As 2010 draws to a close, let’s take a minute to reflect on our triumphs and challenges for the year:

• Started operating as our own 501c3
• Sent 95% of our 8th graders to college preparatory high schools and 98% of our seniors to 4 year colleges.
• Are looking to add full-time staff for the first time in many years
• Added new BT board members
• Revamped our website

In total, it has been a wonderful year and we look forward to 2011!

Happy holidays and all the best this holiday season,

Breakthrough New York

True to BTNY form, our BTNY’er Jillian has made her mark in her first days at Thacher as an official Blogger for the school.  I’ve included her remarks here.

Go Jillian–way to make yourself known!

This week, I had an opportunity to watch Waiting For Superman, the highly anticipated and highly controversial documentary about the state of American public education.

Firstly, it will come as no surprise to anyone with the most superficial interest in education that our system is broken.  This admission is difficult for me given that I am a product of public school and have a deep commitment liberal ideals of high-quality public education.  Yet, as an organization, we have certainly come to grips with the fact that the overwhelming majority of public high schools in New York are not preparing their students to go anywhere, let alone competitive four-year colleges.  Thus, we spend a disproportionate amount of time and resources to ensure that our students end up in the few public high schools that would be considered “college-preparatory.”

As the leadership of this organization, we engage in discussions constantly about “creaming” and whether what we do is democratic or fair.  What is absolutely shocking to me is that we would do anything other than whatever is necessary to ensure that our students attend the best schools available.  Period.

Overall, I find that our societal lack of outrage about this issue is outrageous.  That we could be so dismissive about the future of so many children (disproportionately low-income and of color) is shocking.  That we sacrifice the education of children at the altar of political maneuvering and job security for adults is shocking.

The truth is that until we take responsibility for treating other people’s children exactly the way that we would our own then we will not change the system.

http://www.sbalumni.org/events/event_details.asp?id=119057

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT: Middle School Director Breakthrough New York seeks to build the academic and leadership skills of high-potential middle school students with limited opportunities. Our model is unique in that all of our teachers are themselves high school and college students. We support our middle school students on their path to college and inspire our teacher interns to pursue careers in education.

About the Position:

The Middle School Director will be responsible for leading all middle school programming activities for the organization through a period of substantial growth and expansion of organization’s capacity. Working closely with the Senior Program Director and Executive Director , the Middle School Director will design and implement rigorous academic programming during the out of school time hours including after school and summer for our 60-90 middle school students. The middle school director will also aid with the development and training of all of Breakthrough New York’s pre-professional teaching corps as well as aid and eventually oversee both student and teacher recruitment for the middle school program. The Director reports directly to the Senior Program Director.

Responsibilities include:

Recruit, select and manage part time staff including pre-professional teaching corps, professional teachers and other support staff to ensure high quality service delivery and rigorous academic programming

Aid in organization, development and implementation of scaleable services (i.e. curriculum development, student/staff recruitment, new program development)

Aid in revising student curricula and teacher training curricula with a focus on results and data driven instruction

Develop and maintain partnerships with local schools, teachers, principals and guidance counselors for student recruitment and selection.

Implement the day-to-day operations of the school-year and summer program for middle school students

Manage assessment and evaluation of program

Maintain a close working relationship with Breakthrough middle school students’ families consistently

Collect, maintain and analyze data about middle school students academic achievement and prepare interventions when needed

Collaborate with High School and Placement Director program for high school placement and high school transition programming

Maintain strong collegial relationships with Breakthrough Collaborative and other Breakthrough programs by attending professional development opportunities and seeking our work groups with colleagues.

Maintain strong working relationships with the faculty, and administration at host school

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will bring a minimum of 2+ years of teaching experience in New York City middle schools with a strong track record of student academic success. S/he will also have proven leadership, management and organizational skills, particularly while working within a fast-paced organization. Candidates will possess experience in designing, implementing rigorous curriculum and be familiar with data driven instruction as well as have a strong sense of classroom management and college going culture. Mentoring young teachers or experience with teacher training is preferred. Previous experience with Breakthrough is preferred.

Additional qualities include:

Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred

Passionate commitment to Breakthrough New York’s mission, vision and strategic plan. .

Intellectual agility and demonstrated ability to think strategically.

Articulate with proven ability to write effectively and speak persuasively.

An ability to listen to others and learn from their best ideas – a sense of inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity.

High professional standards with the ability to see big picture and manage practical details.

Ability to thrive in an environment that is characterized by significant growth and constant change.

High level of flexibility, creativity, enthusiasm, humor and entrepreneurial spirit

Compensation:

The salary for this position is commensurate with experience and expertise, plus competitive medical benefits and generous vacation leave.

To apply

Please email a resume and thoughtful cover letter with your required salary range, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position to msdirector@breakthroughnewyork.org. Please list your name in the SUBJECT LINE of your email and cut and paste your cover letter in the body of the email.

 

: Deadline:

Open until filled Breakthrough New York is an equal opportunity employer.

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The students have been divided into groups of five. Each group will stop at one destination. The different destinations include Morgan Stanley, Dubspot, Naked Communications, Metropolitan Real Estate Equity Management, Scojac, National Employment Law Project, and Goldman Sachs. The destinations range from law firms to music production companies.  Not only will the students see the work world in action but they will also see that what they are learning in school can be valuable and useful.

After all 82 students were accounted for the entire Breakthrough community gathered in the auditorium for a brief overall introduction. The young teacher automatically set the tone of the day with their two minute song/skits which brought smiles and laughs to students and staff members. After the students were assigned a family they took off to the classrooms to get oriented with their new family members.

Lunch was short but sweet. Jollai won the veggie eating award for eating not one, not two, but three plates of vegetables!  After lunch was cleaned up the students went back to the classrooms to finish up orientation and digest. However, shortly after digestion the cheering and excitement continued. The students used team work to get through the community building activities in the gymnasium. Together, students and teachers held hands and, without letting go, got the hula-hoop from one side of the human chain to the other.

 To wrap up the day the families learned their own family spirit cheers. Day one was an overall success and a perfect way to kick off the next six weeks.

If you would like to visit us this summer, please click on the link below to RSVP:

http://btnyvisitorsdays.eventbrite.com/

Cheers,

Rhea