IMPACT Southern Louisiana Special Edition Winter 2020

IMPACT A magazine for IDEA students, families, and supporters.

SOUTHERN LOUISIANA SPECIAL EDITION | WINTER 2020

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IMPACT: SPECIAL EDITION WINTER 2020

ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATE IDEA TRES LAGOS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM PLACES THIRD AT STATE 

After winning the cross country state title at the Texas Charter School Academic & Athletic League championship last year, IDEA Tres Lagos enjoyed another stellar year. The boys’ cross country team placed 1st at several area meets and placed 3rd at the state level this November. The team also garnered national attention after Ashton Kutcher provided running shoes for the team after learning that one of the students needed new shoes.

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IDEA BURKE RIBBON CUTTING IDEA Burke in San Antonio celebrated its official ribbon cutting this November after a generous $1.5 million donation from Michael and Louise Burke last year.

IDEA PERMIAN BASIN PSP GRANT 

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Individuals, energy companies and philanthropic organizations in the Permian Basin have been working for several years to raise funds needed to bring IDEA to Midland and Odessa, and this spring, they successfully secured commitments of $55 million in private funding. In March of 2019, Midland ISD and IDEA Public Schools signed a first-of-its-kind-in-Texas partnership agreement that enables IDEA to open IDEA Travis Academy and College Prep in partnership with Midland ISD in August of 2020.

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IDEA CELEBRATES NEW COHORT OF MASTER AND DISTINGUISHED MASTER TEACHERS This year, IDEA recognized 184 master teachers and 43 distinguished master teachers. Each is recognized for outstanding classroom achievement performance based on several factors, including parent and student feedback, student performance metrics, and in-class observations. Teachers who meet all criteria are promoted to ‘master teachers.’

Those who have met all requirements for three or more years are named ‘distinguished master teachers’.

IDEA CELEBRATES 100% MATRICULATION FOR 13 CONSECUTIVE YEARS 

In addition to 100 percent of the Class of 2019 gaining admission to college, last October, 100 percent of graduates matriculated to college. For 13 consecutive years, IDEA has achieved a nearly perfect college matriculation rate as it pursues its unwavering commitment of College For All Children. The Class of 2019 was accepted to more than 360 colleges and universities, with nearly 47% of graduates getting into one of the country’s top colleges. Additionally, they earned over $50 million in grants and scholarships. In addition, 750 graduates are the first members of their family to attend college.

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IDEA CELEBRATES 22 A-RATED SCHOOLS BY TEA This summer, 22 IDEA schools earned an A-rating by the Texas Education Agency. Districts across Texas were rated in areas including student achievement, school performance, and closing the gaps. As a district, nearly 90% of eligible IDEA schools in Texas received an A or B rating, in addition to eight IDEA schools earning all eligible distinctions.

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TO COLLEGE AND BEYOND:

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Coles, a 7th grader at IDEA Bridge in Baton Rouge, is excited about college and hopes to study nursing.

IMPACT: SPECIAL EDITION WINTER 2020

Teonna Coles says it’s never too late to start thinking about the future. Coles is a bright, friendly 7th grader at IDEA Bridge in Baton Rouge and can remember when she wasn’t sure if she would even go to college because of the time and money it would require.

“I USED TO THINK I WASN’T GOING TO COLLEGE because it was

just so many years,” says Coles. “But IDEA has really made me understand how important a college education is.”

Coles says her transition to IDEA as a sixth-grader made her think about how schools challenge students.

“At my old school, the teachers just didn’t try and neither did we,” she says. “But at IDEA, everyone cares about who you are and who you’re going to be.”

“I chose IDEA for my child because it just seems like exactly where she needs to be,” says Coles’ mother, Chiquita Smith. “IDEA was able to bring success to the kids in Texas, and all of them are going to the best colleges. That’s important to me as a mother. I want my daughter to have the best education and the best life.”

“I feel great knowing that my daughter is on track to go to college.

I brag about it all the time,” says Smith with a laugh. “It is our job as parents to stand behind our children and it feels wonderful to know that IDEA stands behind our children as well. They have support at home and at school, and it can really make a difference in a child’s life.”

When asked about her favorite part about IDEA, Coles says it is the concept of Team & Family.

“The teachers and staff do everything to help you be your best,” says Coles. “They look up to us, they believe in us and they make you feel like you can do anything you want. You decide how much you want to do in life.”

Coles says her favorite subject is science and that her teacher, Mr. Harris, finds a way to help every student feel like they are capable of success.

