This Day in History: September 29

-The United States Department of War first established a regular army with a force of several hundred men, 1789

-John D. Rockefeller becomes the second billionaire, 1916

-The first live sporting event seen coast-to-coast in the United States,  a college football game between Duke and the University of Pittsburgh, is televised on NBC, 1951

-Oman joins the Arab League, 1971

-The Nintendo 64 gaming was released in North America, 1996

-Holiday: Inventor's Day (Argentina)

LSC 2011 Q & A: Charlie Gallo

Charlie Gallo, an attorney and North Shore Community College instructor, is seeking a first term on the Lynn School Committee. A longtime Lynn resident, Gallo attended Sacred Heart School, Sisson Elementary, and Pickering Middle School. After graduating from St. Mary's High School in 2001, he went on to earn both his Bachelor's and law degree from Suffolk University. Please see below for the answers to a few questions posed to Gallo regarding his candidacy for school committee.

What skills or qualifications do you think you would bring to the school committee?

Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words.

As an educator currently teaching at North Shore Community College, I will bring a practical basis for decision-making and debate on the School Committee.

As an attorney, I will use my legal training to be an advocate for our students and schools. School Committee members can be advocates in several ways – including for funding from city and state sources, but also for the students themselves. We must publicize the good that comes out of our schools, essentially advocating for our students’ reputation as they prepare for life beyond the classroom. I’ve already started to do this in a small way by posting positive newspaper stories about our students on the Charlie Gallo for Lynn School Committee Facebook page.

As a young person (28 years old), I will lead by example, showing that there is an opportunity to give back to the community and to our most important asset: our public schools, which will shape the future of our city. We have great history in Lynn. It is important to honor our past, as well as respect, learn from, and work with those who have spent all or much of their lives here. Still, we must recognize that one of the big problems that Lynn faces is that younger people are moving out faster than they are moving in. Many feel that they do not have an opportunity to have their voice heard, and they move out in their 20s and 30s.  I will provide leadership to help reverse that trend. 

What do you think are the top 3 issues that school committee needs to address? Do you have any thoughts/solutions to these issues?

•  Preparing for Life Outside the Classroom  We must prepare our students not only for the MCAS exam, but also ensure graduation and prepare them for life outside of the classroom. One way to accomplish this is by teaming up with local businesses, community leaders, and nonprofits. We should use the community as a resource to help our students learn about civics, personal finance, the arts, trades, and real-world life skills that too often fall outside of the formal curriculum. Expansion of the educational experience outside of the formal curriculum will keep students interested in continuing their education, while also preparing them for adulthood.

• Funding In this difficult economy, we should take advantage of all sources of funding rather than relying so heavily on property taxes, which can present financial difficulty to working families, too many of which are facing foreclosure. We should increase our investment in grant writing to ensure smaller class sizes, more teachers and staff, as well as improvements to our school buildings.

• Early Childhood Education  I commend the current School Committee for offering all day kindergarten, as well as pre-kindergarten in several schools. As a long-term goal, I hope to make quality, all-day pre-kindergarten available to every child in Lynn.

How do you think the school committee could be more transparent as far as meeting times, agendas, etc.?

I have long been an advocate for the televising of School Committee meetings.  This finally has been done in the last few months, and I would support continued televising of meetings.  Many people cannot attend meetings because of transportation issues, work schedules, or family commitments. For these and all people, the meetings should be rebroadcast at various time on various days. Televising meetings is important in and of itself, but really is about the bigger issue of open and honest government. This extends to being accessible to the public. If elected, I will return phone calls, respond to emails, and be available to meet face to face with parents and community members, so that they are able to be a meaningful part of the process.

Meeting agendas are made available online, which I support. 

Lynn residents look to the School Committee to address problems such as low MCAS scores and the dropout rate; do you think there is a limit to what the school committee in itself can do?

The School Committee is limited, particularly by the Education Reform Act of 1993. [Editor's note: For more information about the Ed Reform Act of 1993 see here]. As an attorney, however, I appreciate that in areas where the School Committee cannot act in its official capacity, members of the School Committee are in a position to advocate on behalf of our students, schools, and community. 

  

Anything else you would like to add about yourself?

I welcome input from the readers of this blog. Please feel free to email Charlie@CharlieGallo.com or call me at 781-592-9498 with your ideas, questions, comments, and concerns. I also invite you to check out www.CharlieGallo.com, find Charlie Gallo for Lynn School Committee on Facebook, and follow GalloForLynn on Twitter. Thank you for your time in reading this post.

