New Orleans Charter Science and Math Academy

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New Orleans Charter Science & Mathematics Academy

The New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics Academy is an open enrollment charter high school in New Orleans, LA, USA. The mission of the Sci Academy is to provide underserved New Orleans public school students with high-quality laboratory-based science and mathematics education on an open-admissions basis. Sci Academy builds on 15 years of experience in its predecessor schools: The Center for Science & Mathematics and the New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School (Sci High).

Vision and Values

Sci Academy prepares all interested students for college success, equipped with the passion and tools to begin innovative and life-changing pursuits. In our endeavors, we grow as a small family, working with each other, pushing each other, having fun while we do it. Through it all, we are guided by six values: Achievement, Respect, Perseverance, Enthusiasm, Freedom, Teamwork

A History of Success

Sci Academy started with The Center for Science and Math, a half-day school, opened in 1993 and provided a rigorous, hands-on education in science, math and technology for 12 years. This school began a new tradition of reaching out to students traditionally underserved by the public school system and providing them with a rigorous science and math education. The Center proved that with high quality programming, all students, regardless of educational background, can succeed in science and mathematics. In 2005, 95% of graduates were accepted into college; 97% of students passed the science section of the state’s Graduate Exit Exam on their first try; and 95% passed the math section on the first try. Of those passing math, 50% scored in the highest category.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Center responded to the city’s desperate need for quality schools by reorganizing as a full-day charter school, the New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School. “Sci High” now also provided excellent instruction in all subject areas and created a full-day school community in which students social and emotional well-being was recognized as necessary to their academic achievement and high school completion.

Due to Sci High’s success, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education asked the school’s governing board to open a second charter high school in an area of the city flooded by Katrina. The board agreed, and the Science & Math Academy will open in the fall of 2008. Beginning with a freshman class of eighty-five, and adding one class each year. Sci Academy will replicate Sci High’s successful model of open-admissions science and mathematics education.

Sci Academy will carry on the fifteen-year success of Sci High, whose graduates have attended colleges such as Tulane and Howard, winning over one million dollars in scholarships. Our students' achievements are manifested not only in unparalleled college acceptance rates and GEE scores, but also in community involvement and external recognition.

-93% of our graduates are accepted into colleges/universities while the other 7% pursue technical training in the military.

-Last year, our students had the highest Graduate Exit Exam (GEE) scores of any open-admissions school on the East Bank.

-90% of Technology Academy students pass Microsoft and CompTIA computer industry certification tests on the first try, as opposed to 30% nationally.

-New Orleans Center for Science & Math and 4 Technology Academy graduates are currently featured in a short film, To Walk Taller, on Microsoft.com

-Graduates are beginning to impact the community: several have been involved in technology start-ups; one is a television news anchor; many are in graduate school. Over 60% pursue studies in the sciences/math.

Professional Experiences and Trips -Over the summer 59 students participated in our Summer Internship Program. They interned in hospitals, corporations, and non-profits throughout the city including the Tulane Cancer Center, the Audubon Institute, Ochsner Hospital, Northrup-Grumman and the Times-Picayune.

-Our faculty members are providing hands-on science experiences for our students, such as a recent GIS mapping expedition where students tracked (by satellite!) the replanting of trees in City Park.

-Our students took an inspiring field trip to the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) in Cocodrie, Louisiana where they studied the fragile ecosystem.

CURRICULUM

Science & Math Academy will provide students with a rigorous academic environment with an emphasis on science and mathematics.

   * The Academy’s core curriculum includes four years of science and four years of mathematics courses and extensive work in laboratory settings.
   * The Academy offers enhancement programming, a unique set of opportunities to engage in learning in real world settings. Enhancement programs include: summer science internships, extensive field study, and instruction in subjects not typically covered high school.
   * An extended day that allows the school to offer a daily hour- long Advisory Program designed to increase each student’s ability to succeed in high school. The freshman Advisory curriculum includes three course units: academic habits and skills, character building, and health education. Advisories are a place for students to discuss personal and emotional issues and to provide each other with support. Students remain in the same group with the same Advisor all four years.

www.sciacademy.org
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