GradNation Community Summit focuses on increasing graduation rate

Date: 11/13/2014

SPRINGFIELD – Local area youth, community members, and parents were invited to Springfield College on Nov. 6 for the 2014 Springfield GradNation Community Summit, which focused on finding solutions to increase the district’s graduation rate.

The summit was hosted by the United Way of Pioneer Valley and the Stay in School initiative and discussion revolved around middle school as a pathway to increase the graduation rate by developing better school attendance and engagement with students.

GradNation is a national campaign of America’s Promise Alliance, a movement that is focused on attaining a 90 percent high school graduation rate by 2020.

The Stay in School initiative is a United Way program designed to increase student attendance in district schools.

The keynote speaker for the summit was Springfield native Michael Smith who now serves as special assistant to President Barack Obama and senior director of cabinet affairs for the “My Brother’s Keeper” (MBK) community challenge initiative.

President Obama launched the MBK imitative in February to ensure that all youth have opportunities to life outcomes and overcome barriers to success.

“If we are going to be a globally competitive country, if we are going to win the great challenges that we have and make sure that our kids can fill those STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) jobs and make sure our kids can live their hopes and dreams and get the economic stability that we need in this country, we cannot afford to have this many young people that are sitting on the side lines,” Smith said.

Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick said one program that has proven to be successful is City Connects, which provides services to students and families.

“In a district with a high poverty rate like Springfield, our families need more services than they typically are receiving in the community,” he added.

Extended learning time both in school and out of school through the help of tutors is one service being provided to students, Warwick explained.

Positive behavior interventions and support have also helped lower student suspensions by 25 percent during the past few years, he added.

“We’re still working to improve that,” Warwick said. “We’re still suspending too many youngsters. So, we’ve created, in every middle school, an in-school model as well where we provide supports with a counselor and a teacher so if they’re having difficulty in class, they have a safe harbor to go to.”

Warwick said there are community wide efforts related to gang and drug awareness at the middle school level.

“Those issues are pervasive and we really have to work in different ways, providing counseling and support to keep kids on the right path.” he added.

Recently, Springfield Public Schools announced that the four-year high school graduation rate had improved to 56.6 percent. The Stay in School initiative’s goal is to increase the local graduation rate to 77.4 percent by 2015.

The Stay in School initiative’s action plan consists of parent and youth engagement, mentoring and out of school supports, as well as having a safe place for students to learn.

“As the city of Springfield forges forward with the implementation of public safety initiatives, specifically my Violence Prevention Task Force, I welcome the participation of United Way’s GradNation initiative as another vehicle to assist and guide young people,” Mayor Domenic Sarno said.

According to Grad Nation, community members have addressed ideas to improve attendance, including Pioneer Valley Transit Authority “bad weather passes” for students who walk to school and having parents and family members encourage to attend and stay in school.

For academic performance, ideas from the summit included better use of technology, having student access to technology at home, creating virtual classrooms, and building on student gifts and talents.

Community members identified additional tutoring, positive after school activities, and having men of color as teachers and mentors for ideas to improve out of school support.

“We’re partnered with every mental health clinic in the city of Springfield right now,” Warwick said. “We have partnerships with churches, with agencies like the Boys Club to provide the kind of wrap around services our families need.”