More than a dozen Monroe County school superintendents representing the east and west side BOCES, Rochester City School District, and several suburban school districts have met twice with Great Schools for All since the beginning of 2022 to explore issues related to the possible creation of one or more pilot integrated public magnet schools. Such …
A recent Siena College Research Institute poll of Monroe County residents indicates strong support for the establishment of magnet schools with specialized curricula that would draw students from both urban and suburban schools. As indicated in the graphs below, 75 percent of all respondents support the creation of such schools. Support was consistently strong across …
Countywide Survey Shows Support for Creation of Crossdistrict Magnet Schools Read More »
A thoroughly-documented new report shows that diverse magnets are an effective tool in rolling back segregation and improving educational outcomes for all children, regardless of race or socioeconomic status. This summary was written by Mark Hare and Don Pryor. Several Monroe County school superintendents will soon meet to discuss how to proceed in response to …
Yes, we’re still at it! Quietly but steadily, Great Schools for All continues to work behind the scenes to build support for the creation over time of a network of voluntary cross-district socioeconomically diverse magnet schools offering opportunities not otherwise available in our current schools – new schools designed to improve outcomes for all students, …
In the Raleigh/Wake County public school system, more than 35 magnet schools of varying grade levels have been established over the years, each deliberately drawing a socioeconomically diverse student population. GS4A representatives spent three days visiting the district several years ago, and were impressed with the strong schools and the student outcomes. There have been …
Excerpt from a Rochester Beacon opinion from April 22, 2019 by Mark Hare and Don Pryor “GS4A is not advocating the creation of a single countywide school district. Rather, we support a network of voluntary interdistrict schools. Our niche at GS4A has been to insist on a public school system that does its job to …
Rochester needs socioeconomically diverse, cross-district magnet schools Read More »
From Children of the Dream by Rucker Johnson “We are frequently told that school integration was a social experiment doomed from the start. But as Rucker C. Johnson demonstrates in Children of the Dream, it was, in fact, a spectacular achievement. Drawing on longitudinal studies going back to the 1960s, he shows that students who …
School integration actually drives social mobility Read More »
To date, more than 1,180 individuals and 150 local organizations, including Great Schools for All, have endorsed this call to action challenging individuals and organizations to take specific steps to help eliminate organizational and community policies, practices and behaviors that perpetuate inequity. Add your name to the statement here.
The Rochester City School District’s recently-released Path Forward plan contains a number of clear references to directions GS4A strongly advocates. Among these: Expand and replicate several popular and effective existing District schools, including School Without Walls, World of Inquiry and its expeditionary learning approach, School of the Arts, The Children’s School. Under “Future Concept Schools,” …
I recently sat in on a Rochester Board of Education committee meeting that focused on approaches to improve student outcomes, particularly graduation rates. You know the context: Despite board priorities and the efforts of a parade of superintendents over the past several years, the district has struggled to move four-year on-time graduation percentages above the …
Taking steps to shape new initiatives with diversity Read More »
