Blackstone Academy Inc

THE MISSION OF BLACKSTONE ACADEMY IS TO BUILD A SMALL COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS AND LEADERS THAT FOSTERS INDEPENDENT INQUIRY, TEAMWORK, COMMUNICATION, AND PROBLEM SOLVING.

BLACKSTONE ACADEMY HAS COMPLETED ITS FIRST 20 YEARS AND HAS BECOME A LEADER IN SECONDARY EDUCATION PARTICULARLY AS MEASURED BY THE OUTCOMES OF ITS STUDENTS, (MOST OF WHOM ARE LOW INCOME AND NEARLY ALL OF WHOM REPRESENT FIRST GENERATION FAMILIES FROM PROVIDENCE, PAWTUCKET AND CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND). BLACKSTONE STUDENTS CONSISTENTLY HAVE HIGHER GRADUATION RATES, COLLEGE ATTAINMENT AND COLLEGE SUSTAINMENT RATES THAN THEIR DEMOGRAPHICALLY SIMILAR PEERS. DESPITE MANY OBSTACLES IN THEIR LIVES, BLACKSTONE STUDENTS SHOW STRENGTHS IN THEIR ACADEMICS AS WELL AS THEIR CIVIC CONTRIBUTIONS WHILE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. BLACKSTONE ACADEMY WAS SELECTED FOR PRESTIGIOUS AND RIGOROUS EDUCATIONAL GRANTS FUNDED THROUGH THE BARR FOUNDATION OF BOSTON FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS. WE WERE THE FIRST SCHOOL GRANT GIVEN IN RHODE ISLAND. OUR SCHOOL HAS MAINTAINED OUR MISSION AND CORE VALUES BUT THIS GRANT ALLOWS US TO LOOK AT WAYS WE CAN HAVE OUR STUDENTS SPEND EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT TIME LEARNING IN THE COMMUNITY, ENSURE THAT ALL OF OUR TEACHERS ARE ABLE TO INCORPORATE COMMUNITY-BASED LEARNING IN CORE SUBJECTS, AND PLAN THE TRANSFORMATION TO A FULLY PROFICIENCY BASED ASSESSMENT AND GRADUATION SYSTEM.BLACKSTONE HAS ALSO BEEN RECOGNIZED AS AN EFFECTIVE PLACE FOR ENGAGING STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOL BY GETTING THEM INTERESTED AND SKILLFUL IN SOLVING COMMUNITY PROBLEMS. THIS IS DONE BOTH THROUGH COURSEWORK AND REQUIRED ACTION PROJECTS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SCOTT SEIDER CHOSE BLACKSTONE ACADEMY AS ONE OF SEVEN SCHOOLS IN THE NORTHERN UNITED STATES TO STUDY AS PART OF A FIVE-YEAR RESEARCH PROJECT. BLACKSTONE WAS INITIALLY CHOSEN BECAUSE OF THE SUCCESSFUL STUDENT ACADEMIC OUTCOMES AND BECAUSE THERE IS EARLY EVIDENCE THAT THE SCHOOL'S FOCUS ON CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOOL CULTURE IS POSITIVELY AFFECTING THESE OUTCOMES. ADDITIONALLY, HEATHER RHEAUME, PHD. SOCIOLOGY RECENTLY COMPLETED A RESEARCH STUDY WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF BLACKSTONE'S SCHOOL CULTURE ON THE COGNITIVE AND NON-COGNITIVE OUTCOMES OF THE STUDENTS. A LETTER FROM DR. SEIDER STATED, "I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT BLACKSTONE ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL REPRESENTS AN EXEMPLAR SCHOOL THAT EDUCATORS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES WOULD BENEFIT FROM VISITING AND LEARNING FROM (AND WHOSE PRACTICES I PLAN TO SHARE IN A FUTURE BOOK ABOUT THIS CURRENT STUDY." INITIAL RESEARCH RESULTS SHOW THAT PROJECT WORK IN BLACKSTONE CLASSES AND COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS(CIPS) SHOULD BE UTILIZED BY OTHER SCHOOLS SEEKING TO ENGAGE STUDENTS. COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES FOR THE CLASS OF 2022 AND 2023 INCLUDED A NUMBER OF VERY COMPETITIVE COLLEGES INCLUDING AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, BROWN UNIVERSITY, BOSTON COLLEGE, BOSTON UNIVERSITY, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, CLARK UNIVERSITY, HARVARD COLLEGE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, PROVIDENCE COLLEGE, SMITH COLLEGE, WILLIAMS COLLEGE, WHEATON COLLEGE, AND YALE UNIVERSITY TO NAME A FEW. NEARLY ALL MEMBERS OF THE GRADUATING CLASS WERE FIRST IN THEIR FAMILY TO ATTEND COLLEGE AND AT LEAST 80% PLANNED TO ENROLL IN A FOUR-YEAR COLLEGE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING GRADUATION. SOME STUDENTS WILL ATTEND THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF RI FOR TWO YEARS AS ALL STUDENTS IN RHODE ISLAND ARE NOW GIVEN FREE TUITION FOR THE FIRST TWO YEARS THERE. MOST STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES DUE TO A COMBINATION OF MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS AND NEED-BASED AID. THE SPIRIT EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM SUPPORTS STUDENTS FROM BLACKSTONE ACADEMY AND SURROUNDING SCHOOL DISTRICTS (PROVIDENCE, PAWTUCKET AND CENTRAL FALLS, RHODE ISLAND). THE SIX-WEEK SUMMER ENRICHMENT PROGRAM ENGAGED 115 STUDENTS, MOST OF WHO WERE TRANSITIONING FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL TO HIGH SCHOOL. STUDENTS ENGAGED IN A SIX-WEEK PROJECT BASED AND COMMUNITY CONNECTED SUMMER PROGRAM WHERE THEY ENGAGED WITH LOCAL EXPERTS AND DESIGNED AND CARRIED OUT SERVICE-LEARNING PROGRAMS. OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, FEDERAL ESSER FUNDS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE TWICE PER MONTH SATURDAY ACADEMY AND COLLEGE VISIT PROGRAM HOSTED AT LEAST 100 PARTICIPANTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. STUDENTS HAD A CHOICE OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT COLLEGE VISITS THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR. THIS THIRTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM HAD A SUMMER ATTENDANCE RATE OF MORE THAN 90% OF STUDENTS, ALL OF WHOM WERE THERE ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS. THE STUDENTS ENGAGED IN PROJECT-BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN THE COMMUNITY AND COMPLETED SUBSTANTIAL SERVICE-LEARNING PROJECTS. MORE THAN 80% OF THE STUDENTS REPORTED THAT SPIRIT HELPED THEM TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES, FORM POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADULTS AND RETURN TO SCHOOL WITH A POSITIVE OUTLOOK ON LEARNING.