As a school that will be rooted in and connected with the community it serves, it is critical to locate in a neighborhood where community values will serve as a springboard for student growth; Rogers Park is such a community.
The Earn Academy team envisions numerous opportunities for interaction between the school and its community. Students will participate in self-directed learning expeditions, in which they will take action in various service projects within the community.
Earn Academy embraces the transformational and formative “teachable moments” embedded in daily routines that will include consciousness about sustainable living, climate change, and healthy eating.
During their residential hours, students will gain access to locally-grown produce via an on-campus garden, benefit from the opportunity to create and innovate in the kitchen with the school chef, and learn how to make positive choices on a daily basis that leave their world and community a better place.
At the same time, the community will be encouraged to support student learning by attending presentations and events celebrating the academic achievements of these young men.
The Earn Academy team publicly introduced their proposal on July 7 during a Community Forum at the Rogers Park Public Library, attended by a number of community leaders, local residents, teachers, and students.
Approval for Earn Academy consists of a highly competitive, multi-step process, which culminates in an Evaluative Hearing, directed by a panel of national experts in residential education.
The final authorization decision will be issued in November 2009 by the Chicago Public Schools Board of Education. They are asking that anyone who wants to help to please send letters voicing support of public residential education and the Earn Academy model to earnacademychicago@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Kinda sounds like an orphanage with education....
I wonder what kind of education they will be getting.
“civilian national security force” that is just as large, powerful and funded as our current military.
The ‘grow your own’ version of indoctrination.
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