WHIN Annual Report 2022

LETTER TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS

To our stakeholders,

This past year has offered many of us a new beginning. For some this year afforded us the opportunity to see our loved ones for the first time since March of 2020. For others, we became more comfortable returning to the outside world For WHIN, our community thrived Through a full charter renewal with expansion into Middle School, out performing our community schools on state tests, and breaking ground on our long term facilities project, WHIN grew exponentially this past year.

As the answer to our community’s need for a rigorous, joyful music focused program that extends to Middle School, we are so grateful to have the opportunity to continue to serve the youth of Washington Heights and Inwood throughout eighth grade By expanding our program at this pivotal point in our school’s history, we are not only able to continue serving our inaugural class of students as they move into Middle School, but also able to continue to test the efficacy of our program as our program grows.

Striving to be better each and every day, our focus has been on always having high levels of academic rigor, pushing for all students to achieve grade level standards, and achieving a positive and high performing staff culture To help this effort, WHIN overhauled our organizational chart creating many new instructional and administrative positions, redesigned intellectual prep and planning meetings, and increased the teaching hours of many of our music staff so that every classroom has the support and opportunity to meet our standards of excellence.

As we continue to grow this year and see the positive effects of our efforts, I ask that you consider pledging a commitment to WHIN Your commitment will help us nurture our students into citizen artists who use their music, math, science, literacy, words, knowledge, and music to make the world a better place Over the last few years our loyal donor’s impact on our community has been instrumental in our success. Our donors have never stopped believing in our work and we are so incredibly grateful for all that they have done to support us. We hope you will continue to support our community and look forward to welcoming you back to our in person concerts this year.

Most sincerely,

Charlie Ortiz Founder and Executive Director WHIN Music Community Charter School

Our Team

Charlie Ortiz

Annie Huynh

Christina Thomas

Meryl Cullum

Dioffre Cruceta

Ivelisse Sosa

David Josh Bederman

Ivonne Norman Arnold Adlin

Kenneth Grover Cynthia Ivanick

Bob Green

Shewar Khan

Lee Ann Norman Heidi Morales

MISSION

Mission:

The Washington Heights and Inwood Music Community Charter School (“WHIN Music Charter School” or “WHIN”) will provide our diverse student population with rigorous academic instruction, intensive music education and a positive learning environment so that every student can thrive academically and socio- emotionally.

EMPOWERING CHILDREN THROUGH MUSIC

“NYC needs more music and arts-focused schools WHIN has taken great strides at getting students involved in the arts, developing their passions, and also developing their minds.”- Collin Raymond, WHIN Supporter

I m p a c t f u l P r o g r a m s

THE WHIN APPROACH

ElSistema

Every WHIN student participates in both Orchestra and Choir every single day in the El Sistema tradition. El Sistema is a unique social program that was founded in Venezuela to buildcommunity throughexcellence. The goal is to effect social change through intensive daily ensemble music education. Working in an ensemble enables all children to experience being an asset to their community and grow into citizenartists prepared to make the world a better place.

CharacterBuilding

Developing our students character is a key component to their success Through our WHINWaysof Being, we help students develop crucial 21st Century skills like collaboration, responsibility, selfcontrol, grit, curiosity, integrity, gratitude, and other life skills which help them find their unique voice while navigating the complex world they will inherit .

Academics

WHIN has a rigorousandprogressiveacademicprogram that equips students with the skills and knowledge to be well-rounded and successful. Alignedtonationalandstatestandards, our program is a balance of inquiry, cross-content, and differentiation in a joyful environment to engage and challenge each child Our curriculum programs are top rated, integrating character skills, technology, and hands-on application.

WHIN'stemporarymoveto517W.164thSt.

Starting in the 2021-2022 School Year, WHIN had finally outgrown our original location located on Edgecombe Ave. As a temporary solution until our long term facilities project is completed, WHIN decided to divide the school within two buildings. Although this allowed us the space to thrive, we always wanted to bring our community back together as soon as possible.

This being said, during the 2022-2023 school year WHIN is now completely located under one roof located at 517 W. 164th St. Serving K-6th grade, this two year location has been recently renovated to include upgraded security features, additional offices, and music and intervention suites ensuring a welcoming environment for all of our WHINners to thrive.

