ESI Updates

  ESI Update Week of April 7     Principals and ESI Team Members, This week, Research Alliance released “Promising Opportunities for Black and Latino Young Men: Findings from the Early Implementation of the Expanded Success Initiative.” The report examines challenges schools experienced during Year 1 of the Initiative, as well as changes in school practice that hold promise for reaching ESI’s goals. Once again we thank schools for opening their doors to work with Research Alliance and their research team as we all, as a community, continue to investigate, strategize, and implement what we are learning. Please note, the ESI Update will not be published while Read More >

View this email in your browser     Save The Date Join us on June 12th for the 3rd Annual ESI Symposium! Where: Brooklyn Law School Subotnik Center – 10th Floor 250 Joralemon Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 Doors open at 3:45 p.m. Refreshments will be served. More details to come!  

ESI Update Week of March 31   Principals and ESI Team Members, Recently, administrators from ESI schools participated in panel discussions around improving outcomes for Black and Latino young men and the academic programming that will help ensure that they graduate college and career ready. At Expanding the Success of Black and Latino Young Men, a panel discussion held by the CUNY Institute for Education Policy at Hunter College, Shawn Dove (Campaign for Black Male Achievement – Open Society Foundations), Adriana Villavicencio (from ESI’s external evaluator, Research Alliance) and Michael Prayor (ESI principal at Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology) spoke to Read More >

    ESI Update Week of March 24   Principals and ESI Team Members, We continue to see exciting strategies being implemented across ESI schools. Last week Urban Assembly for Careers in Sports and Science Genius were in the news. (Click here to see the news video on Urban Assembly and Science Genius.) Science Genius is an exciting program that infuses hip hop, which is part of the culture of many of our ESI young men, into science classes. This year, ESI partnered with the creators behind the program, Dr. Chris Emdin, Professor at Teachers College, and GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. Science Genius is the Read More >

    ESI Update Week of March 10   Dear Principals, ESI Liaisons, and ESI team members, At the Liaison and Leadership meetings in January and February, we posed the question, “Where do we go from here?” Already we’ve seen some schools respond enthusiastically to that question, bringing together important stakeholders in their respective school communities to think and plan, not just for the next year and a half of ESI but beyond. The ESI Team will be visiting schools over the next couple months to support this important work and to assist schools as they finalize their summer and Year Three plans. We urge schools to Read More >

    ESI Update Week of March 3   Principals and ESI Team Members, Last week, President Obama announced “My Brother’s Keeper”, an initiative that will bring together businesses, elected officials, faith-based organizations, municipalities, philanthropic institutions, and communities to combat the numerous challenges that Black and Latino boys and young men face in this country. As the President said, “The group that is facing some of the most severe challenges in 21st century America is boys and young men of color…I believe the continuing struggles of so many boys and young men, the fact that too many of them are Read More >

    ESI Update Week of February 24   Welcome back Principals and ESI Team Members! On Thursday, February 27th there will be an ESI Young Men’s Gathering at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at 515 Malcolm X Blvd in the Langston Hughes Theater from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. It’s Halftime will provide the “Let’s Talk About Money” seminar to our young men. Based on the ESPN award winning “30 for 30” documentary Broke, founder and president Leonard Adams, who was born in Queensbridge public houses, one of NYC’s poorest neighborhoods, will lead an interactive discussion with the young men and Read More >

    ESI Update Week of February 10   Hello Principals and ESI Team members, During the last couple weeks, the ESI Team has met with ESI Liaisons, Principals, and Assistant Principals and we’ve heard some great stories about strategies and practices that are being implemented to increase the number of Black and Latino young men who will graduate ready to succeed in college and their career path. We’re excited and looking forward to see what the second half of the school year will bring! We also want to inform readers that we will not publish an Update for the week of February Read More >

    ESI Update Week of February 3   Hello, Principals and ESI Team Members! Last week, during the State of the Union speech, President Obama stated, “We’re working to redesign high schools and partner them with colleges and employers that offer the real-world education and hands-on training that can lead directly to a job and career…to help young men of color facing tough odds stay on track and reach their full potential.” While President Obama did not spotlight particular ESI schools by name, we know that this historical and difficult work is taking place in your schools. Thank you for Read More >

    ESI Update Week of January 27   Principals and ESI Team Members, This past week, schools were busy administering Regents Exams to students, an important benchmark for college and career readiness. As we’ve arrived at this important milestone marked by the midpoint of the academic year, we’ve also reached another important milestone: the midway point of the Expanded Success Initiative. At this important milestone in our critical work of supporting the achievement of our Black and Latino young men, we ask you to engage with your school community to think about where we go from here. In this issue you will find the following features: Opportunities: Using Read More >

    ESI Update Week of January 20 In this issue you will find the following features: News and Updates: Leadership Meeting Opportunities: Digital Ready Application, Using PSAT/NMSQT Data Workshop, Black College Tour School Spotlight: The School for Human Rights Did You Know? Students Conduct Their Own Groundbreaking Research About Learning The Halls of ESI Schools: Channel View School for Research Shout Outs: Academy for Young Writers and East Side Community School News and Updates *This feature is intended to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in ESI.    Leadership Meeting February 11 *Please note the change in date.* The next Leadership Meeting, Read More >

    ESI Update Week of January 13   Principals and ESI Team Members, Next week Monday schools will be closed to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Throughout this week’s update there are a number of his quotations, but as an ESI community we are reminded of his famous quote about education, “Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” The work that we are doing in ESI is historical and it is a continuation of the selfless and sacrificing work that Dr. King started over 50 years ago. The ESI Read More >