“Mr. Harris believes in us and tries to make class interesting every day,” she says. “I look forward to going to school, and I like my science class because we always learn something new.”

Like all students at IDEA, Coles will be participating in IDEA’s college field lessons and will visit college campuses across the country throughout the next several years. The experience is aimed at getting students excited about college while seeing for themselves what it may be like on a college campus.

Though high school graduation is still five years away, Coles is already weighing future options, thanks to a little inspiration from Mr. Harris’ class.

“Science class makes me want to be a nurse when I grow up,” she says. “So, I am looking at Louisiana State University, but I am also thinking about Southern University. I want to be able to help others someday.” ♦

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Coles says her favorite subject is science and her teacher Mr. Harris always challenges students to learn something new.

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P R I N C I PA L S P OT L I G H T:

IDEA OSCAR DUNN 

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Joyce, Principal at IDEA Oscar Dunn in New Orleans, is passionate about getting every student to and through college.

Clockwise from top: Joyce helping an IDEA Oscar Dunn College Preparatory student with her assignment. Joyce with IDEA Southern Louisiana team member Merisa March, and (right) taking a break between classes with IDEA Oscar Dunn scholars Ryan Keeler and Demiyah Robinson.

As a psychology major at Hamilton College, Christopher Joyce noticed many of his peers were unprepared for the rigors of college. From poor study habits to a clear lack of challenging academics in high school, he saw many of his classmates struggling.

A FIFTH-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT, Joyce’s family had

always stressed the importance of a college education. Joyce points to these experiences as his inspiration to pursue a career in education—to help prepare all students for success in college and beyond.

“I became more aware of the achievement gap and differences in educational opportunities that weren’t necessarily in the control of the child,” says Joyce.

After a stint teaching in New York City, Joyce relocated to New Orleans in 2008 where he taught math to 4th and 5th graders. As an educator, Joyce worked in a variety of capacities, including as a teacher and an instructional coach, helping to better develop teachers at schools that were performing poorly.

When the opportunity presented itself to serve as the principal for a campus that was in dire need of development, Joyce jumped at the opportunity. He was 27, the youngest person on-staff and was tasked with improving a D-rated campus with one-thousand students.

“It was a D-rated campus and we had a lot of work to do,” says Joyce. “But within three years, we had more academic growth than any other elementary school in the state of Louisiana.”

“It was during this period that I realized that schools are teaching to the 60% or 70% of students who are getting it and leaving everyone else behind,” he continues. “Every student in every classroom deserves a chance.”

When IDEA presented an opportunity to enter its Principal-inResidence (PIR) program, Joyce was ready for it even if it meant making some personal sacrifices.

“For a year, I lived in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, away from my wife and kids and served as a PIR at IDEA Quest in Edinburg,” he says. “IDEA was doing what they said they were going to do and that was making sure every student had a chance at success in college and in life.”

Joyce used the year to deepen his professional skills and use his experience to help successfully launch IDEA’s first region outside of Texas.

“When IDEA decided to bring their proven model to Southern Louisiana, I had the opportunity to spend time getting to know the community,” says Joyce. “We wanted to know what our families were looking for in a school because we needed to make sure that the school that we were building met the needs and the expectations of the community.”

After the successful launch of IDEA campuses in Baton Rouge, Joyce was tasked with launching a new campus in New Orleans, a city filled with charter schools.

“IDEA provides an opportunity for students to be here from kindergarten through 12th grade, to receive the consistency of a community-school experience, and to still follow through on the promise of college for all,” says Joyce. “There’s a lot of talk about students being college-ready, but it’s hard for any school to do that if students leave in the 8th grade or start in 9th grade. But, IDEA has a proven track record of being able to do it.”

For now, Joyce is committed to giving the community of New Orleans the kind of school it deserves. While he admits that building a successful campus for high-performing, college-bound students is no easy feat, he believes IDEA Oscar Dunn’s proudest moments are still to come.

“It will be a proud moment when we are an A-rated school, and it will be a proud moment when our scholars walk across that stage at College Signing Day as seniors,” he says. “We are proud to be here in New Orleans, but the truest measure of our success will be in the satisfaction of our families and the success of our students.” ♦ IMPACT: SPECIAL EDITION WINTER 2020

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MEET THE TEACHER:

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May, pictured here with IDEA Innovation 1st graders Lily Foy and Brianna Flores, has always dreamt of becoming a teacher and inspiring young students.

May working with a small group of students in her English Language Arts class.

