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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: 1-800-548-4998
Edward Hynes Charter School
New Orleans, Louisiana
Michelle B. Douglas, Principal
I first encountered the Success for All (SFA) program when the Orleans Parish schools superintendent, Anthony Amato, was hired in spring 2003. Schools in the district were given a choice among SFA, Direct Instruction, or creating the school’s own research-based program. The district was in a “do or die” situation, as the state’s accountability system was threatening a takeover. My school, however, was not in that category. The majority of our faculty selected SFA, and then the training began.
In May 2003, I was pulled out of my sixth-grade reading position to begin assessing our students in kindergarten through sixth grade in preparation for our schoolwide SFA implementation. I was a co-facilitator at the time and our enrollment was 867. The baseline for our school was 69% upon implementation. At the end of our first year, we improved to 87%. I attribute this success to the support and training that the teachers, administrators, and facilitators received through professional development, classroom visits, and leadership training from SFA. Suddenly, our teachers became facilitators of learning and our reading time became a non-negotiable, “sacred” block. Our teachers were making data-driven decisions about instruction. Students’ were being taught on their instructional levels. Our active parents became more involved as we educated them on how best to help their child/children at home. Community volunteers had a schedule and were assigned groups to tutor either weekly or bi-weekly.
Our school was swiftly and successfully moving into our third year of implementation with 98% of our kindergarteners and first graders reading on or above level when six feet of Hurricane Katrina flood waters drowned our dreams. School was closed for the remainder of the 2005−06 term while a core group of us worked diligently to recreate Hynes as a public charter school. We won approval in April 2006, and we quickly began to convert our project into our school. We had no building, no books, no furniture, no school supplies, no students, and no staff. However, through the “powers that be,” we found a location, ordered supplies, recruited students, and hired staff. On August 14, 2006, Hynes Charter School opened its doors with a determination to succeed! We knew that a key to our success would be a successful reading program. We actively solicited donors to assist us with materials. Through Title I monies, some general fund monies, and donations, we were able to replace our program and jump right back in the saddle with SFA.
We are currently in the second year of reimplementation. We are committed to our students and owe them a successful chance in life by preparing them to be lovers of literacy. We currently use Curiosity Corner, KinderCorner, Reading Roots 3rd Edition, and Targeted Treasure Hunts. During summer 2007, our middle school teachers received training in the Reading Edge model and have successfully begun to implement that module this year. At Hynes, we could not imagine educating our students without the support of Success for All.
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