Educators at the Leadership Village Academy Middle School, a college preparatory school for low-income minority students in Harlem, know it’s never too early to start talking about going to college.
To stoke the students’ dreams about earning a diploma, they brought 34 sixth graders from the academy to visit the University last week ( June 20-23) for a campus tour. The Leadership Academy is one of two charter schools in New York City, operated by Village Academies, a non-profit charter management group, dedicated to raising academic achievement and expectations of low-income minority children.
Standing outside the Life Sciences Institute June 21, Nick Reyes said he was impressed by the sprawling complex. “I’ve never been to a campus before where they had a life sciences museum on the campus,” Reyes said. “So this is really big for me. I am really interested.”
Dejah Lucas said she is impressed by the University’s quest for excellence.
“I am actually considering applying here when I get older,” she said, walking with her tour group towards the Diag. “It’s one of the best colleges in the world. I will push myself hard and they will push you here too because they want you to strive for excellence.”
Jaminata Starks said she was impressed by appearance of the campus. “It’s so beautiful and they have a lot of flowers,” she said, walking by a bed of red dahlias. “In New York you’re not really used to that because there is a lot of trash. So it’s really different here.”
The Village Academies were founded in 2001 by Deborah Kenny, a former teacher with a doctoral degree from Columbia University-Teachers College, who believes a quality public education is an essential human right. Initially, students who enrolled in the schools were two to four years behind grade level and many had chronic behavior problems. Today, these students score in the top
6 percent in the country in math and the top 23 percent in reading, according to school statistics. They are regarded widely as among the highest performing charter schools in the country.
The schools offer rigorous academics, a longer school day, tutoring, after-school enrichment and quality teaching. Getting students interested about attending college also is a major focus.
“We are really excited to show the students what we talk about all year,” said principal Laurie Warner. “When they come to us these students are three or four grades behind. We have 10-hour school days and we don’t pass them on until they learn all they need to.
“Part of the reason we are able to get them to learn is that we talk about going to college. And when we are able to walk on a campus it put things in a whole new light in a way our words never could. This is what we are working for all year.”
Fred Wilpon, chairman of the New York Mets and a U-M alumnus who recently donated $12 million to the University, including $3 million to LSA for need-based scholarships, also is a member of the Village Academies board of directors. He paid for the students’ campus visit.
“Sixth grade is a critical time for informing students about their options, and how the decisions they make now will impact their future,” said Susan Perreault, LSA director of student recruitment. “By staying in school and making good academic and social choices now, they will be able to attend a university or college of their choice. We hope that their visit to U-M and LSA will encourage them to apply and enroll here. I’m grateful to Fred Wilpon for providing this opportunity.”
