Renaissance The

Charter School 35-59 81st Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 www.renaissancecharter.org • 718-803-0060 • 718-803-3785 (fax)

“Developing Leaders for the Renaissance of New York”

Development Report to the Board of Trustees February 7, 2018

2017-2018 Grant Update (See attached sheet for more information.) • Direct Appeals

These include checks and online donations received in response to Summer, Angel Fund, Garden Appeals – all direct donations to the school.

o Angel Fund – We started the year with a balance of $1,643 in the school Angel account, and so far have deposited $6,548 from various fundraisers during the course of the year. This includes a donation of $1,631 from the Class of 2017, from un-used funds in their Senior Account. The angel fund has expended $1,170 so far to provide support to:

4 students for the Middle School trip 2 students for their senior dues

Donations in any amount are always welcome. • Pending grant applications:

o Federal Farm-to-School Grant – Renaissance is the lead school in a consortium to apply for this grant, which will support building a purchasing pipe-line from local or regionally sourced foods; and will help us assess local or regional product availability and identify key supply chain relationships necessary for our program plan.

o New Schools Venture Fund – We have been advanced to Round 2 of the Venture Fund application process for Renaissance 2, and are working on the application due this month. This is a planning grant, described as a fund that “invests in teams of educators who want to launch new and innovative public schools.”

o NYS Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant – We are proposing a consortium with Future Leaders Institute and possibly one other charter school for mental health and counseling supports – up to $250,000 for Renaissance.

o Special Legislative Grants – We were encouraged to apply for Assembly-driven Capital funding grants, as we were told that the member-item SLG’s were not going to appear this year. We have not heard anything about capital funding, but Senator Peralta was able to secure a $25,000 “Bullet Aid” grant for TREA, Rensizzle and our Leadership program. We have not received the contract yet, but follow-ups to the Senator’s office assures us it is forthcoming.

o Green Roof Proposal – The green-roof proposal conceived by our student, Eric Herrera, did go to Assemblyman Moya’s office at his request, outlining a broad plan for creating a green roof on our existing roof-top structures. There has been no mention of this again from the state. However, now that Mr. Moya is District 21’s

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“Developing Leaders for the Renaissance of New York”

new City Council member, we will be visiting him for capital and discretionary support.

o NYC Discretionary Funding – We are applying again for Capital funding through the city council this month—again submitting the audio/visual upgrade for the auditorium, and more computer funding. These have so far been unsuccessful since getting removed from the “RESO-A” city technology funding, with no guidance or response from the Boro President’s office, despite numerous outreach attempts. We have also applied for FY19 Discretionary member-item funding for TREA. We received $5,000 from Councilman Dromm for this fiscal year.

• Update on Current Granted Programs: o Federal E-Rate for FY 2017 – there was a very long delay in getting determination

letters out to grantees this year. We finally heard that we were funded for $29,419 for internet fees, with a new internet provider: Transbeam/GPT.

o NYSED 2016-2019 Dissemination Grant to disseminate best practices around our College and Career Readiness program. We are partnered with the CSA professional development organization, ELI, who is providing professional development support in Growth Mindset practices, and the SPED Collaborative. Scholar’s Academy in Rockaway, Queens is our district partner, and we will be following this year’s 9th grade cohort through the 11th grade. This is a $500,000 grant over 3 years, and we are concentrating on the 9th grade cohort in both schools. Year 1 was devoted to Growth Mindset Training and sharing best-practices between the two schools’ college bound offices. Year 2 will be focused on sharing the leadership program and developing lasting, effective supports toward college readiness for students with disabilities. This month our HS teachers are starting peer-to-peer learning rounds around developing a culture of academic and growth mindset in our students, through strategic feedback.

o DYCD Compass Explore – Summer Permaculture program –$41,280. We have completed two very successful summer programs, and will offer the program again for 3rd-5th graders. Last summer a third of the students came from outside Renaissance. This is the final year of a 3-year contract, so we will be investigating renewal soon.

