[CharterSchools] Einstein Charter Receives 2015 COSEBOC School Award for Excellence and Leadership in Educating Boys of Color

Tue Apr 28 12:02:43 EDT 2015

Contact: Heather Harper (504) 289-0499 or Shawn Dhanak, (517) 449-0402, Shawn at marcglobalcommunications.com  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 28, 2015

NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL AMONG THREE OUTSTANDING SCHOOLS TO BE NATIONALLY HONORED AT 2015 COSEBOC GATHERING OF LEADERS

Einstein Charter School Receives 2015 COSEBOC School Award for Excellence and Leadership in Educating Boys of Color

Boston, MA – Last Thursday, the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC), the only national network of school leaders focused on educating boys and young men of color announced the national recipients of the prestigious 2015 COSEBOC School Awards. Among the three Award winners this year was Einstein Charter School in New Orleans, LA. The school was honored during the COSEBOC School Awards Dinner on Thursday, April 23, 2015, during a special ceremony at the 9th annual COSEBOC Gathering of Leaders conference at the University of Memphis. As part of their recognition, the school will be awarded $10,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. 

This year’s awardees were selected after a rigorous three-part evaluation of the academic success of boys of color over a three-year period. The criteria for selection includes an assessment of how the school aligns with the research based COSEBOC Standards. The 2015 awardees share many of the common characteristics of successful schools - strong school leadership, rigorous curriculum, a culturally responsive school climate, high expectations and a supportive community. Boys of color in all three award-winning schools consistently met or exceeded proficiency on standardized tests in math and language arts, often outperforming a majority of their peers statewide.   

“This tremendous honor is the direct result of the scholastic achievement of the young men under our roof,” said Shawn Toranto, CEO of Einstein Charter Schools. “We could not be more delighted that their hard work and love of learning is being recognized and celebrated across this nation.”

Einstein Charter School serves approximately 900 boys and girls in pre-kindergarten to grade 8 in Michoud community of New Orleans East comprised of students from African-American, Latino and Asian (Vietnamese) communities. 

After taking over the site of a failing inner-city school in 2013, Einstein Charter’s robust curriculum with social, behavioral, and cultural-awareness programs employed a rigorous, integrated curriculum focused on math and science. Teachers used diagnostic student tests to continuously devise targeted interventions to meet the social and emotional needs of each student including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) as well as restorative practices for conflict resolution. Staff explicitly acknowledged both significant traumas and negative stereotypes that affected male students of color and provides assistance and support to overcome them.

Despite the expansion and the inclusion of students from the failing school, Einstein Charter’s student, particularly their boys of color, thrive: Results include: 
·       Boys of color score at or slightly above the state average for all students on standardized language arts tests. Moreover, boys scored significantly better than the state average for all students on standardized math tests – 61% proficiency rate for Einstein boys of color compared to 40% for all students statewide. 
·       Based on these successes, Einstein Charter was recognized by the state as a “high performing, high poverty school” and a “Top Gains School.”

The 2015 Award recipients w ere honored at the COSEBOC Annual Gathering:  I am a Young Man, Honoring My Past, Celebrating My Present and Anticipating My Future hosted by the University of Memphis in Memphis. TN. Over 500 educators and school leaders from across the nation were  in attendance. The lead sponsor for the Gathering of Leaders is SchoolSeed with additional support from American Reading Company and the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation.   

For more information regarding COSEBOC and the 9th Annual Gathering of Leaders please visit our website at www.coseboc.org . Follow us on Twitter @COSEBOC, Facebook and #COSEBOC2015.  

About COSEBOC 
The Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color (COSEBOC) is a national network of school leaders focused on educating boys and young men of color. The non-profit organization is a leading resource and repository of tested, innovative, ‘real world’ practices and research that help boys and young men of color succeed.  COSEBOC ‘s mission is to connect, inspire, support and strengthen school leaders dedicated to the social, emotional and academic development of boys and young men of color.  COSEBOC provides Standards for schools to adopt based on research and the innovative policies and practices of successful schools. 

COSBOC’s publication, “Standards and Promising Practices for Educating Boys and Young Men of Color”, provide a framework for assessment, curriculum, training, leadership, community engagement and more for schools across the country.  Headquartered in Boston, MA, COSEBOC’s national network of school leaders represents over 600 schools and districts educating 300,000 students across the United States.  

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Photo: CEO  Shawn Toranto (center) with Einstein Charter School students  Tylan Williams,  Jase North,  Mattheu Do and Andy Nguyen (l-r).

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