Alma del Mar 2018 Annual Report

DRIVEN.

Annual Report 2018

What makes Alma so successful?

To answer that, let’s zoom in on one teacher in one classroom. It’s early August, and Ms. Sousa, a veteran Alma teacher, is re-arranging the desks in her classroom to make sure that each seventh grade scholar will be able to see and hear each other when they’re discussing literature. Then she’s taping off three neat boxes in the corner of her whiteboard. Each box is marked with one of the Alma Habits: Responsibility, Consideration, Service. She practices the exact words she’ll use to introduce these habits as they apply to English class.

Scholars will be asked to rate themselves as a group in each habit after every period. Then she’s off to coach a small group of new teachers as they work their way through challenges in a simulated classroom.

With only two weeks until school starts, every moment of preparation counts.

Ms. Sousa, along with every teacher at Alma, knows that so much of our performance is determined before we’ve reached the first day of school. Before the first day we’ve recruited the best possible teachers, integrated them into a collaborative crew and given them effective, practice-based training. We’ve pored through data from the previous year and re-aligned our curriculum and instructional strategy accordingly. Our teachers have created detailed plans to ensure that scholars enter a highly demanding and highly supportive environment when they come to Alma.

Table of Contents Driven toward Results ............................................................................................................1 Driven to Succeed ...................................................................................................................5 Driven by Curiosity ...............................................................................................................11

We do all this because we’re driven. Driven to achieve our mission of putting every one of our scholars on the path to college. Driven toward real results for kids. Driven by a love of literature that turns reluctant readers into ravenous readers.

As driven as we are, at Alma we know that we aren’t really achieving our mission unless we put our scholars in the driver’s seat. When Ms. Sousa’s scholars start the year, they’ll be working harder than ever, producing research, writing and art work that’s stunning, insightful and real. The road to college is long and we’re not there yet. Thank you for supporting our scholars and being with us on the journey.

Driven to Serve .....................................................................................................................15 Driven toward Quality ........................................................................................................17

Executive Director

Board Chair

Board of Trustees Chris Arnold

Jan Baptist, Board Chair Mary Jean Blasdale Bronwen Cunningham David Eckert Gail Fortes Lucile Hicks Martha Kay Dr. John Polk Maria Rosario Bob Unger

DRIVEN...

ard results

We created Alma to be a game-changing school for kids from New Bedford.

The latest state MCAS results affirm that we are on our way toward that mission.

Alma’s passage rate on the MCAS significantly surpassed the state average in Math and nearly matched the state average in English.

ALMA DEL MAR VS. NEIGHBORING SUBURBS 60

Alma del Mar

% Exceeding/Meeting Expectations

50

State of MA Dartmouth

40

Fairhaven

30

New Bedford

Alma’s middle school scholars were the highest performing

20

students in the city

10

in both subjects.

0

ELA

Math

We’ve proven once again that New Bedford kids can achieve at the same level as kids anywhere. Alma scholars outperformed their more suburban peers in many grades and subject areas on the 2018 MCAS tests. Through their own hard work, our scholars are proving that effort determines success - not innate ability, luck, zip code, or family background.

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Annual Report 2018

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SPECIAL POPULATIONS % OF ENROLLMENT Alma del Mar

State of MA

HIGH NEEDS 72% 46% 0

20

40

60

80

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 22% 17% 0

5

10

15

20

25

Intentional Diversity As our school community has grown, so has our population of English Language Learners (ELLs). This has happened by design.

Our founding vision was to provide an option for high needs children and families - for those who traditionally have had no other option besides their failing neighborhood school. As non-English speaking families have turned to Alma and had success, they have referred their friends, family and coworkers to our school as well.

A majority of our ELL scholars enter Alma in kindergarten and are able to test out of ELL status within two years as a result of strong sheltered immersion instruction. We are dedicated to continuing to implement our high demand, high support model to support these scholars and their families as we continue to grow.

High Achievement for ALL Scholars This year’s data affirms that students with higher needs do particularly well at Alma. Most notably, Alma scholars classified as English Language Learners passed the MCAS at twice the rate of their statewide peers.

Students with disabilities at Alma passed the MCAS at nearly twice the rate of their statewide peers in math and at an 8% higher rate in English.

Students of color, a group historically underserved by public schools nationwide, fare better at Alma, according to this recent data. Both African American and Latino scholars at Alma passed the MCAS at nearly double the rate of their statewide peers.

