2007 Bridge Builders

2006-07 MetLife Foundation Bridge Builders Grant Recipients

A. Maceo Walker Middle School–Memphis, TN
A. Maceo Walker Middle School serves 977 students in an urban community. Their proposed project will focus on helping students to make the transition from elementary to middle school through the creation of a student advisory program. It will comprise various activities, including student training and development of students-as-leaders within the school environment, students as mentors, and implementation of a student council. Students will elect grade level representatives to serve as their student advisory council. Elected students will participate in a weekend retreat where they will learn positive teambuilding strategies and valuable leadership skills to incorporate into their advisory council sessions. A student advisory period will be included into the school day to allow student advisors to serve as peer mentors.
School Contact: Tonye McBride, Principal
Phone: 901-416-1030

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Benjamin Banneker High School–College Park, GA
Benjamin Banneker High School serves a diverse population of 1,324 students. To ease the transition of ninth grade students from three middle schools, Banneker High School has proposed a five-day summer institute called "Freshmen in Transition" (F.I.T.). Incoming ninth graders will be introduced to administrators, faculty, community leaders, and members of the mentor program and will participate in teambuilding exercises, concentrating on academic achievement, school pride, discipline, and goal setting. The institute will culminate with the distribution of fall schedules, round table discussions, and a Family Fun Day.
School Contact: Gregory Middleton, Principal
Phone: 770-969-3410

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Booker High School–Sarasota, FL
Booker High School is experiencing a gradual shift in student demographics and its 1,672 students represent increased neighborhood diversity. Booker hopes to implement "Link Crew," a high school transition program that welcomes freshmen and makes them feel comfortable. This year-long program will begin with a kick-off day event, during which trained Link Crew Leaders-current Booker juniors and seniors-interact with rising freshmen in cross cultural teambuilding sessions and other activities to prepare the new students for high school and help them to make positive choices. Link Crew Leaders take a leadership class during the year and keep close contact with freshmen through group activities.
School Contact: Jill Dorsett, Principal
Phone: 941-355-2967

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Brushton-Moira Central School–Brushton, NY
The 887 students attending Brushton-Moira Central School face many challenges that they hope to address with their proposed project, “Panther Kid”. This project will target the middle level—6th, 7th, and 8th grade students—and includes activities to smooth the transition toward high school success. The following six “bridges” will improve relationships within the school: orientation for rising middle level students and parents; 8th grade transition activities; parent connection projects; staff to student connection components; new teacher orientation and academy; and administration connection activities.
School Contact: Steven Grenville, Principal
Phone: 518-529-7324

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Chillicothe Middle School–Chillicothe, MO
Chillicothe Middle School serves 450 sixth through eighth grade students in a remote rural location. Their proposed Middle School Alternative Education program targets students whose needs are not being met in the traditional classroom, and its mission is to successfully educate them to high levels of academic performance. Through an engaging curriculum and enrichment activities that promote critical and creative thinking, program participants will participate in activities designed to develop responsible citizens, develop self-worth, and value lifelong habits of strong mental, emotional, and physical health.
School Contact: Bryan Prewitt, Principal
Phone: 660-646-1916

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DC Virgo Middle School–Wilmington, NC
Located in an urban setting, DC Virgo Middle School serves 365 students. The objectives of their proposed program, “Virgo’s Open Ideas &Communication Exchange” (VOICE), include developing a Student Advisory Panel to open the lines of communication between students and faculty, increasing academic success through support activities, and reducing student discipline referrals. They will meet these objectives through various activities, including additions to the curriculum, regular meetings with School Improvement Team (SIT) members, the production of a quarterly "Hear Our VOICE" newsletter, and Parent Nights.
School Contact: Megan Silvey, Principal
Phone: 910-251-6150

