Septima Clark Public Charter School Scholars Win 1st Place in Chess Tournament!
November 11, 2009
Chess is one of the most challenging and intriguing games to develop critical thinking and strategy skills. Five 2nd and 3rd grade scholars from Septima Clark Public Charter School (head of school Jenny DuFresne, 2004 BES Fellow) competed in the 2009 Gallaudet University National Chess Academy Championship on October 31. Volunteer chess teacher Peter Clare, Founder of CollegeTribe, a nonprofit with a mission to prepare boys and young men for college, has taught chess the last four years at Septima Clark. From left to right: Devin Prince, 2nd grade, placed 3rd in the K to 3rd grade division; Matthew McDavid, 3rd grade, placed 1st in the K to 3rd grade division; Steven Woolen, 3rd Grade, placed 9th of 20 players in the 4th to 6th grade division; Anthony Travers, 3rd grade, placed 3rd in K to 3rd grade division; Deonte Booker, 3rd grade, placed 7th of 20 players in the 4th to 6th grade division. Septima Clark PCS won the overall 1st place trophy for the tournament. More than 40 students from across Washington, DC competed.
Hrag Hamalian: A Man on a Mission
November 5, 2009
Boston College alum and 2008 BES Fellow Hrag Hamalian learned a lot from his Teach For America stint. Now he’s putting those lessons to work — in his own school.
Read the full article here.
Boston Prep Cited in MIT Study on Successful Charter Schools
October 29, 2009
Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, founded and led by Scott McCue (2003 BES Fellow), is cited in an MIT News article on an MIT study showing that students perform better at high-performing charter schools than they would at other types of public schools.
See the full article here.
Coney Island Prep Featured in NY1 Report on Housing for New York City Charter Schools
October 9, 2009
Jacob Mnookin (2008 BES Fellow) and his Coney Island Prep Charter School were featured in a NY1 report on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's call for the New York City Housing Authority to give up space for city charter schools. See the video here.
Eleven 2007 Fellows Win Charters
April 26, 2009
Building Excellent Schools is pleased to honor the following 2007-2008 Fellows and their founding boards whose schools were recently chartered:
Little Rock, AR: Little Rock Preparatory Academy - Latoya Goree, Executive Director
Phoenix, AZ: Phoenix Collegiate Academy - Rachel Bennett, School Director
Los Angeles, CA: Equitas Academy - Malka Borrego, Executive Director
Los Angeles, CA: Valor Academy Charter School - Hrag Hamalian, Executive Director
Los Angeles, CA: Endeavor College Prep - Michelle Jasso, Executive Director
Los Angeles, CA: Futuro College Preparatory Elementary School - Ted Morris, Executive Director
Colorado Springs, CO: Atlas Preparatory School - Zach McComsey, Executive Director
New Orleans, LA: Akili Academy of New Orleans - Sean Gallagher, Executive Director
Brooklyn, NY: Summit Academy Charter School - Natasha Campbell, Executive Director
Brooklyn, NY: Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School - Jacob Mnookin, Executive Director
Memphis, TN: Freedom Preparatory Academy - Roblin Webb, Executive Director
New Podcast on Building Excellent Schools-Teach For America Partnership
April 22, 2009
To view the podcast, and to read about more opportunities for Teach For America alumni with Building Excellent Schools, click here. We thank Teach For America for their partnership with us.
Boston Prep, Excel Academy Cited in School Reform Journal
March 16, 2009
The Spring 2009 issue of Education Next includes an article on the state of education reform in Massachusetts, authored by Charles D. Chieppo and James Gass of 0Pioneer Institute, a Massachusetts public-policy think tank.
The article cites two Building Excellent Schools Fellow-Founded Schools - Boston Prep and Excel Academy - as examples of the Commonwealth's top urban charter schools.
See the full article here.
Democracy Prep gets all A's in Chancellor's Progress Report
November 6, 2008
For the second consecutive year, Democracy Preparatory Charter School has received straight A's in the Chancellor's Progress Report issued by the New York City Department of Education.
Democracy Prep, a BES Fellow-Founded School led by 2004-2005 Fellow Seth Andrew, received an overall score of 91.7 out of 100, which places it in the 98th percentile of all middle schools in New York City.
Each year, the New York City Education Department releases report cards for each school in the city, grading them on a scale of A through F. The letter grades were based on three factors: school environment, student performance and student progress.
To read Democracy Prep's full report, click here.
West Denver Prep gets better results with same budget
August 18, 2008
by Nancy Mitchell, Rocky Mountain News
West Denver Preparatory Charter School, founded by BES Fellow Chris Gibbons, ranks No. 1 among Denver's 44 middle schools in the academic growth of its students. It stages annual lotteries to select pupils from an overflow of applicants and, from those not chosen, tears are not unusual.
Less talked about, but just as important, is the fact that the school runs on roughly the same budget as any other Denver Public School.
For the original story in its entirety, click here.