As many of our successful partnerships have in the past, this partnership grew out of a Rensizzle week suggestion by a 7th grader 4 years ago. It has grown to include a HS Leadership group, and a favorite “Little Sizzle” group.

o Project Aware Mental Health First-Aid – Suzanne continues training our community (teachers and others who work with youth) to “understand, recognize, and respond to signs of mental illness or substance abuse in children and youth.” This is the final year.

o Children’s Institute – Primary Project. The project to support ‘school readiness’ in our K-3 population has been generally successful in helping targeted students improve their focus and become more successful in school. The grant ends this year. We have applied for national certification, which if approved, will make us a recognized Primary Project site. Once approved it will make us eligible to receive training and professional development going forward, and access to various other resources to keep the program running. We will now have to take on the full expenses of the child associate. Currently we are paying an employee of 82nd Street Academics as a 1099 at-will consultant, and that has worked out well.

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“Developing Leaders for the Renaissance of New York”

o Strebor Family Foundation – The Spring drama production will be “Harvey” by Mary Chase. The foundation is cutting back on all donations by 25%, but they awarded us $1800 for production costs.

o NYC Discretionary Funding – City council funding for TREA has continued at a reduced rate ($5,000) after a hiatus of one year.

In-Kind Grants and Donations o Federal Counseling grant, led by Wildcat Academy Charter School, pays for additional

mental-health counselors at our school. The program is moving ahead; Jennyfere Thomas has joined the counseling staff, and Agression Replacement Training® (ART) for targeted groups of students has been established.

o DYCD SONYC grant received by 82SA for our middle-schooler after-school program, continues this year. The program has been aided considerably by the addition of Dan Fanelli as the Education Liaison, providing curricular ties to the after-school STEM activities, training 82SA teachers to lead the activities and following-up with teachers for additional curriculum ties and up-to-date homework assignments.

o CASA (NYC Council) after-school enrichment grant paid for a media arts class for our 5th graders.

o Urban Advantage (STEM Education) and Bubble Foundation (Nutrition Education) have all continued in some form. Bubble does not provide direct service to students at this stage, but will provide PD, some parent demonstrations, in the case of Bubble, and supplies/trips for the school and families. Bubble will participate in the Elementary Field Day on June 9, providing healthy snacks and water stations.

Partnerships Renaissance continues to nurture outside community partnerships as a way to expand our influence beyond the school walls. Our long-time partner Bubble Foundation is now working our CSG to promote healthy eating for families, as well as offering cooking demonstrations in our elementary classrooms. We are renewing a partnership with the Carnegie Foundation, called “Link UP: The Orchestra Sings” with new music teacher Katie Schmelzer and the 5th grade. Probably the best example of how these partnerships have grown is evidenced by the Leadership Program’s opportunities for community involvement and skill-building for our students, through our extensive list of community partners. For purposes of this report, I will only list the in-school residencies that are part of the Leadership Program on Wednesday morning.

Leadership Program Partners o Engineering for Kids – 2 programming classes o Global Kids – 2 leadership classes o Sadie Nash Young Women’s Leadership Project

Middle School Sadie Nash program in 82SA’s SONYC program o LAB Project: Learning About Business o Beyond Organic Design – Permaculture Design o Tech Crew o Stage Jazz Band

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“Developing Leaders for the Renaissance of New York”

Friends of Renaissance Our goals for the FOR board, facilitated through a board developer named Mike Jolley, include The Board will build its capacity through inviting two people to join as new members within the next year. We will prioritize fundraising for Rensizzle, as filling a school need.

In October the FOR board approved the donation of the following grants back to Renaissance from our various FY 2017 online and direct appeals:

• $1,112 toward the Greenhouse renovation • $2,000 from the Pharma Corp (through then-Assemblyman Moya) for STEM Education • $2,000 to the Leadership Program • $1,000 to the Angel Fund

Please consider supporting the Friends of Renaissance initiatives and events, as brought to you throughout the year by our liaison, FOR Board Chair, Conor McCoy. Other Renaissance’s political advocacy efforts continue to be the most successful way of bringing money to the school. We will continue to work with the NYC Charter Center by joining their budget-advocacy trip to Albany in the continuing fight to get our funding formula restored. We are counting on a new initiative of the Coalition for Independent Charter schools to support the hiring of Patrick Jenkins & Associates to more directly advocate for the special needs of independent charters, as well as our continuing work for conversion charter school relief. Respectfully submitted, Rebekah Oakes, Director of Development and Partnerships