The charts below show the performance of Alma del Mar’s subgroups compared to their peers statewide.

ALMA DEL MAR VS. MA DISTRICTS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS 22% 10% 0

5

10

40%

15

MATH MCAS 2018

STUDENT ETHNICITY 100

20

80

25

70%

3

of ELL scholars either grew one level or tested out of their ELL status on the 2018 ACCESS test

Native American, <1%

White, 29%

Multi-Race, 6%

Asian, <1%

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80

87%

100

40

40

20

20

20

ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

TOP 15%

0

ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

88%

100 80

60

60

40

40

20

20

BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN

0

TOP 15%

80

40

0

Annual Report 2018

TOP 15%

60

80

Hispanic, 51%

100

60

100

African American, 13%

90%

60

0

of Alma scholars are ELLs or former ELLs

TOP 10%

0

TOP 20%

85%

HIGH NEEDS

83%

HISPANIC

4

DRIVEN... to succeed

Habits of Character

What is a habit, and why do we teach them at Alma? Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent a lot of time talking about what type of people we hope our scholars grow up to be. Of course, we want our scholars to be critical thinkers and our teachers build ways to practice this into their daily lesson plans and routines. But what else is important for them to inherit?

At Alma, character and academics are inextricably intertwined. Our three Alma Habits of Character responsibility, consideration, and service - live at the heart of our curriculum, instruction, and schoolwide culture. Our goal is to give scholars every opportunity to practice and internalize these habits to help them become effective learners, ethical people, and contributors to a better world. When scholars and staff practice strong habits of character, our entire community is able to grow and thrive.

I take responsibility for my learning.

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I consider others in my choice of words and actions.

I serve

my crew and community.

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MEET OUR GRADUATES Jae-lyn R. Jae-lyn is laser focused on college.

“College means success to me,” said Jae-lyn, who at the time was just days from graduating from the 8th grade at Alma del Mar. Jae-lyn now attends 9th grade at Tabor Academy, a college-preparatory high school in Marion.

She received a full academic scholarship to attend the prestigious independent school. The news was particularly meaningful for Jae-lyn as it it brought her one step closer to becoming the first member of her family to graduate college. She’s interested in pursuing a degree in nursing.

“It’s a really good school and will provide me with a lot of opportunities that I may not have gotten at other schools,” she said.

At Alma, Jae-lyn discovered she was a hands-on learner who thrived in classes where she could experiment and get her hands dirty, like in Science and Expedition. Regardless of the class, Jae-lyn’s teachers always challenged her to try harder and do better. That sense of drive has stuck with her and will lead her to success in high school and beyond.

Marcus B.

Sending the Class of 2026 off to high school

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Somewhere during the seven years that Marcus attended Alma del Mar, he found his voice.

In August 2011, we opened our doors to 120 young scholars for the first time. At the front of the pack were 40 7-year-olds, coming to us as second graders after attending their neighborhood elementary school for two years. We referred to them as the Class of 2026, for the year they would graduate from a 4-year college.

With their light blue uniform shirts tucked in, they learned to read and write. They learned how to handle number bonds and craft a compelling essay about their views on important topics like immigration and scarcity of resources. They learned about the path to college, a path that for many, they would be the first in their family to travel.

By the time he was in 8th grade, Marcus was leading Town Hall celebrations and working with his classmates to plan a memorial for the victims of the Parkland High School shooting last year. While other scholars made signs with the victims’ names and photos, Marcus crafted a powerful poem to share with his classmates.

This June, those scholars attended their last classes at Alma as 8th graders. We celebrated with a highenergy ceremony in our new gymnasium. Jerin, who came to us as an eager, talkative young boy, sang the background vocals for classmate Arianna’s rendition of “See You Again.”

Marcus also found a possible career path while at Alma. A 7th grade bridge construction project opened his eyes to the skill and precision required for success. He realized he loved working with numbers and drawing blueprints.

This fall, they are spread across the SouthCoast, attending their high schools of choice. They may not be wearing a blue polo and khakis anymore, but we know they’ll still stand out as critical thinkers and service-minded leaders. Many of our graduates have returned to Alma on occasion to show service to our school. We’ve heard great reviews from their current advisers and teachers about their preparedness and engagement in class, as well.

