proposal - kenilworth boys school

7/30/2019 Proposal - Kenilworth Boys School

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Alfred Jackson

4110 Meade Street, N.E.

Washington, D. C. 20019

[email protected]

202-724-4643

July 20, 2012

Kaya Henderson, Chancellor

DC Public Schools

1200 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Dear Chancellor Henderson;

I am a resident of Ward 7 in the District of Columbia and a product of the DC Public School

System. After graduating from Western High School, now Duke Ellington School of Arts, I

received my Bachelors Degree in Electronics Technology and was employed for 15 years at

C3/Telos Inc., a computer company in Northern Virginia. The last 6 years at the company I held

the position of Director of Manufacturing. Eventually, I was led by the Lord to leave C3 to do

something different. I did not know where my journey would lead me, but I became a substitute

teacher, and began subbing at Neval Thomas and Kenilworth at the end of SY94. I left a

successful career and started a new one in DCPS in 1995. I have worked my entire 17 years in

the school system at Kenilworth Elementary where I am currently the Business Manager and

Technology Coordinator.

Chancellor Henderson, during my tenure at Kenilworth there has been, to my knowledge, about

6 former students killed and five others shot; all African American males. The most recent

victim David Lee Robinson, 19 years old, was killed on January 8, 2012 for his Nike tennis

shoes. Immediately following the incident at a candlelight vigil, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray spoke

against gun violence in the city. We are losing too many of our young men who have the

potential to become lawyers, doctors, accountants, artists, etc. to street violence and murder.There are entirely too many in the judicial system and too many are dropping out because school

has become uninteresting and boring to them. It grieves me to my heart because I knew these

young men that were killed and I can mention many other young men that I have known whose

lives wereneedlessly destroyed. I am very concerned about this issue and the well being of ourboys/teens in the District of Columbia.

Chancellor Henderson, it has been a strong desire of mine to establish an all boys school within

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DCPS ever since I taught an all boys 4/5 combination class my first year at Kenilworth. The

experience I had with the boys was very rewarding and enlightening, it also revealed to me the

great need many at-risk inner city boys/teens face in the District. I cannot get away from this

idea because I believe that an all boys school within DCPS can have a positive impact in the

lives of the boys/teens in the District of Columbia and in the community.

This is my third attempt to request that DCPS establish an all boys school. The first request was

to former Superintendent Dr. Clifford Janey in 2006, the second to Michelle Rhee soon after she

became Chancellor. I am not giving up on this very important mission because I strongly believe

and am confident this school will make a difference in changing lives.

In 2004, a group of educators, parents, community leaders and corporate partners, led by the One

Hundred Black Men, Inc., opened the first Eagle Academy for Young Men in the South Bronxsection of New York City. Eagle Academy was designed and developed to educate at-risk inner

city young men. They now have a total of 3 Academies in New York City and a fourth Academy

will be opening in Newark, New Jersey in the fall of 2012. Chancellor Henderson I would like to

see the District follow in the steps of New York City by establishing an all boys school(s)

within DCPS.

Unlike New Yorks Eagle Academy that started at the High School Level, and now serves males

from grades 6 through 12, I believe we need to build a solid foundation; therefore, reaching our

boys at the elementary school level is critical. I would like to suggest that DCPS initially

establish a PS-5 Leadership Academy; then add grades, moving the Leadership Academy to a

PS-8 School and finally establishing an all boys Grade 9-12 high school. Ward 7 or Ward 8

would be the ideal location for the Leadership Academy due to its high population of at-risk

boys/teens.

I believe many parents and the community share my desire for a quality school(s) that will

engage, inspire and develop their sons. They want a school that is caring and supportive while

teaching the essential skills that are required to enter college, the workforce and become a

respectable member of the DC community.

The mission of the school will be to develop leaders who will use their education, skills and

talents to make a difference. We want to train students that will give back to their communities

in ways similar to the powerful example of the three doctors from Newark, New Jersey; who

made a pact to go to medical school while they were teens. Its not about obtaining a good career

just to acquire the American Dream, but using a career to positively affect the lives of others.

The Leadership Academy will use a holistic approach to education, reaching far beyond

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academic excellence.Students will be taught values and ethics through character building,leadership, and life skills education. Social issues that effect their lives will be addressed

extensively. Students of the Academy will learn who they are and what role they have in

effecting their world. Additionally, there will be a focus on respect, responsibility, and

accountability all while developing student gifts, talents and interests.