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“Developing Leaders for the Renaissance of New York”

THE RENAISSANCE CHARTER SCHOOL

Grants Awarded 2017-2018

Direct Appeals: Direct Funding Appeals - Unrestricted 800

FOR Grant from other Direct Appeals 5,112 10/11/2017

Friends of Renaissance, Apple Bank Account 4,843 as of 1/8/2018

Angel Fund (SAF) from 2016-2017 1,643 Angel Fund Donation from 2017 Seniors 1,631 Angel Fund collected 2017-2018 5,006

DIRECT TOTAL $19,034 Government/Corporate/Foundation Grants:

Conversion CS Advocacy – Contract Expenses FY18 Conversion CS Contract Reimbursement

NYS Charter School Dissemination, 3 yrs: $500K 183,372 College Bound

NYS Legislative Bullet Aid - Peralta 25,000 TREA Immigrant Diaglogues/Rensizzle

NYS Legislative Project Boost - Peralta 7,300 AP Support Group

DYCD COMPASS Grant 41,320 Permaculture Program Summer-Spring

DYCD NYC City Council Discretionary 5,000 TREA

US Carol M. White Physical Education Grant 14,416 RO Salary offset + consortium expenses

US E-Rate Internet Reimbursement: 29,419 Cable Internet reimbursement

US Counseling Grant-Consortium 55,000 Counselor salary reimbursement

US Project Aware Mental Health First Aid 2,678 $237,447 expended 16-17

Strebor Foundation 1,800 spring drama production

The Bydale Foundation 5,000 unrestricted

GRANT TOTAL $370,305

TOTAL $389,339

In-Kind Services Received 2017-2018 Value

TASC/Discretionary - 82SA CBO After School 60,000 funding for 5th, 9th and 10th

OST DYCD - 82SA 6th-8th grade program 273,000 middle school after-school program

CASA After-School Programming (Dromm) 20,000 CMA for after-school

Urban Advantage

STEM services, trips, supplies ($450)

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Academic Report –

ELA, SOCIAL STUDIES AND HIGH SCHOOL ELA

1) Expansion of SPEAR approach to critical reading Observations / Data: Our SPEAR Poster is now visible in every classroom. Teachers are using it to teach students how to tackle “challenging texts”

2) Close Reading protocol outline to support teaching using SPEAR.

Observation / Data: Consistency in strategies are being observed through the walkthroughs and instructional rounds conducted.

3) Literacy Coaching work with Sandra – we identified 5th to 8th grade ELA as a high needs area and this literacy coaching role is allowing us to make a lot of headway in this area. A. Sandra has designed and presented the following professional development workshops this

year: • Best practices in literacy workshop • Literacy across the disciplines (spear, visualization, directed notes, etc.) • Best practices for feedback and on demand writing

B. Through this role we are providing intensive support in a high area of need and improving the systematization of some areas of our practice. Sandra is with the 5th to 8th grade teachers pushing in to their classroom four times a week for each one.

C. Sandra does observations, individualized feedback, teaching model lessons, curriculum support, ANET support and writing support.

Observation / Data: Teachers have expressed appreciation for the concrete support she is providing.

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ELA continued 4) ANET. Through our work with Achievement Network, we have been using data to support

targeted planning for students. We have an ELA Saturday school that Yumeris has been coordinating and has made extensive use of this data. A. A big focus has been on celebrating our growth and accomplishments. For example:

3rd Grade - ● Reteach target area was RI 3.2 and 3.2 In 3.1 65% mastery for A.2 (vs. 4% in A.1.) This was a 61% increase! In standard 3.2 71% mastery for A2 (vs. 8% in A.1.) This was 63% increase! During our ANET PD, the third grade teacher, Leah shared what reteach looked like in her classroom (what standards based re-teaching looks like in her class and the resources / systems that supported her).

B. Through the reteach learning cycle, teachers have been getting very concrete feedback.

Observation / Data: Teachers have expressed appreciation for the concrete guidance being provided in giving feedback on the reteach lesson plans.

