Help At-Risk Girls Graduate High School

What a busy time of year! With fall festivities coming to an end and the holidays approaching, everyone’s schedules are packed to the brim, and we’re excited to share some exciting updates with you.

In September, BSA was a part of PBS/WNET’s American Graduate Day Campaign, a day-long broadcast dedicated to raising awareness of America's dropout phenomenon. BSA was selected to be highlighted as an organization committed to decreasing the dropout rate in New York City. An interview with three very special members of our community aired across the nation and can still be found on the American Graduate website! We asked viewers to share a Message of Hope to our students, encouraging them to continue working hard on obtaining a high school diploma. You can send a Message of Hope today, too, by visiting our website!

Reports on comparative data amongst New York City schools were recently published and showed that BSA has a lot to be proud of. The city compares BSA to peer schools, which are similar in size and population, and also to schools in the city at-large. BSA outperformed its peer schools in math, science and U.S. history Regents pass rates, and outperformed the city at-large in math and science! The annual student and parent surveys showed that BSA outperformed peer schools and the city-at large for ratings on engagement, communication, and academic expectations. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from our students and their families.

Lastly, after many months of construction and dedicated support from friends like you, we’ve finished BSA’s new Science Wing! For the first two years, we had operated without full science labs. The new Science Wing has three state-of-the-art labs designated for earth science, biology, and chemistry, (with physics to come next year).  

To thank our supporters and celebrate the new space, we held a Ribbon Cutting event on November 13^th, where we also took the time to introduce new Head of School, Ms. Barbara McKeon to the BSA community. It was a great success, especially as we had some of our brightest students helping out by giving tours of the new space. Students also gave stand out musical, theatrical and comedic performances. We were so thankful to have so many friends and supporters celebrate with us – it was a great event to show our students how many people care about them and their success! Check out our facebook page - we'll be adding pictures soon!

Once again, thanks to all of you for your interest in and support of BSA. If you want to learn more about our school, please feel free to visit our website and join our mailing list to stay up-to-date on all things BSA!