The teaching and learning process will consist of Hands-on Learning, Technology Integration,and Field Trips (learning outside the 4 walls), along with Differentiating Instruction, Multiple

Intelligence, and High Order Thinking Skills combined to ensure that students attending would

have an in-depth, successful and enjoyable learning experience.

Family, community and corporate partnerships will play an integral role in the success of the

Academy; therefore, much emphasis will be placed on parental and community involvement.

There will be parent workshops, parent collaborative sessions, and retreats where parents,

teachers and the community will work together to reinforce our objectives, strategize and

identify resources needed to build a successful school(s).

Chancellor Henderson I would like to share several initiatives I started at Kenilworth with boys

at our school. First, after the death of a former student who was killed in 2009 during a stolen car

chase, Bernard Wilson the PE Teacher and myself met with boys in grades 4-6 to talk to them

about making right choices. It is important to note that there were other former Kenilworth male

students in the car that night and their brothers were in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Wilson

came up with a title for the meeting Choose Life.

The meeting was successful but I wanted to do something more with the boys so the idea came to

me to have follow-up activities that would allow them to internalize further the importance of

making right choices. The Choose Life contest was the activity; the boys could write an

essay/poem, create a PSA, or write a song/rap. All participants performed at an assembly as a

culminating activity. Following the Choose Life contest, the United Black Funds I Love Life

and I Want to Live contest had started. Therefore I submitted student entries from our contest,

and surprisingly, several of our students were also winners in the I Love Life and I Want to

Live contest. We continue to participate in I Love Life and I Want to Live contest. This year

we submitted entries from grades 3-5 boys and girls. We had 1 st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in the

poster contest category (Grades 1-3), and 1st 2nd and 3rd place winners in the song/rap category

(Grades 4-6).

Second, at the beginning of SY10-11 I wanted to start the Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It, Give

It Programfor the boys in grades 4-5 at Kenilworth. The purpose of the program is to inspire

and motivate students through the use of documentaries, movies, and books about successful

African American Men. The objective is to counter the negative images they see in theirneighborhood, on TV, and in the musicindustry by providing them with positive images of

African American Men who overcame the odds and did not become a statistic. Additionally, we

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would invite guest speakers to talk to students and their parents.

The program was implemented, but not for the boys I had initially intended it for. As a result of

the Kenilworth Recreation Center being demolished. The Recreation Center was relocated to theschool. This resulted in many former students, now in middle and high school coming to the

school. Subsequently, they would come to the computer lab (my office) because the Recreation

Center did not have many activities for them. I started staying every night to about 6:00pm to let

them use the lab just to keep them occupied and out of the streets. They continued to come so Idecided to implement the Dream It, Believe It, Achieve It, Give It Programwith these students

on Fridays. We saw several Movies/Documentaries (The Pact, Gifted Hands, Pursuit of

Happiness, others), had discussions, career exploration activities, and was in the early stages ofputting together a video, but was unable to complete it because the school year had come to a

close. I believe this program could work in DCPS Middle Schools. I would like to see the

program implemented at Ron Brown, Kenilworths feeder school. Furthermore, I had a briefdiscussion about starting the program at Winston EC with Principal Katie Jones earlier in the

year, which agreed that the program would work at her school.

Chancellor Henderson please strongly consider creating a Leadership Academy within DCPS to

develop educated young men of purpose, vision, character, and courage. Let DCPS become a

leader in innovation and creativity in public school education. Staying the course is no longer an

option; our young boys/teens are depending on us to make a difference in their lives, it is truly a

matter of life and death.

During the recent Ward 7 State of the School meeting several community members asked about

the status of empty school buildings in Ward 7. Chancellor Henderson establishing the

Leadership Academy is a potential solution to solving your empty building problem.

I look forward to discussing this proposal with you in further detail at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely,

Alfred Jackson

Business Manager/Technology Coordinator

cc: The Honorable Vincent Gray

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Mayor District of Columbia

The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton,

Congresswoman, United States House of Representatives

The Honorable Marion Barry, Jr,

D.C. Councilmember, Ward 8

The Honorable Yvette Alexander,

D.C. Councilmember, Ward 7

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proposal - kenilworth boys school

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