Where it all began

When I was 17 I started teaching summer school courses for middle school students through an amazing, life-altering nonprofit called Summerbridge (now Breakthrough Collaborative).  This year Breakthrough is celebrating its 30 year anniversary and featured me in their “30 Leaders in 30 Years” article.  I encourage you to read the Celebration newsletter for a sense of the transformative nature of Breakthrough and a reminder about the power of youth.  Last school year I spoke with a group of Campus Y volunteers at Wash U about my trajectory as an education entrepreneur.  When I returned this fall, one of the volunteers stopped by to tell me that he had been so inspired by my talk that he applied and taught in the Breakthrough Miami program and will return to teach again in 2009.

I am humbled to be in the company of so many change agents for education reform.  I’d like to extend my sincerest thanks to each of you for being a part of this vision for St. Louis.

Peace,
Rhonda

Like Dewey, Soldan or Metro?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by families familiar with the St. Louis Public Schools.  SLPS has a well-respected international studies K-12 program at Dewey (elementary), Bunche (middle) and Soldan (high school) as well as an IB program at Metro.  How will SLLIS schools be different from these successful schools?

International Studies vs. Language Immersion
The international studies program in the SLPS schools does not have an immersion option at any grade level.  Students at Dewey are exposed to a variety of language and culture studies in isolated classes as well as school-wide celebrations and emphasis on intercultural understanding. Bunche and Soldan offer a large variety of world language courses and co-curricular culture groups, but again, the language learning program is isolated like the secondary programs that most Americans attended. At every SLLIS elementary school, all of the subject matter, with the exception of English, will be taught in the immersion language.  Starting in kindergarten SLLIS students will be able to follow and perform their entire school day in another language.  When they complete 5th grade they will be able to perform all of their school work in both languages.  In the eventual SLLIS middle school and high school students will be able to begin a third language of study and potentially graduate completely bilingual, biliterate and proficient in a third language.

IB for all students
What about Metro or Lindbergh in South County?  Both of these high schools successfully offer traditional IB Diploma Programmes.   The Diploma Programme curriculum was the first framework designed by the International Baccalaureate Organization and is most well-known for offering an additional diploma and individual course credits that are often recognized by universities (like AP or Advanced Credit programs).  Traditional IB programs are operated as a track within a comprehensive school that is generally only followed by the most motivated students, often those who have tested into the school or IB program.

The IB curriculum actually starts in pre-K and at SLLIS we will introduce all of our students and teachers to the IB from the very beginning and continue the curricular frameworks throughout the secondary years.  While teaching at Baccalaureate School for Global Education (BSGE) I was able to witness first-hand the gains that all students can make when the universal expectation was the IB Diploma.  Instead of making SLLIS have competitive entrance requirements or only expecting success from the brightest students, SLLIS will teach the ways of working and learning that enhance a student’s ability to be successful on measures like the IB exams.  What impresses me most about this concept of IB For All Students are the gains that average students make when faced with consistently high standards.  At BSGE we had students who were below, at and above grade level at the beginning of their studies.  To see a student who, in a regular school, might never be encouraged to pursue IB studies, receive an IB certificate was just as rewarding as seeing the top student receive the full diploma.  Our goal is to prepare a broader range of students for this rigorous and rewarding intellectual experience.

Rhonda: From Headstart to Harvard*

Like too many of our nation’s youth I grew up in a tightly-knit, low-income Black community in Lafayette, LA, with low-performing all-Black public schools. From an early age I was keenly aware of the academic benefits that I received which distinguished me from my peers. This awareness was coupled with a strong sense of social justice “Why doesn’t everyone have access to these programs, teachers and learning freedoms?” “How can we expose more of my peers to these opportunities?” I see our school model, the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme in particular, as a vehicle to move more students from Head Start to Harvard. We could spend time blaming social deficiencies for the failures of our low-income students or we can place them on a path rich in social capital, positive culture, and high expectations for all.

Below is my list of how I went from Head Start to Here. For the most part I’ve omitted personal influences and muses because I want to emphasize the world of educational opportunities that are changing lives daily.

Think about it. What are the institutional benefits that have sculpted who you are today?

1. Head Start at Paul Breaux Elementary
2. Ms. Babin. My kindergarten teacher at Vermillion Elementary created an in-home summer enrichment camp for me and a few other students during the summer between First and Second Grades. We read a lot, learned our multiplication tables, prepared meals and went on field trips to the zoo.
3. Gifted and Talented programs
4. Summer school at UL
5. Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts
6. Summerbridge/Breakthrough: New Orleans, Kansas City and San Francisco National
7. Washington University in St. Louis
8. Campus Y
9. School for International Training, Cameroon
10. Where I’ve taught:
a. McCluer High School, Florissant, MO
b. Options for Youth Charter School, Long Beach, CA
c. Conard High School, West Hartford, CT
d. Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development, Brooklyn, NY
e. Baccalaureate School for Global Education, Queens, NY
11. Institute of French Studies at New York University
12. Université de juillet/ Université des Antilles-Guyane
13. International Baccalaureate Organization
14. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
15. La Crèche

*SLLIS does not claim that all of our students will go to Harvard. We are most concerned with strategically repositioning children for increased academic and professional success.

Our ambitious project

“If we are going to change our schools, our nation, we’re going to have to do it [ourselves].”
- Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone

About a year ago a small group of concerned citizens, parents, and community leaders began a lofty conversation about creating a new type of school in St. Louis City. Our biggest framing questions were:

• Which school communities would we want or have wanted for our own children?
• What types of educational programs dramatically change the lives of their students, families and cities?
• How can we make our school community a real community? One in which parents, neighbors and civic leaders are invested in the school’s success and are proud of our students’ accomplishments?
• Which school model would stimulate true professional learning communities for all of its members?

In August 2007 we incorporated our non-profit organization St. Louis Language Immersion Schools (SLLIS), and continued systemic research about best practices in pedagogy, school administration, community outreach, parent support programs, finance and development. By creating SLLIS we committed ourselves to learning about the success and obstacles that established and newer schools face, as well as the fiduciary practices of successful non-profit and for-profit businesses. As an organization we intend to build the strongest fiduciary and governance entity possible, with real input from our community at the grassroots level. What we have learned from successful schools nationwide- private, public and charter—is that a school needs both of these elements to achieve long-term sustainability.

Based on the success of private, public and charter schools nationwide, we decided to design a uniquely ambitious elementary school model that incorporates total language immersion and the International Baccalaureate curricular frameworks for all students in a free, public school. In 2009 we will open the first two schools in our network: The French School and The ________ School (both German and Spanish are being considered) with classes of kindergarten and first grade. These schools will be free, public charter schools in the City of St. Louis and part of a fast growing sector of American elementary schools with the International Baccalaureate curriculum.

We’re initiating this blog to create a public forum that chronicles our planning process, our progress towards obtaining our charter from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and engaging potential founding families around the academic and social gains of students in total language immersion programs, international curricula and small school communities. Each week I will write updates from the SLLIS perspective, pass the keyboard to our Board of Directors for their input and invite guests to comment on their experiences with language immersion, multilingualism, IB, and start-up school movements. I look forward to learning more about how our school model can further develop the education landscape in St. Louis.

Optimistically,

Rhonda J. Broussard
Executive Director