Freedom to Serve More Deeply

Dear Friends,
I wanted to thank you and underscore the importance of your support on a larger scale as well as share some opportunities facing us.

1) Two months ago, FOCUS St. Louis, a prominent development group, released a study of St. Louis charter schools. The results are disheartening. Charter schools were created to offer a better education to urban students when St. Louis Public Schools lost their accreditation in 1998. Out of 17 schools, only 6 are out-performing St. Louis Public Schools.

• In contrast, you’ve supported The Freedom School since 1997 and 90% of students, 1^st-5^th grade, are performing at average, above average or well above average levels compared to national norms. Including students receiving academic or English as a Second Language assistance, 77% of students, 1^st-5^th grade, are performing at, above, or well above average levels compared to national norms.

2) I have learned from special education officials in St. Louis County that thousands of students in the city and county are not receiving any additional assistance in most public and private schools. For more individualized instruction, parents must pay over $20,000 a year to the two schools who specialize in this area.

• We differentiate instruction for all students. We adopted AIMSweb, a research-based, online assessment system to help identify students with academic and behavioral concerns. We utilize part-time faculty and volunteer tutors to implement small group and one-on-one interventions. We can now monitor effectiveness on a weekly, monthly, or yearly basis over a student’s entire elementary school career.

3) We are trending towards even greater diversity in enrollment as satisfied clients spread the word. We have more balanced diversity than most local districts or the state average: 55% poverty level, 19% immigrant/refugee, 10% East Asian, 8% Central and West African, 38% African-American, and 44% Caucasian. We also serve 5 foster care students from extremely abusive backgrounds and 22 students from conflict nations. We are on-track for these numbers to grow next year.

With your help, we are positioning ourselves to address the needs of our city in a broader and deeper way; with justice and accountability.

Tim

By Tim Baker in Letters from Tim on January 4, 2012