Marcus has taken that passion to Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, where he will pursue AP classes as well as shop opportunities related to architecture and engineering.

Annual Report 2018

“I was really frustrated by what happened in Parkland,” Marcus said. “I just kept thinking about it and how no kid should be waking up in the morning, getting ready for school, and worrying that their school may be next.”

“I’m a little nervous about leaving Alma but at the same time I feel so prepared for the next chapter because of what I’ve learned here,” Marcus said. www.almadelmar.org

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DRIVEN... by curiosity

Rich content leads to high engagement

When our second grade scholars are studying reasons why people choose to migrate to America or our seventh graders are digging into slavery, they are most enveloped by the topic if they’re reading it from a really good text. That may sound obvious to some, but it’s critical for our teachers to name that driver and intentionally put captivating books, articles and studies in front of our scholars as often as possible.

We are all driven by high-quality, content-rich texts. Rich literature is the centerpiece of our curriculum across grade levels. By naming the anchor texts read in each quarter in each grade, we are able to guarantee that scholars are exposed to diverse authors, perspectives, and narrators over the course of their career at Alma.

Beyond great texts, we want to be sure scholars are connecting their learning to the world beyond school. We work to make sure scholars are reading a variety of types of texts at any given time. Yes, we want them to fall in love with reading. We want them to be driven by a great story with a strong, inspirational lead character. We also push our scholars to read great news articles and primary sources in social studies and science - it’s important to read to learn! - as well as poetry in humanities.

Selections from Alma’s Canon:

“Teachers intentionally choose certain texts so they can engage scholars in meaningful dialogue, grounded in text, about what makes us different, and how those differences strengthen communities.”

-Alexa Teevens, Director of Curriculum

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Almazing Fund: TEACHERS DIG IN

TO CONTENT DURING SUMMER BREAK

Exploring our Nation’s Parks

Finding the Power of Place

Yes, they worked on their vacation. Supported by the Almazing Fund, Ms. Cotugno and Ms. Carvalho embedded themselves in each park camping on site and making friends with the Park Rangers. They took every opportunity to learn more about the geology, climate, ecosystem and history of the parks.

“Before you can truly understand and grapple with hard histories, you must understand that the people who lived them were more than victims,” said Ms. Sousa, Alma’s seventh grade Humanities Teacher.

When Brittney Sousa was in college, she studied the holocaust and genocide studies and sociology. In her classes, they talked at length about the power of place and the power of people when learning about times in history where there were crimes against humanity or acts of great violence.

Rebecca Cotugno and Mags Carvalho explored Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks for two weeks in July as part of their research for new curriculum. They embedded themselves in each park - camping on site during each stay, making friends with Park Rangers and researching for their curriculum.

Today, Ms. Sousa and her seventh grade scholars study the many important stories of enslavement as part of their Expedition work this year. With a grant from the Almazing Fund, Ms. Sousa and middle school literacy specialist Ashley Cabral spent nearly two weeks in Bermuda and New Orleans discovering the places and stories of the slave trade.

“We were probably the nerdiest people in every park,” joked Ms. Cotugno, a member of the Founding Alma Team and current grades 3-5 Literacy Specialist. “But it’s important. Anything we’re excited about, the kids find it really exciting too. So it’s important to dig in and give them a reason to be interested.”

“I have personal stories to share about the people who lived this history so that my scholars can begin their own journey to understanding the power of the places and the people that came before us.”

Every day at sunrise, the teachers hit the trails to explore and take in views from the highline trail at Glacier and Lake Solitude at Grand Teton. The mud pots and fumaroles at Yellowstone captivated their attention for hours one evening, leading them to spend the next day digging up facts about the unique hydrothermal features. Those details are now highlighted in a unit Alma fourth grade scholars will learn about in the spring.

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DRIVEN... to serve

Connecting scholars’ learning to our community Our mission is to create a generation of service-minded leaders. Seven years after our founding, we continue to find new and meaningful ways to incorporate service into our curriculum and scholar projects.

After learning about whales and efforts to keep their habitat clean, second grade scholars decorated glass drinking jars in a whale theme and then sold the glasses to raise money for a local water conservation group.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, it became the focus of the eighth grade scholars’ studies about issues of scarcity and abundance of resources. This event hit close to home for many of our scholars and their families. Some of our scholars’ parents were born and raised in Puerto Rico. Their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles still live there, and likely were without water or electricity.

