The Fordham Foundation is excited to announce that as of July 1 we have three new schools in our sponsorship portfolio. DECA PREP, Columbus Collegiate Academy – West, and Village Preparatory School::Woodland Hills Campus are all now part of Fordham’s sponsorship efforts. These three schools join eight others that we already sponsor, bringing the total to eleven schools throughout the state of Ohio. All three of these schools stem from other high-performing schools, and we have full confidence that they will provide a great education to youngsters in Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland.
Here is a quick look at each of the new schools.
DECA PREP - Dayton, Ohio
DECA PREP will open this fall as a new K-6 school in Dayton designed to immerse first-generation college-goers into a rigorous and structured elementary academic setting to ensure that they will be successful in high school and college. DECA PREP will incorporate components of the academic model of its sister school, the highly successful Dayton Early College Academy (DECA), which serves grades 7-12 in Dayton and has produced tremendous results over the years. In 2010-11 DECA received an Excellent with Distinction designation from the Ohio Department of Education (the highest possible rating) and it continually outperforms Dayton Public Schools. For example, the graph below demonstrates DECA’s performance compared to Dayton Public Schools in tent- grade math proficiency in 2010-11.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
DECA Prep will serve grades K, 1, 2, and 6 in its inaugural year and add grades until it serves K-6 in the 2015-16 school year. Demand for DECA PREP has been tremendous, and school leaders are excited to open the doors this fall. As Superintendent Judy Hennessey stated, “This new elementary school is a dream come true. We firmly believe that we can help build a college-going culture around our youngest learners and ground them in strong reading and math literacy skills. Parents who live within the city of Dayton can choose a K-12 school program that is singularly focused on preparing students for eventual college graduation.”
DECA PREP will be led by Diane Blackburn who is an experienced educator and who served as principal in several Ohio schools. To learn more about DECA PREP visit its website.
Columbus Collegiate Academy -West- Columbus, Ohio
CCA West will open this fall on the west side of Columbus as a replication of the successful Columbus Collegiate Academy Main campus, which is located just east of downtown Columbus. Like CCA Main, CCA West will serve grades 6-8. CCA West will also maintain high expectations for scholarship and behavior, and an achievement-oriented school culture to ensure all students are equipped to enter, succeed in, and graduate from the most demanding high schools and colleges.
CCA Main first opened its doors in 2008 and has `continually placed among the highest performing urban middle schools in the state. In 2011 CCA received an EPIC Gold-Gain School award for dramatic gains in student achievement, a tremendous accomplishment as only four charter schools in the country won the award in 2011. CCA Main continually outperforms the district in student achievement, as the graph below illustrates.
Source: Ohio Department of Education
CCA West will be run by Kathryn Anstaett, a former Teach For America corps member who had this to say about the new school, “Since opening, Columbus Collegiate Academy has been serving students primarily on the east and north sides of Columbus. I am thrilled to be opening our second campus and bringing this opportunity to students and families on the west side as well.” Founder and Executive Director Andrew Boy also expressed his excitement about CCA West, “We’re enormously proud of our accomplishments and we look forward to replicating the success of our flagship school on the west side of Columbus. Strong educational options for all students can be realized with the right mission and the right commitment.” We at Fordham also have little doubt that, like CCA Main, CCA West will be a successful school and a great addition to the Columbus charter community. To learn more about both CCA schools, go here.
Village Preparatory School::Woodland Hills Campus - Cleveland, Ohio
The Fordham Foundation is extremely excited to announce our new partnership with the nationally recognized network of Breakthrough Schools. Village Preparatory School::Woodland Hills Campus (VPWH) is a K-4 school and the latest school to join the Breakthrough network (joining six other successful charter schools in Cleveland).
VPWH will provide a highly structured environment that engages students, a school culture that emphasizes academic rigor and clear expectations, ongoing assessments to determine mastery, character development, and an extended day and extended year. Breakthrough Schools have already had tremendous success in educating children in the Cleveland area. E-Prep Woodland Hills, a 6-7 Breakthrough school, outperformed the district by nearly 20 percentage points in sixth-grade math in the 2010-11 school year (see below).
Source: Ohio Department of Education
Village Preparatory School::Woodland Hills Campus will be led by Chad Webb, who summarized his excitement about the new school with the following statement, “Visitors will quickly see that our teachers are passionate and committed to our mission, and every minute is used to the fullest. With two highly qualified teachers in each classroom, we focus on literacy and numeracy instruction to build a strong foundation for future success. Although young, our scholars are held to high behavioral and academic standards, and each scholar understands that they attend school with college as their long-term goal.” Visit www.breakthroughschools.org for additional information.
