Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools. - National Clearinghouse ...

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOLS AND SHARED FACILITIEScharters to learn from this powerfulprogram.Key architectural features. Theschool’s building, constructed in 1903,originally was a carriage factory.Stairways feature quotations urgingstudents to make the most of theirskills, talents, and energy. The buildinghouses several other businesses.Impact on students. Despite beingopen to a cross section of students,academy students score among thehighest on required statewide tests ofany Boston public school. In fact, thestudents score higher on these teststhan any school except a couple ofBoston public schools at which studentsmust score very well on an entranceexam to be admitted. APR hasgraduated 82 alumni, over 90% ofwhom are currently enrolled in publicand private 4-yr colleges and universities.The school also has an excellentrecord of retaining students, witha far lower mobility rate than mostBoston public schools.For more information. ContactSpencer Blasdale, Director, Academyof the Pacific Rim, 617-361-0050, OneWestinghouse Plaza, Hyde Park, Mass.02136; see www.pacrim.org.26a: Academy of the Pacific Rimshares space with several businessesin a former carriage factory that isover 100 years old. 26b: Studentsstudy martial arts to become morephysically fit and develop strongerself-discipline. 26c: Each teacher hasa desk with computer and phone,reflecting the school’s emphasis ontreating faculty as respected professionals.Amistad AcademyNew Haven, ConnecticutFounded in 1999 in New Haven,CT, Amistad Academy MiddleSchool has been so successfulthat New York City officials offered facilitiesand startup funds to help startsimilar schools in Brooklyn, NY.Amistad has recently replicated itsprogram in both New York andConnecticut, and has been featuredin a PBS documentary about howsome schools are closing theachievement gap between whiteand students of color. The school alsohas been cited in a New York TimesMagazine article about schools thatare closing the achievement gap.Ninety-eight percent of Amistad’sstudents are African American orHispanic, and 100% are chosen byblind lottery. Students entering thefifth grade are, on average, morethan two years behind grade level inreading and math. By the time thesestudents reach 8th grade, they areoutperforming the state average andmany white, affluent suburban schooldistricts. The school enrolls approximately270 students in grades 5-8,and the percentage of students qualifyingfor free or reduced lunch hasranged over time between 71 and 89percent. Amistad was namedConnecticut’s 2006 Title 1Distinguished School after posting thegreatest academic gains of any middleschool in the state. The school hasa substantial waiting list.Amistad is named for a ship thatwas the site of a slave revolt in the1800s, an incident that ended with27a27b27cthe slaves jailed in New Haven but ultimatelyfreed by the U.S. SupremeCourt. Amistad has three “overarchinggoals”:1. Academic Excellence: To acceleratethe learning of students so thatthey achieve academic breakthroughsin the skills that are necessaryfor success in high school, col-27