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East Wilkes Middle School–Ronda, NC
East Wilkes Middle School, located in a rural county, serves 441 sixth through eighth grade students. The administration has proposed the creation of "ALLSTARS" (Adolescents Learning Life Skills, Academics, and Success), an innovative program that assists at-risk middle school students. Based on the National Drop Out Prevention Center’s strategies for decreasing drop out rates, the ALLSTARS program identifies at-risk students, assesses their needs, provides them with mentoring and after school opportunities, and engages their parents in activities to better meet their own needs as well as those of their children.
School Contact: Cynthia Altemueller, Principal
Phone: 336-928-9800

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Edwards Middle School–Boston, MA
Edwards Middle School serves 470 students, many of whom come from families that are unable to speak English, a factor that severely limits the parental involvement in their children’s education. Their plan is to launch a Bilingual Parent Outreach project, which will involve the efforts of a Bilingual Parent Coordinator. The coordinator will break down the language barrier by providing Spanish translations of written school materials; phoning parents to deliver information and request conferences; and organizing culturally and linguistically appropriate events. The ultimate goal of increased parental involvement is for their children to improve academically.
School Contact: Mike Sabin, Principal
Phone: 617-635-8516

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El Monte High School–El Monte, CA
Located 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles, El Monte High School serves more than 2,100 students. Their proposed project, "Lion’s Pride," is designed to bring together school faculty, administration, students, families, and law enforcement representatives in a community beautification initiative. All participants will devote eight Saturdays to the clean-up efforts, working in mixed teams. The goal is to build a sense of student trust that follows when building strong and inclusive relationships with adults. It will also create a sense of community pride among recipients of the clean-up and the students, families, school officials, public servants, and police who participate in the clean-up.
School Contact: Joel Kyne, Principal
Phone: 626-444-7701

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Fillmore High School–Fillmore, CA
Fillmore High School serves 1,060 students in the exceptionally isolated agricultural communities of Fillmore and Piru. Despite many challenges, Fillmore has exceeded state academic targets by supporting a rigorous academic program. Their proposed mentor program, “Together We Do Better!,” will build a closer, supportive relationship among staff, community, students, parents, and the administration. The mentors, which include teachers, administrators, and community members, will be matched with students; they will meet weekly to discuss their goals and academic progress. Twice a year, mentors, mentees, parents, and an invited core subject teacher will meet to celebrate the students’ successes toward reaching their goals.
School Contact: Rebecca Larkin, Principal
Phone: 805-524-6100

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Florence Middle School–Florence, AL
Florence Middle School serves 650 seventh and eighth graders. To improve student achievement, they plan to launch the “Safe Harbor Society,” a year-long, schoolwide endeavor. The program will kick off at the end of the first grading period when students with grades of C or below will be identified and monitored for the rest of the year. Weekly progress reports will be sent home, and close contact will be kept with parents through program administrator phone calls and home visits, when warranted, by the principal. At the end of subsequent grading periods, students who have achieved a 10% increase in grades will participate in various celebratory events, culminating with their induction into the Safe Harbor Society.
School Contact: Bill Griffin, Principal
Phone: 256-768-3111

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High School for Service and Learning–Brooklyn, NY
The High School for Service and Learning is a second-year New Vision school serving 216 ninth and tenth graders. The firm belief that enhanced student-faculty interactions could improve the school climate led to their plan to implement a character education curriculum and provide staff with professional development to effectively deliver that curriculum. “Project Wisdom” will attempt to restore values and ethics through values clarification, situational ethics, and moral dilemma discussions to be infused across the curriculum. Key to the program is parental support to reinforce and expand the character lessons learned at school.
School Contact: Len Kassan, Principal
Phone: 718-564-2551

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Kelly Middle School–Eugene, OR
Kelly Middle School serves a school population of 529 students. Recognizing the importance of building relationships between the school and students, including their families, Kelly plans to launch a Summer Camp program to help rising fifth graders and their families’ transition to middle school before the beginning of the school year. Parents will learn about school communication, volunteer opportunities, behavior expectations, and will receive a “Welcome to Kelly Middle School” totebag filled with school supplies and informational materials. A follow-up cultural celebration event is planned for presentation in December by student mentoring groups.
School Contact: Tim Rochholz, Principal
Phone: 541-687-3224