Social Studies Three Big Focus Areas in Social Studies: 1. Deepening Literacy Practices in Social Studies 2. Vertical Alignment of Curriculum 3. Portfolio Development and Implementation aligned to Regents and AP Requirements 1. Literacy Work:

• Social Studies PLC has been discussing the role of reading and literacy in Social Studies. • Text based discussion on reading in the content areas - not decoding/fluency - instead of what

are some of the things that gets in the way of students’ comprehension https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/opinion/sunday/how-to-get-your-mind-to-read.html

• Created a literacy in the Social Studies checklist where we researched best practices in Social Studies (see attached)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fdg6PCMRtWd3CpFQ5IdsNNGglniKRzbNAAa04SJ1PFs/edit?usp=sharing

• Each teacher is presenting literacy strategies implemented in their class 2. Vertical Alignment of Curriculum in Social Studies

• We all read excerpts from Focus by Mike Schmoker about the positive aspects of departmental vertical alignment. The group then decided by consensus that this task is something we all wanted to undertake. We have already started the process of aligning the curriculum in grades 4-12. We are focusing essential concepts that each grade will focus on while maintaining space of individual autonomy for one unit a year.

• All teachers utilize DBQ questions and the use of primary source documents in their grades • All teachers used depth of understanding (Bloom’s taxonomy) with questioning of students • In grades 4-10 we utilize History Alive as a textbook for students

3. Portfolio Development and Implementation that weaves in Regents and AP Requirements • Moved portfolio work forward and the entire team went to East Side Community HS to observe

portfolio presentations of 6, 8, and 11th grade classrooms • The Social Studies PLC is creating a middle school and high school rubric for portfolio

assessment.

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High School • Growth Mindset and Culturally Responsive Teaching - attached are the goals of our work in this.

We have put together a number of PD"s on this topic. The most recent PD was entirely teacher led and it was one of the best PD’s that we have offered here. All of the high school teachers were engaged and motivated in learning! This is our math & ELA teachers hard at work during January 29th PD:

• Continued expansion and support for our AP Classes. We offer about 9 different courses and 88 students are enrolled in an AP class across the grades.

• Supports for our AP students by creating workshops around "Habits of Minds" that they need. Our Criteria for our Boost Grant that is being designed to support our students is attached. The Habits of Minds workshop were designed by our teachers Pierre, Katie and Jose and cover the following topics: Time Management, Growth Mindset / Confidence Building, Study Skills and Grit / Perseverance

• Comprehensive Study Center available every day to our high school students (with a different

content area teacher available for tutoring). On average we have at least 20 students a day are being serviced by this center.

• Our High School is being infused with growth mindset posters (they are being finalized by our Art

Students). See next page with one example.

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Victor Motta – Director of Data & Accountability; HS Math Support

Regents Exams January 2018 The number of students taking regents exams in January is small compared to the number of students who take Regents exams in June. In January we have students who did not get a chance to take a Regents exam previously, students who did not earn a passing grade before, students who take the exam before the rest of the cohort, or students who want to earn a higher grade.

1. Global Studies: 86% We have already set up supports for students who did not pass the Global Regents exam so they can be prepared in June.

2. Algebra I: 50% Although at first glance a passing rate of 50% seems low, we must keep in mind that the students who did not earn a passing grade were just two points from a passing score. It is also important to mention that the students who did not pass the Algebra I regents exam have been with us for less than two years, and for some, this is the first time the Algebra I exam is attempted. We have already set up supports for the students who did not pass the Algebra I Regents exam so they can be prepared in June.

3. US History: 50% Although at first glance a passing rate of 50% seems low, we must keep in mind that the students who took this exam have been in TRCS for less than two years. We have already set up supports for the students who did not pass the US History Regents exam so they can be prepared in June.

4. Earth Science: 100% Students who took this exam have been in TRCS less than one year. Plans of study and preparation were set up early in the year, and with the support from our science teachers and the staff in The Learning Center (TLC) our students have successfully passed this exam.

5. Geometry: 100% Students who took this exam are students who wanted to improve their grade after having taken it last year. Students prepared on their own, which is proof that we are fostering independent learners.

6. Algebra II: 100% Students who took this exam are students who wanted to improve their grade after having taken it last year. Students prepared on their own, which is proof that we are fostering independent learners.