As a young girl, Mercedes Allgood May loved to play school. Though her family moved around quite often, on any given day, you could find her lecturing her stuffed animals, or leading a lesson for neighborhood children sitting on old crates outside. While her hometown and “students” were always changing, one thing remained the same—she was always the teacher.

“AS I MOVED AROUND, I HAD DOZENS OF TEACHERS that just didn’t care,” says May. “It just felt like I was just a number and none of them had a real relationship with the students. I just wanted that one teacher that believes in you and made you feel like you were going to be somebody. So, when I was younger, I played school because I wanted to be the kind of teacher that had relationships with her students and showed that she cared.”

May says she finally met the kind of teacher she had been searching for after moving from New Jersey to Alabama.

“Her name was Ms. Ruffin and she just blew my mind,” says May. I was in the 12th grade and she worked so hard to prepare me for college and make me believe that I could do anything. None of my other schools had done that. If it weren’t for her, I probably wouldn’t even have gone to college.”

May attended Alabama State University, a historically black university (HBU), and upon earning her degree, began to think about what to do next.

“I was a mom and needed to find a good job. My brothers were living in South Texas and one was working for IDEA,” she says.

“He told me to come down and see the difference this school was making in the lives of students.”

“He reminded me how much I always loved teaching and thought I would make a good teacher for IDEA, so I dropped everything to move to Texas and make a real difference in the lives of students.”

May loved being a teacher and for the next several years, she felt like she had re-connected with her childhood dream of teaching and connecting with young students. When IDEA began preparing to launch schools outside of Texas for the first time in Southern Louisiana, May says she wanted to learn more about what families in Baton Rouge were looking for.

“When I first learned about the state of the school system in Baton Rouge, I was moved to tears thinking about all of these children that deserve a phenomenal education,” says May. “I took a trip to Baton Rouge on my own just to experience the community and ask people about their child’s education, and I realized I wanted to make a difference here.”

As an English Language Arts teacher, one of May’s primary responsibilities is cultivating strong, high-performing readers—a task she says is probably the most rewarding when she witnesses success.

“My proudest moment as a teacher is when one of my students learns how to read,” she says. “It’s amazing to see them come in with deficits and be able to read a book to you. Their face lights up and suddenly they have this whole new avenue of skill and knowledge because of the hard work they’ve put into it.”

“All children deserve access to a good education and the opportunity to go to a great college,” she continues. “Students deserve teachers and campuses with the highest expectations because it will lead them to success.” ♦

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IDEA Southern Louisiana Campuses Outperform in State Rankings I D E A I N N O V AT I O N R A N K S 2 ND F O R T O P G R O W T H I N T H E G R E AT E R B AT O N R O U G E A R E A A N D 6 TH S TAT E W I D E IN NOVEMBER, the Louisiana Department of Education released statewide progress data celebrating schools and school systems where students are making progress toward fully mastering key concepts and skills in English language arts (ELA) and math.

While our teachers grade students for reading fluency, writing readiness, and math mastery, our schools get graded for student achievement, school performance, and closing the gaps. We are excited to share that both IDEA Bridge and IDEA Innovation achieved outstanding results in terms of student progress (measures of growth), receiving A-ratings at both campuses!

According to the student progress (growth) summary data, IDEA Innovation ranked 2nd for top growth in the greater Baton Rouge area and 6th statewide, significantly outpacing other schools in terms of growth.

These results and others included in the statewide progress data enable us to identify gaps in learning and instruction, provide targeted interventions to students, set meaningful goals, and implement improvement strategies. Through the tenacity and commitment of our teachers and staff and the perseverance of our students, I am confident that we will maintain high levels of growth and continue to significantly improve our overall academic performance this year and in the years to come.

Congratulations, Team & Family!

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THANK YOU FOR 20 YEARS OF ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE, IMPACT, AND GROWTH! IDEA Public Schools is celebrating its 20th birthday on March 3, 2020 and commemorating its 20th anniversary throughout the year of 2020.

20 YEARS OF STUDENT SUCCESS. 20 YEARS OF IMPROVING COMMUNITIES. 20 YEARS OF DISRUPTING EDUCATION. 20 YEARS OF VISIONARY LEADERSHIP. 20 YEARS OF IDEA PUBLIC SCHOOLS. AND THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. None of this would be possible without our Team & Family.

We have a lot to celebrate together.

Be on the lookout for our 20th anniversary commemorative issue of IMPACT Magazine this summer.

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