Blackstone Academy Inc

THE MISSION OF BLACKSTONE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL IS TO BUILD A STRONG COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS AND LEADERS. IN A SMALL EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT THAT FOSTERS INDEPENDENT INQUIRY, TEAMWORK, AND COMMUNICATION, STUDENTS DEVELOP THE SKILLS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND USE THEIR VOICE IN WAYS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS IN THE ACADEMIC, SOCIAL, AND PROFESSIONAL ARENAS. STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH A PROCESS OF DISCOVERY, PRESENTATION, AND REFLECTION SHAPED BY ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT IN COMMUNITY LIFE. THIS LEARNING PROCESS BEGINS WITH THEMSELVES, MOVES FORWARD WITH AN EXPLORATION OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, AND ULTIMATELY INTEGRATES AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WIDER WORLD AS STUDENTS BECOME RESPONSIBLE, MOTIVATED, LIFE-LONG LEARNERS.

BLACKSTONE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL INC. INCLUDES A FREE PUBLIC SECONDARY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL AND AN EDUCATIONAL ENRICHMENT PROGRAM (SPIRIT) FOR STUDENTS FROM THE CITIES OF PROVIDENCE, PAWTUCKET, AND CENTRAL FALLS, RI. THE SCHOOL IS AUTHORIZED AND EVALUATED BY THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (RIDE). THE SCHOOL HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD OF EFFECTIVELY PREPARING STUDENTS STUDENTS TO REACH PROFICIENCY IN HIGH SCHOOL AND PREPARING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION DESPITE THE FACT THAT NEARLY 80% QUALIFY FOR FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH. RECENTLY PUBLISHED NATIONAL STUDENT CLEARINGHOUSE DATA INDICATES THAT NOT ONLY DO THE VAST MAJORITY OF BLACKSTONE GO TO COLLEGE, BUT MORE GO TO COLLEGE DIRECTLY FROM HIGH SCHOOL THAN HIGH INCOME STUDENTS STATEWIDE. DURING THE PAST FOUR SCHOOL YEARS, BLACKSTONE ACADEMY HAS BEEN PART OF A GRANT COHORT WITH THE BARR FOUNDATION WHICH IS FOCUSING ON HIGH SCHOOL REDESIGN WITH A FOCUS ON IMPROVING OUR ABILITY AS A SCHOOL COMMUNITY TO INTENSIFY OUR ALREADY STRONG PROGRAMMING IN UTILIZING THE WIDER ECOSYSTEM TO LEARN. A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THIS GRANT INCLUDES INVOLVING THE ENTIRE SCHOOL COMMUNITY IN THE WORK AND IN HAVING EACH DISCIPLINE AND ACTIVITY RELATED TO GRADUATION ALIGN OUR STANDARDS INTENSELY AND TO CREATE A SCHOOL WHERE TRUE PROFICIENCY BASED ASSESSMENT TAKES PLACE. THE BARR FOUNDATION HAS GIVEN US THE RESOURCES TO WORK WITH GREAT SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP AND OTHERS IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THIS WORK AND TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR PARENTS, STUDENTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO HAVE REAL INPUT IN ADDITION TO STAFF MEMBERS. MANY RESOURCES HAVE BEEN PUT INTO DOCUMENTING OUR PROGRESS AND SOLIDIFYING OUR SCHOOL MODEL BOTH FOR OUR OWN IMPROVEMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY AND FOR OTHER SCHOOLS AND DISTRICTS WHO WANT TO INCORPORATE ANY OF OUR SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES INTO THEIR SCHOOLS. OUR WEBSITE WWW.BLACKSTONEACADEMY.ORG HAS BEEN REDESIGNED AND THE FRONT PAGE NOW HOLDS EXCITING ONLINE BROCHURES AND PODCASTS THAT WERE PUT TOGETHER WITH THE HELP OF THE NEXT GENERATION LEARNING CHALLENGES AND DETAIL SOME OF OUR WORK IN A VERY PUBLIC WAY. WHILE COVID-19 KEPT OUR SCHOOL FROM BEING FULLY IN-PERSON FOR ABOUT FIFTEEN MONTHS, WE WERE ABLE TO OPERATE FULLY IN-PERSON DURING THE 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR. WE HAVE SPENT THE SCHOOL YEAR CONTINUALLY UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC ON OUR STUDENT'S MENTAL HEALTH AND ACADEMIC OUTCOMES. FORTUNATELY, FEDERAL FUNDS HAVE PROVIDED SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC FOR ADDITIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES, SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT. WEEKLY COVID-19 PCR TESTING AND RAPID TESTING AS NEEDED WERE SUPPORTED THROUGH IN-KIND STATE OF RHODE ISLAND SUPPORT. OUR AFTER SCHOOL AND SUMMER PROGRAM NEEDS ARE CURRENTLY BEING SUPPORTED THROUGH OUR FEDERAL ESSER GRANTS AND THISA WILL CONTINUE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR AS WELL. SOME OF OUR CAPITAL NEEDS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BE ADDRESSED AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO. THIS INCLUDES UPGRADES TO THE WINDOWS AND HVAC SYSTEM. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SUPPORT EXTRA SUBSTITUTES, TUTORS AND MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT STUDENTS WERE PHYSICALLY SAFE IN SCHOOL AND THAT WE WERE SUPPORTING THEIR MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS. WE FOCUSED ALL OF OUR INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISING EFFORTS ON THE NEEDS OF OUR FAMILIES DURING THE PANDEMIC AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS LED SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS TO RAISE SIGNIFICANT FUNDS THAT COULD BE DIRECTED TOWARDS NEEDS THAT HAVE CONTINUED TO ARISE. IN AS MUCH AS THE PANDEMIC NEGATIVELY IMPACTED AND DISRUPTED LEARNING, WE WERE PLEASED TO HAVE TWO YEARS OF COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES TO HIGHLY COMPETITIVE COLLEGES. THE CLASS OF 2021 AND 2022 FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE-GOING STUDENTS WERE ACCEPTED AND GIVEN SIGNIFICANT SCHOLARSHIPS TO HIGHLY COMPETITIVE COLLEGES THAT INCLUDE AMHERST COLLEGE,BENTLEY UNIVERSITY, BOSTON COLLEGE, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, HARVARD COLLEGE, MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE, MT. HOLYOKE COLLEGE, SMITH COLLEGE, AND VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY TO NAME A FEW. THE NATIONAL DATA CLEARINGHOUSE SHOWED DATA THAT REVEALED BLACKSTONE'S GRADUATING CLASS OF 2018 TO HAVE A HIGHER FOUR SECOND YEAR COLLEGE RETENTION RATE THAN MOST SUBURBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND. IN DECEMBER 2021, BLACKSTONE RECEIVED A THREE YEAR EXTENSION OF THEIR CHARTER. NO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO TAKE A STATE TEST FOR ONE YEAR AND THE STATE DATA WAS INCOMPLETE FOR THE SPRING OF 2020 SO THE CHARTER REVIEWS WERE INCOMPLETE. THE STATE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR OUR ACADEMIC PROGRESS AS ASSESSMENTS RESULTS BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS. ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF OUR FIVE YEAR REVIEW WERE ASSESSED AND THE SCHOOL MET ALL OF THE CRITERIA FOR A FIVE YEAR RENEWAL.