Oasis Press Information
Focus on students' needs pays dividends at Brooklyn's Public School 335
Tuesday, June 2nd 2009, 8:49 AM
Egan-Chin/News
Twin sisters Keaona (l.) & Keria Gray are in the 4th grade at PS 335 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where they attend an after-school program that is credited with the school's success on state exams.
Every four weeks, teachers and administrators from Public School 335 in Crown Heights sit down to discuss what each child needs, Principal Laverne Nimmons says.
That relentless focus on improvement has paid off.
The Brooklyn elementary school leads the pack of schools, including one previously slated to close, that have posted consistent improvements on the fourth-grade math exam since 2006.
"We've worked so hard to get to this point and we realize we have to work hard to stay on this level," said Nimmons, who has headed the school for six years. More than 97% of the 429 students are black or Hispanic, and roughly the same percentage qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Administrators also credit their OASIS after-school program, which opened four years ago, and where kids also get to have fun - with robotics, chess club, music and fine arts.
"Yes, we did," said Assistant Principal Betty Davis, slightly modifying the Obama campaign slogan.
She noted the school encourages its teachers to steadily improve, too, with "Learning Walks" where they observe and evaluate one another in action.
At PS 241 in Harlem, among the top 25 consistently improving schools, the fourth-grade average on the math exam went from failing to passing in the last year.
Parents and the teachers union sued to block education officials from closing the school. Department of Education spokesman Andy Jacob defended the original decision to close the school.
"We were looking at a long record of the school failing its kids," he said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/06/02/2009-06-02_focus_on_students_needs_pays_dividends_at_brooklyns_public_school_335_.html#ixzz0HIcfAeKk&B
Recent Press Releases
State Sen. John Sampson (D-BK) $7,500; 2. State Sen. Eric Adams (D-BK) $10,000; 3. State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Man.) $10,000; 4. State Sen. Daniel Squadron (D-Man.) $2,500; 5. State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D-BK) $10,000; 6. Assemblyman Micah Kellner (D-Man.) $2,500; 7. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Man) $5000; 8. Councilmember Erik Dilan (D-BK) $10,000; 9. Councilmember Rosie Mendez (D-Man.) $3,500; and 10. Councilmember Oliver Koppell (D-BX) $5,000. The Oasis family thanks each of these wonderful public servants for responding to the organization’s fiscal needs and programmatic requests by providing a combined total of $66,000, and we look forward to having all of them visit the after-school programs in their respective districts this upcoming school year.
Grants
The New York State Department of Education awarded Oasis with over $1.1 million of new funding to operate 5 new 21st Century Community Learning Center after-school programs at P.S. 191 (Manhattan), P.S. 145 (Manhattan), P.S. 208 (Manhattan), P.S. 127 (Queens), and P.S. 332 (Brooklyn).
The National Grid Foundation has donated over 75 Dell Desktop computers to our after-school programs.
The Charles Hayden Foundation awarded the Oasis Community Corporation a $75,000.00 grant for its programmatic needs.
The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation awarded the Oasis Community Corporation a $8,900.00 grant for its Lego Robotics Engineering Program and the Kidz Lit Program.
The Deutsche Bank Foundation awarded the Oasis Community Corporation a $5,000.00 grant for its general opereating support.
The Pinkerton Foundation awarded Oasis a $35,000 grant to expand our Lego Robotics Engineering classes and implement the KidzLit Literacy Curriculum in our after-school program at P.S. 332 in Brooklyn.
The The Robert Bowne Foundation awarded the Oasis Community Corporation a $30,000.00 grant for programmatic support.
The Independence Community Foundation awarded the Oasis Community Corporation a $10,000.00 grant to implement a comprehensive literacy curriculum and to expand the Lego Robotics Computer Program at P.S. 335.
|
Who We Are