Mother’s wisdom

By Jim Stergios
January 27th, 2008

I am visiting my mom, who is really nice. Hard to believe, huh? Apple falls far from the tree in this case. We are enjoying a coffee and leafing through Roxbury Prep Charter School (a public middle school) annual report.

First, how many district schools provide an annual report as clear as the one distributed by the Roxbury Prep Charter School? How many focus as clearly on results? On values? Harumph.

The MCAS results are important and inspiring. Consider the following comparisons on the Math portion of the MCAS:

• Boston District students are proficient in the following percentages for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders: 29, 26 and 27 percent, respectively. (Not a good trend line, for the math-phobic.)
• Massachusetts District students: 52, 46, and 45. (Trending down again.)
• RoxPrep: 76, 72, and 94. (Yay! On 8th grade math, RoxPrep outperformed every school in the Commonwealth. Yes, including Wayland, Wellesley and Weston, and even Boston Latin.)

On the English portion of the MCAS:

• Boston District: 39, 49 and 55 percent. (Improving but…)
• Massachusetts District: 67, 69, and 75. (Improving but…)
• RoxPrep: 67, 86, and 92. (Improving very nicely.)

The student body is entirely students of color. From the annual report: “Most live in single-parent households and 62 percent of students qualify for either free or reduced-price lunch.”

As much as that impressed Mother Dearest, who as an immigrant holding a GED, is still smarter than all of her gown-wearing offspring (I mean that figuratively, as in Ph.Ds…, no, I mean, really…), it was the strong values of the school (only some of which are here) and also its strong enrichment program that impressed her. Contact the school for a copy of the report–it is inspiring.

While you’re at it, contact Mayor Menino and ask him why he does not support an expansion of “chahtahs”. If you don’t mind, cc me on the email (jstergios@pioneerinstitute.org).