From arriving here to an empty first floor and bare classrooms to the bright and beautiful classrooms that greeted our students on Thursday morning, September 8th, I can’t believe how much we have transformed our school and I know that our building will be filled with love and joy all school year!

CharterRenewalandExpansionto MiddleSchool

Charter Schools are rigorously evaluated on their progress and effectiveness on a regular basis, usually every five years. During this time Charter School have the opportunity to make significant changes to their programming with the caveat being all must be approved by the Board of Regents. With the 2021-2022 school year marking WHIN's fifth year of programming, our leadership team had the chance to deeply reflect on our community and make the necessary changes we needed to thrive.

Having been approved by the Board of Regents for a full five year charter term and expansion to Middle School this is the best outcome any charter could receive and ensures our second term will be no less than five more years.

This is a tremendous accomplishment that could not have been done without the excellent, hard, and thoughtful work of our staff, students, and families and all they have done to make WHIN a special place to be.

UnderstandingourCommunity

School Demographics

258 Students enrolled

20% Students with Disabilities

23% English Language learner

80% Economically Disadvantaged

UnderstandingourCommunity

Staff Demographics

80% Of our teachers are BIOPOC

33% Live in CSD 6

71% Live where our students resides

50% Native Spanish Speakers

WhymusicatWHIN?

WHIN is aligned with El Sistema’s understanding that “the experience of immersive, ambitious and joyful music-making together can help young people develop not only musical mastery but also self-esteem, mutual respect and cooperative skills, qualities that can change their lives and the lives of their families and communities.”

With the goal of creating citizen artists who have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to impact their world in a positive way WHIN is able to create this environment through the use of carefully selected repertoire where WHIN students are challenged to develop more and more complex music skills by the repertoire they learn throughout a school year and from K-5th grade, and through our musical benchmarks, which are scaffolded for greatest effect using backward design where students participate in authentic learning situations as each class is designed as a rehearsal.

By doing the above, El Sistema's philosophy allows us to create Citizen Artists, which is defined by the Aspen Institute as “individuals who contribute to society either through the transformative power of their artistic abilities, or through proactive social engagement with the arts in realms including education, community building, diplomacy and healthcare.”

(aspeninstitute.org)

StudentSpotlights

Meet Zadet, one of our rising first graders. Zadet best exhibits our WHIN core value, "We strive to be better each and every day." Having arrived to WHIN directly from Russia, Zadet spoke zero English on her first day of school. Through her hard work, resiliency, and perseverance, along with the help of her English Interventionist, Zadet was able to grow over two years in English Language Arts resulting in a dramatic boost in her confidence last year.

Born and raised in Washington Heights, our WHINner Melanie is one of our most dedicated students in terms of activism and volunteering. Always there to lend a hand to her friends, Melanie makes sure her community is always involved in making Washington Heights and Inwood a more beautiful place to live. This takes the form of volunteering at all of WHIN's volunteer events, saying hello to new WHINners and making sure that all of her community feels happy and welcomed.

Meet Katie, one of our WHIN Fifth Graders. Katie truly exhibits our core value "There is no limit to what we can achieve." Coming straight from Ecuador, Katie and her family were placed into a dentition center on their move to the USA for multiple months while they waited to be sponsored by a relative that lived in NYC. Upon moving into NYC Katie spoke no English but the Ecuadorian community in Washington Heights recommended she go to WHIN because of our thriving English Language Arts program. Over the course of a few short months Katie transformed. She was able to grasp English in only a few short months and gained a greater sense of self confidence thanks to the support of her community

StaffSpotlights

Mr. Frega joined WHIN in the Summer of 2022 as School Principal. After graduating from Providence College Mr. Frega began his teaching career as a Member of Notre Dame’s prestigious ACE Teaching Fellows Program working as an elementary school teacher in Austin, Texas while earning an M.Ed in English Education from the University of Notre Dame.

Mr. Frega began teaching at a high performing charter school in New York City earning best in network growth scores on way to helping their school ranked as the highest scoring Middle School in New York City He soon became a grade level leader, instructional coach and curriculum planner responsible for training new teachers and implementing curriculum across the network

After earning an M S in Educational leadership from Fordham Mr Frega transitioned to a new as school Principal Over the last five years Mr Frega has served as a principal here in Washington Heights and is excited to help WHIN continue to grow!