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KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy–San Francisco, CA

A three-year old charter school serving 180 fifth, sixth, and seventh grade students, KIPP San Francisco Bay Academy has enjoyed strong community support of the school’s unwavering mission to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and character traits. To more deeply engage parents in the education process, several activities have been proposed for implementation. Home visits to all prospective and incoming fifth graders, and a "Commitment to Excellence" pledge will be signed. In addition, bimonthly Principal’s Meetings will be held to engage parents, and a Parent Action Team will be assembled to focus on outreach and fundraising activities. Finally, the "High School and Beyond" event will support 8th graders and their families as they make the transition to high school.
School Contact: Lydia Glassie, Principal
Phone: 415-440-4306

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Logan Middle School–La Crosse, WI
Logan Middle School serves 524 students living in a blue collar community. They plan to implement a variety of programs and services to positively impact its students and families. These programs include Jump Start, a week-long program to prepare transitioning 6th graders; After School Enrichment Classes, a program that allows students and teachers to know each other on a different level outside the classroom; Multi-Cultural Family Nights, opportunities to learn about minority cultures; and a Partnering With Parents For Student Achievement Speaker Series, a variety of presentations on important parenting and education issues.
School Contact: Troy Harcey, Principal
Phone: 608-789-7740

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The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center–Providence, RI
The Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, or "The Met," is a network of six urban high schools located in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, each serving 120 students. Although the Met’s groundbreaking internship approach to educating students has been very successful, the Peace Street campus of the Met seeks to improve the level of parental involvement to help boost student achievement. They plan to implement several activities to engage parents, including monthly workshops that address challenging issues; volunteer opportunities; a parent support group; family outings and field trips; opportunities to visit their children’s internship sites; fundraising and other special events; and community resource fairs. They also plan to launch a parent newsletter with student and parent contributions.
School Contact: Charlie Plant, Principal
Phone: 401-752-3402

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Miami Springs Middle School–Miami Springs, FL
Miami Springs Middle School serves a very large multicultural population of 1,780 sixth through eighth grade students. The goal of their proposed project is to promote parental participation in their children’s education and reduce the anxiety that comes with transitioning to a new school. To that end, they will invite all incoming sixth graders—about 600—and their parents to come to school for a day of learning and family fun. Activities will include touring the school, participating in hands-on activities, playing learning games, meeting the teachers, reviewing safety issues with counselors and administrators, and electing a group of parents who will be responsible for keeping parents informed of and active in school activities.
School Contact: Gail Senita Quigley, Principal
Phone: 305-888-6457

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Midland Freshman High School–Midland, TX
Midland Freshman High School is a ninth grade only center with 815 students. To improve their students’ chances of success, they plan to launch a mentoring program called “Promoting and Assisting Student Success” (P.A.S.S.). Each of 60 mentors will have approximately 15 students whom they will meet with for 30 minutes every week so that all students will be accountable to an adult during the critical transition to high school. All students will be provided with academic planners to reinforce positive motivation and organization, and the school also plans to host regular Parent Involvement Nights to interact with their child’s mentor and become more involved in their child’s education.
School Contact: Elise Kail, Principal
Phone: 432-689-1211

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Mission High School–San Francisco, CA
Despite facing serious challenges, Mission High School, with a diverse population of 875 students, is determined to continue its recent improvement trend through personalizing the learning process. Recent grant funding has allowed them to restructure the school into smaller learning communities, and their hope is to add elements that will improve the school climate. They plan to hold recognition ceremonies to celebrate student achievement as well as host regular Family Nights to help students and their parents feel more connected to the school. Award ceremonies recognizing student participation in athletics and cocurricular activities as well as decision making events are also planned to help lead their students on the path to success.
School Contact: Kevin Truitt, Principal
Phone: 415-241-6240

