With National Principals Month having recently come to a close, NYCLA is thrilled to celebrate our graduates who have built upon their NYCLA experiences by articulating and executing their visions and who are improving outcomes and increasing opportunities for their students. Most recently, three graduates of our New York City Aspiring Principals Program received public recognition for their drive and dedication to student learning:
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- Bronx Arena High School, an alternative high school led by Aspiring Principals Program graduate Ty Cesene that serves nearly 200 students, was recently praised by PBS Newshour for its blended learning approach to instruction. Custom classrooms leverage technology to keep students engaged and helps at-risk students learn at their own pace. Ty’s implementation of this innovative solution is improving student outcomes.
- P.S. 197, the John B. Russwurm School in Manhattan, led by Aspiring Principals Program graduate Natasha Spann and serving 324 students, has become the first public school in America to join the exclusive international Self-Organized Learning Environments (SOLE) initiative created as a School in the Cloud by Sugata Mitra. SOLE is a child-driven learning environment, where children embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. Through this partnership, Natasha is exposing her students to a groundbreaking learning opportunity intended to spark creativity and boost learning outcomes.
- P.S. 013, the Roberto Clemente School in Brooklyn, led by Aspiring Principals Program graduate Maxine Cameron and her Teaming Model partner Latishia Towles, received a $100,000 grant from the Lang Lang International Foundation to build and staff a new music room fully stocked with pianos and other resources. The recent Ribbon Cutting Ceremony marks the first time in six years that the school will have a music program. This grant reflects Maxine and Latishia’s commitment to creating equity and opportunity for their students and setting the conditions that will result in student achievement.
We are proud to see our graduates implementing innovative solutions to improve teaching and learning in New York City public schools. As NYCLA expands our New York City Alumni Network through generous funding from the Booth Ferris Foundation, we will showcase the innovations and achievements of our graduates to their colleagues. We will explore promising practices with our network of 538 APP graduates and more than 1,600 coached principals and distribute mini grants to provide principals and district leaders with the support they need to effectively educate the city’s boys and young men of color.