*For another Q & A with Charlie Gallo, see - School Committee 2011 - Charlie Gallo

Children's Mental Health: Some Statistics

•  Mental health problems affect 1 in 5 young people at any given moment (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

• An estimated 66% of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

• Estimates put the number of children with mental disorders between 7.7 million and 12.8 million (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

• Approximately, 1% of adolescent girls develop anorexia nervosa. One in ten cases leads to death due to starvation, cardiac arrest or suicide (National Institute of Mental Health).

• Studies suggest that children or adolescents are more likely to have an anxiety disorder if their parents have anxiety disorders (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services). 

• ADHD is the most common psychiatric condition affecting children. Estimates in childhood prevalence rates range from 5 - 10% (Clinical Pediatrics).

• Recent studies show that, at any given time, 1 in 33 children may have clinical depression. The rate of depression among adolescents may be as high as 1 in 8 (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

• Almost one-third of 6 to 12 year old children diagnosed with major depression will develop bipolar disorder within a few years (Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry). 

• Of the 100,000 teenagers in juvenile detention, estimates indicate that 60% have behavioral, mental or emotional disorders (Department of Justice).

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 - 15 years olds (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry). 

• In 1999, more teenagers and young people died as a result of suicide than cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, birth defects, stroke and chronic lung disease combined (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

• Between 500,000 and 1 million young people attempt suicide each year (American Association of Suicidology).

Taken from: Mental Health America

A Q & A with KIPP Lynn Principal Anna Breen

KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) is a network of college preparatory charter schools first established in 1994 by Teach for America (TFA) alums Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin. It has been widely successful and is currently the largest network of charter schools in the United States with 30 elementary schools, 61 middle schools and 18 high schools enrolling over 32,000 students nationwide. KIPP schools are located in cities such as Austin, New Orleans, Denver and our very own Lynn, Massachusetts.

KIPP Lynn (KAL) was established in 2004 and currently serves grades 5-9, but will serves grades 5-12 in the year 2014 after its expansion has been completed. Just over 84% of the student body are ethnic minorities (African American, Hispanic, Asian) and 88.9% are low income. In terms of standardized testing (the MCAS), the school has done well with 65% of its students achieving proficient or higher in English and 56% achieving proficient or better in the math on the Spring 2011 exam. For more specific results and a comparison to other Lynn public middle schools, see here, here, and here.

The following is a Q & A with Anna Breen, principal of the KAL Middle School and a fellow Wellesley graduate ('96). After graduating from Wellesley with a degree in environmental science, Ms. Breen completed a two-year stint with TFA in New York City. She went on to teach English, math and science at a KIPP Academy in the Bronx for 5 years and then taught at a public school in Virginia before moving to Massachusetts in 2004 to help establish KAL as a 5th grade math teacher. Ms. Breen, who currently lives in Lynn with her family, was promoted to Assistant Principal in 2006 and recently took on the role of Principal of KAL. She was gracious enough to answer a few questions about KAL, the charter/public school comparison and education in general.

Why do you think having a charter school like KIPP is beneficial to the city of Lynn?

Breen: The mission of KIPP is to help students graduate from college who, under normal circumstances, would not have that opportunity.  Students of color from places like Lynn graduate from college at an 8% rate.  We intend to do much better than that with our students.  One child going to college has a positive effect on the entire family, and if enough students from KIPP graduate from college, I believe we can transform this community.  If you look at the biggest struggles facing Lynn, gangs, drugs, and violence, I believe education is the best way to address them.

What, in your opinion, are the top three attributes/school policies that makes KIPP successful?

Breen: The most important thing that makes us successful is our excellent teachers.  Our teachers work extremely hard, constantly learn, and are willing to do whatever it takes to help students succeed.  A second important factor in our success is extra time.  During the school year, our students spend 50% more time in school than their counterparts in Lynn public schools.  Extra practice leads to more success.  A third factor is our family involvement.  We view parents as our partners and do whatever we can to help them be involved, including night-time parent classes.

KIPP tends to do well on standardized test scores like the MCAS. Is testing the main focus of a KIPP education?

Breen: Absolutely not.  The main focus of a KIPP education is college readiness.  We believe, however, that excellent teaching produces excellent test scores, and that our test scores reflect knowledge that our students possess.