Originally from Puerto Rico, Ms Del Valle grew up in Ohio and Florida before moving to NYC where she has lived in Harlem and Washington Heights for the last ten years She earned my Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Flute Performance from the University of Florida followed by a Master’s Degree in Music Education from the Longy School of Music of Bard College This fall, she begins a Doctorate in Music Education program at Boston University

As a music teacher she has worked in East Africa and has had the opportunity to create music programs at various El Sistema Programs and Charter schools across New York City for the past 12 years She has performed in various ensembles, provided professional development for arts educators, and is proudly a three time Grammy nominated music teacher.

BrandonBuffinisnativeofDallas,TX HeattendedTheeVirginiaState UniversityinPetersburg,VAwherehereceivedhisBachelor’sofScience inInterdisciplinaryStudieswithaconcentrationinElementary EducationPre-K–6thgrade HelaterpursuedhisMaster’sofSciencein SchoolAdministrationfromTrinityWashingtonUniversityin Washington,DC Brandonhasover17yearsofexperienceineducation whichspansfromelementarytomiddleschoolandthelast5yearsin leadershipasaMathInstructionalSpecialist,SummerSchoolPrincipal, andTestingCoordinator Brandonisexcitedtomakethetransitionto NewYorkandjointheWHINfamily Inhisfreetime,heenjoys horsebackriding,spendingtimewithfriendsandfamily,andtraveling toothercountries.

AfterSchool

In response to our community's need for free after school care, WHIN has partnered with LEAP NYC the past four years to provide this necessary service to all those in need. LEAP's mission is to provide educational arts programs that promote access and equity for New York City students underserved in the arts.

Below you can see the quantitative data that supports the Social Emotional growth of our WHINners during the 2021-2022 academic year

OverallProgramSatisfaction-73%

Defined as whether a young person would recommend the program to a friend

ThreekeyareasthatquantifiedPositiveYouthDevelopment

EngagedAuthentically-86%

A child’s experience with an adult who takes the time to get to know them by listening and understanding who they are their cultural and lived experiences, their interests, and their passions.

PromotePeerBonds-68% A young person’s experience with an adult who supports them to make friends, share, help others, and cooperate.

ExpandedInterests-71%

Create opportunities for young people to try new things they have never done before

LongTermFacilitiesProject

Over the summer WHIN was able to break ground on our newest facilities project anticipated to open Summer 2024.

The construction project will consists of renovating an existing three-story 29,880 square foot facility along with adding an additional five-stories to the existing building. The completed school facility will be eight-stories, approximately 54,880 square feet The school facility will include a 370-seat Auditorium for musical performances; a gymnasium; cafeteria; multiple specialty music classrooms (e.g. violin, viola, brass, choral, woodwind); 18 regular grade level classrooms; offices; nurse’s room; and play-deck.

This marks a historic point in WHIN's history and makes us even more eager than ever to have our forever home in the heart of Washington Heights. Having secured a $43 million dollar bond, we have broken ground on the new site having already:

Construction Updates:

Completed: Site Safety Protection (Sidewalk Sheds, Scaffolding, Roof protection)

Completed: Abatement (lead removal, Asbestos removal)

Began Construction October 11th on Exaction/Foundation/Footing

Extraordinary Experiences

Starting in December, WHIN, Juilliard College, Pre-College, and Musical Advancement Program patterned together for what we would call "Practice Buddies" in a quest to connect older mentors with our younger WHIN students. Rehearsing weekly throughout this last year, our students were able to have an incredible experience including individual private lessons, sections, and full orchestra rehearsals on Saturday at the Juilliard School. We are incredibly thankful to Juilliard for this opportunity and look forward to working with them more this year.

Arts Engines is a program of Serafina Ideation (a non-profit 501(c)3) and highlights the perspectives of the thought leaders and game-changers who are creating significant impact in the field of the arts. As the only arts show of its kind with an African-American host, it is produced in partnership with and distributed by Detroit Public Television, Ovation TV, The Violin Channel and American Public Media including Performance Today and YourClassical reaching over 100,000 in audiences every week making it one of the most widely viewed arts shows in the nation. Each episode reveals the human stories, best practices, and real-life experiences of those who power human creativity every day Charlie Ortiz was featured in the 2021-22 and now 2022-23 seasons exploring the benefits of an arts based education as a public charter school in New York City. For more information and access to each episode scan the QR code above!

BandingTogether

TheFrank&Lydia BergenFoundation