These connections helped scholars draw comparisons between the challenges of living in New Bedford and the challenges of those living in Puerto Rico. In Humanities class, scholars wrote a collection of poems called “Two Voices” about those differences and similarities. Scholars then led a donation drive to help those families who had fled Puerto Rico after the storms.

In first grade, scholars asked the question “Where does our food come from?” They visited farms in neighboring towns to learn from experts about the process of growing food. After examining maps of New Bedford, these 6 year olds realized there are no farms within the city for their families to access for fresh food. So, they decided to plant their own vegetables here at school. They planted radishes, green leaf lettuce, arugula and sweet peas - and learned about the parts of a plant and what they need to thrive at the same time!

After sampling the first harvest and sharing some with their families, the scholars excitedly suggested that other families in New Bedford should also be able to enjoy fresh vegetables. In early June, they packed up about 20 pounds of arugula, peas, beets and radishes, and walked their donation over to a food pantry in our neighborhood.

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DRIVEN...

ard quality

Masterful Work All Year Round Scholars have multiple opportunities to create stunning work products every year.

At Alma, we set a high bar for academics and challenge every scholar to make extraordinary work.

Scholars are driven to produce high quality pieces of work throughout the year as a way to demonstrate mastery of content and skills. This is in addition to the traditional measures of achievement outlined earlier in this report. These truly masterful pieces are presented to wider audiences, whether scholars read their solid opinion piece in front of hundreds of families at Expedition Night or present on an issue of injustice that they feel passionate about during Aha! Night in downtown New Bedford.

A piece of work is considered high quality when it demonstrates:

COMPLEXITY

AUTHENTICITY

CRAFTSMANSHIP

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Thanks to Our Supporters $20,000+

Anonymous R.S. Evans Foundation George Frederick Jewett Foundation East Leonard & Hilda Kaplan Charitable Foundation Ludcke Foundation

$10,000+

Acushnet Foundation David and Victoria Croll David and Jackie Eckert Lucile P. Hicks Lucy Keefe Orville W. Forte Charitable Foundation The Theresa Matthews Charitable Fund

$5,000+

Chris and Trish Arnold Jack and Nancy Braitmayer Bristol County Savings Bank Foundation Carney Family Charitable Foundation Ed & Barbara Haddad Ludes Family Foundation Move The World Foundation

$1,000+

Charles and Christina Bascom Mary Jean and Bill Blasdale Karyn & Ben Campbell St. Aidanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chapel 17

CHT Foundation Club Madeirense S.S. Sacramento Charitable Foundation Barbara Cook Loretto and Dwight Crane Allan and Priscilla Ditchfield Eastern Charitable Foundation William and Deborah Elfers Enable Hope Foundation Arline and Roy Enoksen The Harbor Oaks Foundation Henry H. Crapo Foundation Prentiss and Polly Higgins Nelson Hockert-Lotz Heidi & Arthur Huguley John and Lynn Reichenbach The Kathryn I. Matthews Charitable Fund Bob and Diane Kramer Joseph and Holly McDonough Drew and Lynne Nahigyan Nathaniel and Jewelle Bickford New Bedford Day Nursery Fund John Pannell Frank & Barbara Resnek Robert & Bonnie Stapleton The Seymour H. Knox Foundation, Inc

Up to $999

Jonas Peter Akins Alex and Freddy McFerran AmazonSmile Chase and Nicole Arnold Toby Baker

Michael and Margie Baldwin Jan Baptist Big Ocean Studios Robert Booth and Bronwen Cunningham Boutique Fitness, INC. Nan & Bill Braucher Karen Burnett-Kurie Patricia Burns Mrs. Carleton Burr Joyce Louise Calnen Chad Brubaker & Lean Camara John and Elizabeth Cannell Alvan Carr Dr. H.R. and Mrs. Chowdri Chris and Colleen Bator Chris and Veronique Bale Sheila Powers Converse Deborah L Daigle James and Carol Dildine Matt and Dee Downey Edith Lauderdale Annette Ewing Mary and Jim Faughnan Jim and Janet Fitzgibbons Gail Fortes Garden Club of Buzzards Bay Will and Laura Gardner Mark Bono & Elizabeth Gilbert-Bono Marjorie Greville Ernest M. Haddad Frederic and Johanna Hood Peter G. Huidekoper David Prentiss & Lucy Iannotti Nan Johnson Nathaniel Katin-Borland