7. English Language Arts: 82% Students who took this exam fall into two categories, those who are part of the English Honors course and students who have been at TRCS for less than two years and whose home language is not English. We have already set up supports for the students who did not pass the English Language Arts Regents exam so they can be prepared in June.

Victor Motta – Director of Data & Accountability; HS Math Support

Support during Regents Week January 2018

• During Regents week our students participated in AP Mock Exams for Spanish Language, English Literature, and Environmental Science. This will provide our teachers valuable data to better prepare our students for the fast approaching AP Exams in May.

• Teachers worked with individual and small groups of students during Regents week.

(Laboratory work, mathematics instruction/support, and Regents Preparation)

Mathematics Supports in Place

• Targeted Instruction for Middle School students. Eleven Saturday School sessions in groups of no more than eight students. After school One-Hour Sessions twice a week

• Targeted continued support in the TLC for Regents Exams Preparation • Mathematics PLC teaches performing peer observations so they can support and grow

their teaching. • Highly qualified college student working with our middle school and high school

students. We would like to expand this program.

Academic Report: Achievement Network & Science PreK-12 Achievement Network Partnership Overview

• This is the third year we have partnered with Achievement Network. • ANet is a system of tools, training, and professional development that helps

schools boost student learning with excellent teaching grounded in the standards, informed by the data, and built on the successful practices of educators around the country.

• Utilizing their data process we have implemented a systematic approach to gathering and analyzing data, to create and execute re-teach plans for targeted groups of at-risk students.

• Critical to teacher engagement, we have allotted time, via a “Data Dig” half

day, allowing teachers the time to analyze and adapt their teaching based on student results.

Achievement Network Assessment 2 comparison: TRCS to Network

• ELA (Focus on complex texts) Percentage Above/Below Network: TRCS: 60% Network: 49% Outperformed Network by +11%

Grade K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TRCS

68% 58% 68% 57% 56% 55% 60%

Network

54% 47% 57% 46% 43% 43% 51%

• MATH (Focus on rigor) Percentage Above/Below Network: TRCS: 62% Network: 40% Percentage Above Network: +22%

Grade K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

TRCS 75% 62% 66% 54% 61% 57% 56%

Network 53% 45% 42% 39% 37% 35% 32%

Based on ANet A2 results MATH teachers are… 1. Identifying key standard(s) for adapted instruction (reteach) that are high-value. 2. Adapted instruction Plans Include: How, What, When, Why. 3. Teachers Consider the aspects of rigor when designing their action plans—

conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application. Additional Supports (based on data analysis)

• MATH data informs Math Skills groupings and targeted standard specific instruction • MATH data informed Saturday school and afterschool targeted groupings

Pre-K-12 Science

• Elementary School Highlights: o Implementation of Full Option Science System (FOSS) promotes hands on

inquiry-based science. o Students participate in scientific literacy discussions based on fictional stories

containing factual science information. o Grade 4 students will participate in a Mock State Science exam on February 8th

to identify areas of strength and struggle. o Utilizing this data we will target specific skills and content to increase student

achievement on the 4th Grade State Science Exam. o Goal: Achieve 100% proficiency on the 4th Grade State Science Exam again.

• Middle School Highlights: o ICT Science, 6th grade science, and 7th grade science teachers participate in

Urban Advantage professional development. o 7th Grade students will take the 8th Grade State Science Exam. o To prepare, students participated in a mock assessment, 78% of students

received a 3 or higher. o After the data analysis we identified specific content and skills, which will be re-

taught to targeted student groups afterschool 3 times per week. o Goal: Achieve 100% proficiency on the 8th Grade State Science Exam in 7th

Grade. o 8th Grade students will participate in the Earth Science Regents exam in June.

Goal: Increase the pass rate from 91% to 100% and have more students participate in the exam.

• High School Highlights: o Increased academic rigor by offering a number of Advanced Placement classes

AP Computer Science Principles AP Biology AP Environmental Science

o Afterschool support for Regents courses and Lab Make up (ongoing and will continue in early May)

Living Environment Chemistry Physics

Professional Development in Science

• The American Museum of Natural History, along with seven other cultural

institutions, is working with the New York Department of Education in a program supporting middle school students in long-term science investigations.

