Schoooooooooools out for summer!
--Alice Cooper
Thank you for helping to make this a fantastic year for Private Prep. We hope to carry this momentum into next school year as we expand our service into Westchester and Fairfield (CT) counties. More to come on this exciting news in future newsletters, but in this issue we highlight an incredible journey one of our tutors will take with her students and new research on "Summer Brain Drain" from Johns Hopkins University.
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Stefanie Lob and her Students Venture to Vietnam
Specializing in high school math, Stefanie Lob joined Private
Prep this spring. After graduating from Northwestern, Stefanie spent time as a ski
instructor in Colorado and gymnastics teacher in New York City. Electing to
forego medical school, Stefanie decided to dedicate her career to helping
students realize their potential and the entered the NYC Teaching Fellows program.
Since 2005, Stefanie has taught math and built curriculum as a department head
at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics. In addition
to a success in the classroom, Stefanie's students have scored 290 points
higher than Bronx student average on the SAT.
As an avid traveler, Stefanie wanted to share her passion for
other cultures with her students. This July, Stefanie will travel with students
from the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics on a two week tour of Vietnam.
The trip will include home stays and a community service project at the Duc Son
Pagoda and Orphanage. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take students
outside of their comfort zones and enlarge their global perspectives," Stefanie
says.
The students have been reaching out to their
local, family and school communities to raise funds for this trip and to donate
to the orphanage. Stefanie partnered with Global Learning Across Borders,
an organization dedicated to inspiring the next generation to become
responsible and committed global citizens. Stefanie was recently featured on Bronxnet discussing her upcoming travel plans with the students. If you are
interested in learning more about this cause or making a contribution, please
visit their blog. |
New Study Quantifies Summer Brain Drain Phenomenon
The Washington Post recently reported details of new
research on the phenomenon termed "summer brain drain." Experts at Johns
Hopkins University, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Virginia
were able to measure the effects of summer vacation on math and reading skills.
Here's what they found:
- Most students, regardless
of household income, regress 2.5 months in math skills learned during the
school year. Since math is fact based, skills deteriorate when not
practiced. It's unclear how long it takes for students to recoup these
skills at the start of the next school year, but does result in the need
to spend initial lessons reviewing material from the previous year.
- Students from low-income
families lose 2-3 months of reading skills learned in school, while
students from middle and upper income families make slight gains in
reading achievement as measured by standardized tests. According the
researchers, these gains are not only a result of summer reading, but also
exposure to new experiences that improve context for reading
comprehension.
And of course, our tutors are around for those students that
want to get an extra edge on material over the summer in preparation for next school year.
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It's been a great school year. Our students worked hard and achieved impressive results. Enjoy your summer!
All the best,
Steve Feldman & Scott Levenson
Private Prep, Inc |
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| Good Luck Seniors! | | We wanted to wish all of our graduating seniors best of luck next year in college. You've worked hard over the past four years and deserve all that comes with such dedication.
It's been a pleasure to watch our seniors mature as students and individuals. The most rewarding part of what we do is helping students reach their goals and maximize their potential.
Keep in touch and we expect to hear great things as you experience all that college has to offer. As Dr. Seuss put it best, "Oh the places you'll go!"
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