Dennis Keefe Carol Kozma The Kula Foundation Ted and Nancy Kurtz Linda Ann Lacroix Barry and Sherry Leiwant Matthew Harold Leiwant Leslie and Helen DeGroot Fran Levin Barbara Lorentzen MacGregor David Gilbertson and Carolee Matsumoto Kathy and Derek Melven Ives Nathan Carolyn Nunez Open Society Institute Paypal Charitable Giving Fund John Polk Prudential Foundation Matching Gifts Bill and Pauline Raposa Maria Rosario Dennis D Santoro Paul and Tina Schmid Mason and Jean Smith Paul D & Ulla N Sullivan Bill and June Swanson Travelers Community Connections Bob Unger and Barbara LeBlanc George Unhoch Peter and Asha Wallace John and Mallory Waterman Happy & Henley Webb Tony and Eusie Zane Annual Report 2018

In-Kind Support Amaralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market Decoflations Eastern Fisheries Moby Dick Brewing

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Advisory Council Nelson Abreu Chad Brubaker David Cabral John Camera Karyn Campbell Barbara Cook Priscilla Ditchfield

Jeanne Eagle Ed Haddad Jim Hughes Dennis Keefe Jay Lanagan Judith Li Rob Massoud Ives Nathan

Carolyn Nunez David Prentiss Mark Rasmussen Ralf Rho Anthony Sapienza Sandy See Susan Skawinski Kris Tomlinson

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Financial Report

PROFIT & LOSS

EXPENDITURES

July 2017­—June 2018

Alma del Mar greatly appreciates our 2017-2018 community partners:

Aha! New Bedford Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Buttonwood Park Zoo Buzzards Bay Coalition Captain John’s Whale Watching Carabiner’s Climbing & Fitness Child & Family Services Coggeshall Farm Community Boating Center EL Education GiftstoGive Hope and Main Kitchen Immaculate Conception Church Immigrant Assistance Center Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center Jewish Social Services Agency in Maryland Keith’s Farm Mass Audubon’s Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary 19

Massachusetts State House Mayflower II Meeting Street Museum of Fine Arts Boston Mystic Seaport Museum and Planetarium Nativity Preparatory School New Bedford City Hall New Bedford Department of Public Infrastructure New Bedford Election Committee New Bedford Fire Department New Bedford Parks, Recreation and Beaches New Bedford Police Department New Bedford Public Schools New Bedford Standard-Times New Bedford Symphony Orchestra New Bedford Whaling Museum

New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, Underground Railroad Walking Tour Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library Oceans Fleet Our Sisters School Overhead Arts Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University Plimoth Plantation Senhor da Pedra Club Polling Place Sid Wainer & Son St. Anthony of Padua Parish The Bostonian Society at The Old State House in Boston Touro Synagogue Wonder Bowl Worcester Art Museum Zeiterion Performing Arts Center Annual Report 2018

INCOME Tuition Government Grants & Funding Nutrition Funding Private Support Funding Student Programs & Misc Fees Interest/Investment Income TOTAL INCOME

$ 4,977,366 $ 359,373 $ 34,654 $ 391,386 $ 1,823 $ 1,261 $ 5,965,863

EXPENDITURES Personnel Costs Administrative Costs Instructional Services Other Student Services Operations & Maintenance of Plant Other Fixed Charges TOTAL EXPENDITURES NET INCOME

$ 3,557,560 $ 228,494 $ 734,100 $ 426,563 $ 779,421 $ 101,840 $ 5,827,978 $ 137,885

Personnel Costs, 61% Administration Costs, 4% Instructional Services, 13% Other Student Services, 8% Operation and Maintenance of Plant, 13% Other Fixed Charges, 2%

Ninety-three percent of Alma del Mar’s programming is funded by the public dollar. Your donation helps us provide an enhanced experience to our growing number of scholars through meaningful field work experiences, co-curriculars multiple times a week, and a longer school day and year.

www.almadelmar.org

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515 Belleville Ave. | New Bedford, MA 02746 www.almadelmar.org

/almadelmarcharterschool

774.206.6827

@AlmaCharter

info@almadelmar.org

@AlmaCharter

Putting every scholar on the path to college and challenging them to be service-minded leaders.