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Congratulations Class of 2008!
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Dr. Arlene Ackerman

Philadelphia Charter School
Community Hosts Mixer and Welcome for
New Philadelphia School District CEO, Dr. Arlene Ackerman

On Wednesday, June 17, 2008, Young Scholars Charter School joined the Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools, Parents United for Charter Schools and leaders from Philadelphia area charter schools in welcoming Dr. Arlene Ackerman as the new CEO of the School District of Philadelphia.

Hosted by Math, Civics and Sciences Charter School, the mixer was led by Larry Jones, CEO, Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School and President, Pennsylvania Coalition of Charter Schools.

The Program included presentations by students from several charter schools, including Young Scholars Charter School. On behalf of the Philadelphia Charter School community, Project G.R.E.E.K. (an after school program at Young Scholars) performed for those gathered as their way to welcome Dr. Ackerman to Philadelphia.

Project G.R.E.E.K. was founded in the fall of 2005 at Young Scholars Charter School by the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Temple University and Shakira Smith (teacher and alumni advisor of the Temple University NPHC). The acronym G.R.E.E.K. stands for Geared and Ready to Educate and Enhance Kids. The goal of the program is to offer middle school boys and girls the opportunity to interact with collegiate and alumni members of historically black Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities, who serve as mentors and teachers through the art and discipline of stepping.

The gathering was a spirited event and a great opportunity to personally welcome Dr. Ackerman to Philadelphia. Young Scholars Charter School is excited about Dr. Ackerman’s passion for children in urban schools. Dr. Ackerman's proven record of raising student achievement and building effective partnerships with diverse communities makes her an excellent fit for her position of CEO of the School District of Philadelphia. We are confident she will continue her academic accomplishments with Philadelphia's students. Dr. Ackerman comes to Philadelphia with more than 30 years of experience in urban education. We’re pleased with Dr. Ackerman’s commitment to the children of Philadelphia and her understanding that “each decision she makes will be weighed against what is in the best interest of all students in Philadelphia.”

Dr. Ackerman’s Core Beliefs
(Message from the Superintendent of School, 6/2/08)
Dr. Ackerman describes these beliefs by saying they are “deeply held convictions that serve as buoy and beacon, clearly helping to define my decisions and behavior as your superintendent.”

Children come first. Each decision will be weighed against what is in the best interest of all students.
Parents are our partners. I will give to other people's children what I would want for my own.
Victory is in the classroom and facilitated by a strong instructional leader. Improving student achievement is directly linked to improving teaching and learning.
Leadership and accountability are the keys to success. Every adult in the district plays an important role in student outcomes and will be held accountable for those results.
It takes the engagement of the entire community to ensure the success of its public schools. Every adult in the community must assume responsibility for the success of our students.

Earth Day Photos

Young Scholars
Celebrates Earth Day

Fifty students, several parents and staff from Young Scholars Charter School joined Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhodes, LLP for the 2nd annual Partnership for the Parks on Saturday, April 26, 2008. Gathering on Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park, Young Scholars joined 50 others to plant some 30 new shrubs and trees. They also removed four dumpsters of debris that will be composted. Leaders from Fairmount Park educated those in attendance on the value of our work for the day. They instructed us how to use tools to remove exotic invasive plants and instructions on how to replace them with species native to Philadelphia. The Partnership for the Parks event closed a very active Earth Week for Young Scholars. Our hope is that our recognition of Earth Week will foster a lifetime of commitment to our natural resources.

State Representative Curtis Thomas visits Young Scholars

On Thursday, February 7th, The Honorable W. Curtis Thomas visited Young Scholars. During his visit, Representative Thomas spoke to individual homerooms, where students learned more about his responsibilities to his constituents and the ways in which they could get involved in their communities. He also shared his own journey and how education and getting involved in the community led to a career in politics. Thomas is the state representative for the 181st Legislative District which includes North and North Central Philadelphia, Northern Liberties, Hunting Park, Logan, Feltonville, Kensington, and Nicetown-Tioga. He was born and raised and continues to live, work and worship in the District. Thomas is the proud father of twin boys and guardian of two nieces. He attended public schools in the district, graduating from Edison High School. He received a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Temple University. He also received his Juris Doctorate from Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. Young Scholars is grateful to Representative Thomas for his leadership within our community and his commitment to our school.

Academic Success! Scholars Day 12.20.07

Referred to as one of the most fulfilling Scholars Day trips that Young Scholars has coordinated, 39 students, 3 teachers, and 1 board member took a trip to the Build-A-Bear Workshop in the Cherry Hill Mall (New Jersey) to make teddy bear gifts for the children at the YMCA daycare. Preparing students to attend and succeed academically in the best high schools and colleges is our primary objective and Scholars Day is a day to recognize student academic achievement. The workshop began at 10am and lasted for 2 hours. It consisted of each student selecting a bear and stuffing the bear (while playing a hot potato game that required the students who got caught with the hot potato to do silly tasks like jumping jacks, while naming the seven dwarfs). After stuffing the bears, the students “washed” the bears, selected outfits and dressed the bears (selections included shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, and/or other accessories). The final station is at a computer table where the students created birth certificates for the bears.

After leaving the Cherry Hill Mall, students headed to the YMCA daycare center across the street from our school. Throughout much of the day, students were making statements about wanting to keep their bears. They had become attached, and they did not want to give up the bears they built. However, upon entering the classrooms at the YMCA and seeing the faces of 1 ½ -3 year-old toddlers, our scholars were immediately willing to give their bears up for the smiles they received from the children in return. The students were saying, “Awwwwwww,” as they saw the children light up with joy when they received their own teddy bears. We took group pictures with the young children, said our final ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ and then headed back to school. The final piece of the day was a raffle. We only had 30 children to give bears to, which left us with 9 bears to raffle amongst our scholars. The students were very excited at the chance to bring a bear home.


Academic Success Photos

Helping neighbors at Bache-Martin Elementary School

Community Involvement at Young Scholars Charter School
Middle School students are eager to act on their developing sense of justice and community responsibility. Young Scholars’ mission to provide students with a foundation of life skills required to become productive members of their communities requires students and their families/guardians to complete service hours. These hours instill in the students the habit of engaging in community service, and exposes students to the need within their communities.

On Saturday, December 1, 2007 students, teachers and administrators from Young Scholars rolled up their sleeves and joined other community partners at Bach-Martin Elementary School, located in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia. The group worked hard and added the finishing touches to a newly renovated library, organizing new library books and preparing the room for the upcoming opening. Students and others also put their hands to work by cleaning and painting other areas of the school in preparation for other educational enhancements. By helping our local friends at Bache-Martin Elementary, Young Scholars are helping their neighbors and becoming community leaders.