Success for All Foundation (SFAF) Celebrates Successful Charter Schools

BALTIMORE, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of the recent National Charter School Week, the Success for All Foundation, an organization that works with schools to improve literacy for all at-risk students, would like to recognize and thank their charter school partners for the 2016-2017 school year, and congratulate them on another successful year.

"Charter schools that partner with Success for All are more successful than comparable non-charter school nationwide," said Nancy Madden, President, SFAF which currently works with 74 charters schools in 13 states.

Here is a sample of the charter schools that partner with Success for All:

The San Jose Charter Academy, West Covina, CA

The San Jose Charter Academy, a California state charter school, partners with Success for All to provide its students with research proven instruction and leadership systems.  San Jose Charter Academy serves a population that is nearly 50% economically disadvantaged and for whom English is a second language.  San Jose Academy students consistently achieve proficiency on state assessments at much higher rates than the state average despite the additional challenges presented. 

Liza Jackson Preparatory School, Fort Walton Beach, FL  

"I think it made a difference to have this one charter school that was excelling, and everybody else wanted to do well. That's when we saw the whole district really improve and skyrocket to the top," said Julie Jenzen, Elementary Education Assistant Principal of Liza Jackson Preparatory School in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

"[SFA] had all the things we were looking for in a program...This program lends itself to every teacher being effective," Jenzen says. "Whether they're working in a low school or whether they're working in a high school, it still works."

Since SFA places students at their own academic levels, teachers report that their fear of failure dissipates, creating "a very safe environment," says Jenzen. "The thing I love about SFA is that each kid gets an individualized program." The data backs that assertion: 84% of Liza Jackson fourth graders scored above average in reading on the 2011–12 FCAT.

Success at school makes for happier children at home. Jenzen has found that they especially value SFA's 90-minute block of uninterrupted reading time. The difference in reading skills is palpable, especially among struggling readers. "It's amazing how fast they start picking it up," she says. "Their parents will come to me and say, 'My child never read like this when they were in other schools!'"

Liza Jackson administrators appreciate how Success for All stays on top of an ever-changing academic climate. SFA is "constantly evolving—it's not a stagnant program," says Jenzen. "They're constantly out there looking at the research."

Hynes Charter School, New Orleans, LA

Through the efforts of a core group of community and staff members, Hynes won charter-school approval status in 2006, with near-unanimous staff support of SFA as the reading program. Obtaining approval turned out to be the least of their problems, however, as the newly minted Hynes Charter had "no building, no books, no furniture, no school supplies and no staff," according to Michelle Douglas, school principal. Yet assisted by what she refers to as the "powers that be," Hynes opened its doors for a new school year on August 14, 2006.

When Edward Hynes Charter School in New Orleans reopened in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina, the teachers decided to adopt the instructional framework and materials provided by the Success for All whole-school improvement program, to get their students' reading up to speed. They hoped the rigorously evaluated program developed at Johns Hopkins University would provide the structured curriculum, professional development, data tools, and intervention strategies required to succeed.

"SFA is a template for learning and teaching; in a 90-minute lesson, it's got all of the effective strategies for balanced delivery of a good reading lesson," says Douglas. "We felt that with SFA, we were so well trained and moving on our way to reform that we couldn't imagine teaching children the old way."

"The foundation offered in first grade and kindergarten is unbelievable," says the school's SFA facilitator Joan Reilly. "It's very rich in phonics and language development, which lead to later success."

"It's not just about the test scores," she explains. "Success for All Foundation brought in the collegiality and the collaborative approach to instruction. And the Foundation is always kicking it up a notch, making sure we sustain our growth, but always digging deeper to improve learning for all our kids."

Read success story 1. 
Read success story 2.

Detroit Edison Public School Academy, Detroit

Each component of SFA, from Word Power to class discussion, is a research-based strategy that works. Children become better readers with the implementation of each interlocking piece of the program, says teacher Cheryl Andrade.

Against all the negative mainstream media coverage about Detroit, Detroit Edison Public School Academy in Detroit became a prime example of what happens when citizens don't give up on the city's future. The collaborative effort of administrators, teachers, students and SFA helped to make DEPSA the first charter school in Detroit to receive the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award from the Department of Education. This award is given to schools that show dramatic gains in student achievement. DEPSA, with 54% of students living below the poverty level, continually outperformed other public schools across the state.

Dugsi Academy Charter School, St. Paul, MN
In the spring of 2014, Dugsi Academy Charter School, in St. Paul, MN, found itself facing a tough challenge: getting its growing population of Somali students up to reading speed. All Minnesota public schools, including its public charter ones, are required to show positive reading gains from year to year.

Dugsi turned to the Success for All Foundation (SFAF) to put an improvement plan in place. Known for its whole-school reform approach, the nonprofit SFAF employs proven research-based solutions and positive supports to help students improve reading scores and quickly meet state proficiency standards. A rich phonics foundation enables the program to meet the specific needs of each student at all grade levels.

About Success for All Foundation

Founded in 1987, the nonprofit Success for All Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that every child, from pre-kindergarten to grade 8, becomes proficient in reading and learning – opening up new doors for a lifetime of achievement. Not only has SFA been proven time and again to help with student reading ability and math performance, it also addresses non-academic concerns, improving behavior, attendance and parental involvement.

SFA has been honored by the White House as part of President Barack Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative.

For more information about Success for All, go to http://www.successforall.org.

Contact
Kenly Novotny
Success For All
410-616-2440 
[email protected] 

SOURCE Success for All Foundation

Related Links

http://www.successforall.org