• The program provides professional development for teachers; equipment and supplies for schools; and field trips and vouchers for students, families, teachers, and administrators.

ANET Instructional Rounds on 2/5/18

Team Involved in ANET Instructional Rounds on 2/5/18: Rashid, our Instructional Coach, from Achievement Network Renaissance Administrators: Stacey, Victor, Dan, Yumeris and Liz P. Patterns we saw in our 2nd to 8th grade math and ELA classrooms that we want to celebrate:

• Evidence of intentional, rigorous and data-driven lesson planning • Respectful classrooms • Active co-teaching which includes differentiated support for struggling

learners • Student engagement- students on task, working and participating • Effective use of technology • SPEAR used throughout • Teachers that care and love the kids • Unique school culture…teachers are trusted and given autonomy in their

classrooms • Student voice is evident • Lots of teacher questions and student responses (not just going through

motion in asking questions) • Consistent usage of complex texts • Teachers facilitating and students leading discussions • Student participation in classroom routines and tasks • In every classroom, the students had the resources and tools necessary for

learning • No opt-outs of learning – kids are given more opportunities for student

engagement when needed (e.g. “Okay, let’s turn and talk about this for a minute.”)

Question for Reflection: Observation: 78% of questions were what questions. Question: How can we integrate more why questions? How can you turn teacher talk moments into questions for student discovery? (Move from a teacher led class to a student led class) Sample Model Sequence of strong questioning we saw in a math class:

• What does Y intersect mean? • Do you think there is a short way to know an equation is linear? • Why do you say that? • How can you prove that?

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February 6, 2018 College and Career Office Highlights:

● 100% of our students applied to college. ● Two of our students received Posse Foundation Scholarships. One will attend Franklin

and Marshall College and the other will attend Lawrence University. ● One of our students was selected as a finalist for the Questbridge Scholarship. Although

she was not chosen for the National Match Program, she was invited by Columbia U. and U. of Pennsylvania to apply through their regular process. If chosen as a Match finalist, she would have received a full ride to one of the schools.

● 9 students applied to CUNY Macaulay Honors Program. Two students have been interviewed at Hunter College and one is scheduled to be interviewed at Lehman College.

● Students have been accepted to the following colleges thus far:

○ CUNY: ■ Baruch ■ Brooklyn ■ John Jay College of Criminal Justice ■ Queens ■ Borough of Manhattan Community College

○ SUNY: ■ Alfred State ■ Farmingdale ■ Old Westbury ■ Oswego ■ Stony Brook

○ Private: ■ Adelphi University ■ Arcadia University ■ College of Mount Saint Vincent ■ Goucher College ■ Hofstra University ■ Pace University ■ Quinnipiac University ■ St. John’s University ■ The College of Saint Rose

● Students have been admitted to the following programs College Now Programs:

○ College Now STEM Academy ■ Queens College ■ Queensborough Community College

○ College Now Courses:

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■ Queens College ● College English ● Language and Communication Disorders ● Philosophy ● Sociology

■ Hunter College ● Epidemiology ● Sociology

● Leadership Program Placements:

○ 82nd Street Business Improvement District ○ Council Member Danny Dromm’s Office ○ Global Action Project ○ Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - MEDDOCs - Medical Discovery of

Careers ○ Immigrant Movement International ○ Margaret Tietz Nursing and Rehabilitation Center ○ New York on Tech - Tech 360 Squad Program ○ Queens College Psychology Center ○ Stella Adler Studio of Acting Youth Group ○ The Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) at New York University ○ The Weill Cornell Youth Scholars Program ○ Urban Word - Music Production ○ Voces Latinas

● Math and Literacy Skills Classes:

○ This fall, math activities from Youcubed.com were incorporated into curricula for grades 9-11. In particular, ninth graders completed the Student Course, which discussed brain research regarding mathematics acquisition and the importance of having a growth mindset.

○ Tenth and Eleventh graders did a series of activities from Youcubed's "Week of Inspirational Math" that presented math problems in an open, creative, multidimensional way. These activities were also combined with instruction about brain research and growth mindset.

○ Tenth and eleventh graders are now receiving weekly homework assignments to complete SAT prep on Khan Academy, which has just added a teacher dashboard to track student work.