The pain of losing one we love: Late in January, Nwachi Hartley passed away from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was only 20 years old and had earned the "Outstanding Student Award" from CSI when he earned his GED with us last spring.  This tragic loss has shocked and saddened both the ACE Program and the Parkhill Community. The positive impact he had on his family, the community and our ACE program participants and staff will be felt for a long time.

We hope you'll read more about him in Jennifer Saladis' tribute on our blog. And if you knew Nwachi, please add a tribute of your own in the comments field.  [link]

Our deepest condolences and sympathies are extended to his family, friends, and all who loved him.

• Site Supervisor for high school level after school program. Full-time; MSW and relevant experience preferred.
• Personal Advocates - Full-time and part-time after school. BA in social work or other human service field and youth development experience preferred.
• Career and Education Counselor, full-time, masters-level and related experience preferred
• Internship and Job Developer, full-time, masters-level and related experience preferred.
• Tutors, part-time. Bachelor degree required; certified teacher preferred.

Who are these kids, anyway? Carolyn's Story

• 70% of them live in low income households.

• The rate for disconnected NYC males (16.2%) is twice the national rate (7.7%) and climbing (4.5 points between 2000 and 2005).

• NYC females are closer to the national rate (15.8% vs. 13.2%) and dropping (9 points between 1995 and 2005). Over a third of female disconnected youth were living with a child of their own. They were about evenly split married/unmarried.

• Among both males and females, African American and Latino youth have much higher disconnected rates than do Non-Hispanic Whites and Asians. The differences are greatest among males, where, in 2000, African American (16.6 percent) and Hispanic (16.0 percent) disconnection rates are twice those of Whites (7.6 percent) and Asians (7.3 percent). But the very highest disconnection rate is for Hispanic females (20.5 percent).

The current DOE strategy for providing these young people a better start in life includes transfer schools for younger students, YABC's and GED programs for older students, and 'Learning to Work' (LTW) components integrated throughout both. LTW includes work skills development workshops, college and career counseling, internships, and job placement services.

We've included Carolyn's and Narong's stories to give life to these statistics. But note, Carolyn and Narong entered YABC as older students. Carolyn, especially, would have benefited from a transfer school as early as her freshman year. That option isn't available to Staten Island students.

I started high school in the fall of 2001. I was doing well in my classes until my junior year. I hung out with different people, learned to cut class, tried different things and so on. I was having a great time for the next year and a half until I found out I wasn't going to graduate on time.

I tried to get back on the right path but it wasn't as easy as I thought.

The end of my senior year came and I was missing out on the senior prom and the graduation ceremony -- something that everybody should remember for the rest of their lives.

My guidance counselor told me that I could stay at Tottenville for three class periods the next year. That sounded easy and I was up for it. But then he told me about a program called YABC. The YABC was a night school program which had classes that count toward your high school diploma plus a paid internship if you do well in your classes. The fact that it was at night and they offered internships immediately sold me. I was looking forward to starting this new program.

During the first week I knew this was a program that I would love. Teachers here actually cared about a student's progress. The personal advocates were there all the time to help out with any problems you had, not just school work, but they helped you in things outside of school such as family, friends, drugs, and everything in-between.

Without their guidance and help I would have had a very tough time getting back on track. Their focus was to help you succeed in life and that's what they've done for me.

After a month of classes at this new program I was offered a paid internship at NYCID's main office. I was working everyday from 9 to 2 pm then going to school at 6 until 9. I was doing very well in all my classes. I graduated with an 86 average; the highest I've ever gotten.

After graduating I remained an intern for the rest of the school year until NYCID hired me as Accounting Assistant working directly with the Controller.

This was where my life officially started. Everything I do and learn now will impact my future. I worked at NYCID for two years. I then thought that I had learned enough to move forward and could apply my skills elsewhere.

I now work for a non-profit agency called Easter Seals Disability Services as a payroll coordinator of 400 employees.

Without NYCID I don't know where I would have ended up. Because of NYCID I am glad that I didn't graduate on time. To me it was a blessing in disguise.

*****

Note: Candace pointed out that Narong also continued his education while he worked here. He took courses in accounting part-time at CSI and intends to complete his college degree.

Why is everyone missing the point here?

Don't get me wrong.

We're delighted that the Department of Education wants our transfer school team to open a new Carnarsie school.

We know it's needed; we know our team will do an outstanding job; we're moving ahead with it.

But this team was first put together, at DOE Region 7's request, more than three years ago. They wanted us to work with them to address an unmet need for a transfer school on Staten Island.

Now, three years later, and eight months before the scheduled opening, there's no site we can use on Staten Island.

No site?

DOE has two or three schools that have space. And, all the insiders know it. There's vacant space at the Petrides campus. There's other city-owned vacant space.

The issue is - who gets to decide how the space is used. Shouldn't this be a shared decision based on what's best for our students?

And, no one's upset about it but us?

Over the past two years the DOE has opened fifteen transfer schools with 'Learning To Work' components city-wide. Several more will open this September.  None are on Staten Island.

Our New Beginnings school, one of the best in the city, was a partial, but inadequate solution. A one year program couldn't meet most students' needs. But, DOE closed New Beginnings city-wide last June.

Now, Staten Island doesn't have a New Beginnings, nor will it have a transfer school with an LTW component.

There's no alternative for the younger over-age, under-credited students.  Years go wasted as they drift toward drop out.

We can't let another year go by only to find ourselves, once again, without a site.

We're asking Staten Island elected leaders and the DOE to identify NOW who needs to be at the table to ensure there's a site ready by September 2009.

Our elected leaders and DOE staff should join with us now to find a site. They have the authority to make decisions about where, and the power to allocate budget if rent or rehabilitation is required. 

We need our elected officials, parents, teachers, and local DOE leaders committed to finding a solution that's best for our children and our community.

The planning for September 2009 needs to start now.

If you can help us make that happen, call me. Today, please.

All the best,

Dom

p.s. You can read a SI Advance article on transfer schools here on our blog. We think they missed the point. What do you think?

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