Do you think that it's appropriate or even fair to compare KIPP's test results to other Lynn middle schools like Marshall or Breed? Why or why not?

Breen: Yes and no.  KIPP's test scores can be compared to those of Lynn public schools because we are working with the same population, and I believe that our test scores show that students from Lynn, especially poor students and students of color, can be successful.  At the same time, I think that the beauty of charter schools is the ability to innovate and use whatever methods we choose, and only be held accountable for our results.  The public schools do not have that luxury and are much more bound by traditional rules and methods.  Furthermore, public school principals do not have the power to lead and to hire and fire as I and other KIPP principals do.  So since public schools have limitations that we do not have, they may feel it is unfair to compare our results to theirs.

Do you think it would ever be possible to replicate KIPP's success in other Lynn public schools without converting to charters?

Breen: I think many of the methods we use could be replicated in Lynn public schools.  For example, many public schools have already adopted an extended day and year, to give students more time learning.  Our high behavioral standards, rewards and consequences, and teaching techniques could all be used by any school.  At the same time, as I discussed in my previous answer, it is a lot harder for public schools to make changes, and at the end of the day, I believe that for a principal to be effective, he/she must be able to hire, fire, and train his/her teachers.

 It seems that KIPP puts a lot of the responsibility for student success on teachers.  How much ownership should students have in their own success and achievement?

Breen: Ultimately a student will be most successful if all three partners (staff, parents, and student) are working together.  At the same time, we are a public school and do not see our mission as only educating the most motivated students, so teachers are responsible for finding ways to engage the students.

 Anything else you would like to add?

Breen: I would like to say that I have the greatest respect for anyone involved in educating the students of Lynn.  Instead of focusing on differences between KIPP and Lynn public schools, I wish more attention would be paid to the differences in resources between Lynn students and students from the neighboring, more affluent communities like Marblehead and Swampscott.  Let's focus on the institutionalized racism and class system that got us to this point where so few students from communities like Lynn have a chance to be successful.  At KIPP we can change the community by helping our students to and through college, but ultimately all students should have the opportunity to have an excellent education, and that's not how it works in this country right now.

For more information a KAL: www.kipplynn.org

For more information about the KIPP network: www.kipp.org

Lynn & the MCAS 2011: Part V

Below is a comparison of the percentage of students who achieved proficient or better on the math MCAS by school for the years 2008 - 2011.

Math

	2008	2009	2010	2011
Aborn	64	56	63	69
Brickett	48	42	50	41
Callahan	45	44	49	44
Cobbet	26	23	31	33
Connery	25	24	19	31
Drewicz	31	29	46	50
Ford	46	42	36	41
Harrington	20	11	21	35
Hood	29	29	37	43
Ingalls	39	35	31	44
Lincoln-Thomson	65	62	68	63
Lynn Woods	23	54	38	40
Sewell Anderson	55	47	41	39
Shoemaker	68	62	58	52
Sisson	73	68	68	74
Tracy	44	51	57	50
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Breed	32	30	34	32
KIPP	72	75	63	56
Marshall	21	22	24	21
Pickering	48	43	44	50
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Lynn Classical	62	59	68	68
Lynn English	75	74	70	66
Lynn Tech	32	35	38	34

All Data Taken from: www.doe.mass.edu

Lynn & the MCAS 2011: Part IV

Below is a comparison of the percentage of students who achieved proficient or better on the English MCAS by school for the years 2008 - 2011.

English

	2008	2009	2010	2011
Aborn	52	59	58	69
Brickett	40	59	56	53
Callahan	43	40	45	46
Cobbet	24	19	31	29
Connery	18	11	17	29
Drewicz	25	28	38	45
Ford	58	54	40	41
Harrington	19	16	21	35
Hood	35	31	37	44
Ingalls	24	31	27	36
Lincoln-Thomson	55	59	53	62
Lynn Woods	46	63	47	50
Sewell Anderson	51	45	48	44
Shoemaker	60	55	55	58
Sisson	76	73	75	72
Tracy	20	45	44	42
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Breed	52	52	51	55
KIPP	64	68	67	65
Marshall	43	43	49	47
Pickering	71	64	65	64
	2008	2009	2010	2011
Lynn Classical	59	68	68	78
Lynn English	69	75	74	74
Lynn Tech	40	46	51	53

All Data Taken from: www.doe.mass.edu