Help At-Risk Girls Graduate High School

We have so much to share with you! BSA accomplished some fantastic feats these past few months and we are gearing up for another exciting school year.

BSA’s first spring play
The school held its first ever school play in the spring – the Hip-Hopification of a Midsummer Night’s Dream . BSA’s Performing Arts teacher worked with the students to re-write the Shakespeare classic into rhyming couplets put to a hip-hop beat. After months of preparation – learning lines, creating costumes, and building sets – the students held two knockout performances. The audience laughed, cheered, and, of course, applauded the actors who gained experience in performing, orating and taking risks!

Graduation!
In June, we were proud to celebrate our school’s first four graduates! These young adults graduated from BSA in just three years (having arrived at BSA with a few credits already under their belt). Overcoming many obstacles and proving their resilience over and over again, our graduates proudly accepted their diplomas in a room full of teachers, friends, family members, and supporters. Some are heading to college, focusing on careers like law enforcement, while others are pursuing careers through internships and employment. One graduate was awarded the NYC Comptroller Student Achievement Award. It was a big moment for BSA, watching our first few students hold their diplomas high, and we are so excited about the upcoming start of the school year where our first full senior class will work towards their own graduation day.

State exams
The majority of BSA students sat for at least one New York State Regents exam in June. In order to graduate, all students must pass at least five statewide exams: English, Integrated Algebra, US History, Global History and a Science (Earth Science, Environmental Living, Chemistry or Physics). At BSA, our goal is for all sophomores to have passed at least one exam, juniors to have passed at least three and seniors to have passed five or more by the completion of each school year. As of July, 96% of sophomores and 90% of juniors were on track towards graduation. Additionally, 46% of freshman are ahead of schedule with at least one (and some with more) exams passed!

What’s next?
BSA was also lucky to be selected by New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina to be a part of the Learning Partners Program. Recognized for BSA’s talents in building a positive school culture, we will act as a host school for two Manhattan middle schools by providing trainings and support in helping to implement culture-building programs of their own. The program allows for routine feedback and sharing of best practices over the course of the year.  We were honored to be selected and are excited to work with our partners.

This fall, BSA will launch our Champion Model, a student advocate program designed to build relational trust, provide students with an adult advocate and support students in learning how to self-advocate. All students will have a Champion – a staff member dedicated to supporting them academically, socially and emotionally through the full school year. Champions will check in with students regularly to assess needs and connect them to in-school, Door or community programs. Having an adult mentor/friend/advocate is instrumental in the lives of our students, as many don’t have any of these at home. We’re looking forward to tracking and assessing the impact of the program and will be sure to share more with you in future reports!

As always, we sincerely appreciate your interest and support of BSA. Visit our website and join our mailing list to learn more about our school and stay up-to-date on all that we're doing.

PS: In the NYC area? Consider coming to our October fundraiser, Our Family Table.

Links:

• Be a part of Our Family Table - Attend our fall fundraiser!

What haven’t we been doing here at BSA since February!? Over the past few months we’ve had some exciting visitors, excellent arts programming, and of course, a constant focus on academics.

In March, BSA hosted New York City Schools’ Chancellor Carmen Farina for a visit. The Chancellor was very impressed with our school, particularly the way our teachers run their classrooms, the community feel, and the collaborative attitude amongst all staff and students. She mentioned her visit to BSA on a television interview with NY1 and during her 100 days speech. It was very meaningful for us to hear such positive feedback from such an influential leader.

The Chancellor mentioned how invested all of our staff and students were in their learning. How do we get students invested? Well, it’s unique for each individual. Everyone has an academic plan, but each student needs different types of support and engagement to succeed. Some find engagement through after-school activities, like our Cosmetology Club, sponsored and supported by Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. Bobbi Brown staff and make-up artists visit the club once a month to lead a make-up lesson and discuss all the various careers and jobs that fall within the cosmetics industry. Providing our students with insight into the expansive world of their possible futures helps to motivate them to remain invested in their school work and look to the future as a motivator to overcome barriers to success.

Other students find motivation through the arts. BSA was asked by the National Arts Club to participate in a week-long gallery event titled “Inspiring Arts Education Summit”. One of three featured schools, BSA selected 30 pieces of art to display in the National Arts Club’s Trask Gallery. The event’s headlining artist, Inocente, the focus of the Academy Award Winning Short Documentary, visited BSA and collaborated with our students on two murals. Inocente was a formerly homeless youth that used art to cope with her difficult surroundings – something that many of our students could relate to.

Our students also have access to mentors, counseling, support groups, sports, and more to supplement and support their academics. Ultimately, we’re all working towards ensuring each student graduates with a high school diploma and so many of our students are succeeding. In late March we held an academic awards ceremony to acknowledge our students success to-date giving out superlatives for each student, including “Most likely to bring a smile to your face” and “Most considerate and reflective student”.

Our academic classes are enhanced by prep classes focused on PSATs and SATs. As the year’s end approaches, we have after-school test-prep sessions and Regents University – a program that supports our students in preparing for the New York State exams required for graduation. It’s go time from here on out and we’ll all be working hard to finish this school year on a high note.

We are so appreciative of your interest and support of BSA. Visit our website and join our mailing list to learn more about our school and stay up-to-date on events and activities.

PS: We recently successfully completed a campaign to bring soccer to our school – check out this video where our students explain what a soccer team means to them!