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Noe Middle School–Louisville, KY
Noe Middle School’s student population is diverse in both culture and socioeconomic levels. While some of its nearly 1,300 students are enrolled in one of two magnet programs offered by the district, others attending Noe are simply zoned to do so. This has led to mixed results in building relationships and family engagement. To level the playing field, they plan to implement several activities, including a Summer Transition Program for at-risk neighborhood students; an Orientation Night for new students and their families; faculty introductory phone calls to each student at the beginning of the school year; administrative introductions to all students; Transition Nights for each grade level; and Family Reading Nights to increase literacy skills and involve families in the educational process.
School Contact: Kathleen Sayre, Principal
Phone: 502-485-8307

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Norview High School–Norfolk, VA
Norview High School is an urban school with nearly 1,800 students. In an effort to decrease the number of students repeating the ninth grade, they plan to launch a small learning community of 150 first-time freshmen called “Students Capturing Success Academy” to help them successfully transition from middle to high school. The Success Academy students will be enrolled in four core subjects taught by a cadre of teachers who are trained to build trusting relationships with students. The students will also take “Teen Leadership,” an elective course that teaches social skills, conflict resolution, anger management, character building, and more. The program will encourage academic support and provide regular recognition for student improvement and achievement.
School Contact: Marjorie Stealey, Principal
Phone: 757-852-4500

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Osborne High School–Marietta, GA
Osborne High School serves 1,700 students and has experienced a 310% increase in its Latino population in the past five years. To pull down the language and cultural barriers and pave the way to success for their Latino students, they plan to launch the Osborne Latino Achievement (OLA) Team. Through a partnership with the University of Georgia’s Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE) program, the OLA Team will begin its efforts by attending a Summer Institute where they will learn about Latino educational issues, assess the needs of Osborne Latino students, and develop an action plan to address those issues and matriculate successfully into the school culture. Two critical elements that have already been identified for implementation include research-based parenting programs and Latino Parent Nights.
School Contact: Steven Miletto, Principal
Phone: 770-437-5900

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Preparatory Academic Career and Technology School (PACTS)–Indianapolis, IN
The Preparatory Academic Career and Technology School (PACTS) is located in a large inner city district with a significant number of youth aged 16 or older who are still in middle school. PACTS, a dropout prevention initiative, provides those students, selected from several middle schools, the opportunity to successfully transition to high school by developing appropriate social skills and building positive relationships. PACTS plans to have all 75 students as well as their staff and administration to participate in a challenge education program offered by Indiana University. The program focuses on teambuilding, interpersonal skill development, and trust building, offering participants the chance to learn about team concepts, including group dynamics, motivation, conflict resolution, and member roles.
School Contact: Sondra Towne, Principal
Phone: 317-226-2160

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Patricia Roberts Harris Educational Center–Washington, DC
Patricia Roberts Harris Educational Center serves 779 students, more than half of whom are at the middle level. They plan to bridge the communication and performance gap of their at-risk middle level students through the creation of a Technology Tutoring/Homework Center. Students will use various software to develop and organize a newsletter to communicate Center news and student achievements; assist them with the core curriculum, develop excellent study skills, and improve test taking techniques; and develop research skills to complete class and homework assignments. They will also participate in a Computer Convention and attend an assembly with motivational speakers as well as an Awards/Student Recognition Assembly.
School Contact: Jeffrey Grant, Principal
Phone: 202-645-3490

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Rowan County Middle School–Morehead, KY
Rowan County Middle School is the sole middle school in a rural, largely agricultural area. Recognizing the impact of understanding student home life, the district implemented highly successful elementary student home visits prior to the school year. Rowan county Middle School wants to expand the home visits to middle level students, and the family-student-school partnerships will continue to grow stronger and improve student performance. These visits will make a huge difference in building stronger relationships between teachers, students, and parents. The improved communication and understanding will boost student achievement.
School Contact: Tresia Swain, Principal
Phone: 606-784-8911

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