The speech drew more than a handful of the Charlotte-based leaders of New Leaders, a nonprofit pushing for better-trained schoolhouse leaders nationwide. They just might have been there to hear from the boss.

Jean Desravines, above, is the New York-based CEO of New Leaders, the group formerly known as New Leaders for New Schools. He addressed the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum this morning and answered questions.

Below will be video clips from his initial comments, then his answers to questions.

Initial comments, Part 1

Initial comments, Part 2

Q: Children are having children, and many of the kids involved are the ones who don’t graduate. How does your leadership model address that?

Q: Are you teaching these new leaders how to overcome the unique damage that has been visited on African-American children by their history?

Louretta and Charles Rias both grew up on farms and bypassed school, as well as the chance to learn how to read, to help support their families.

Louretta was in the 10th grade when she stopped going to school completely, a revelation that hushed the crowd of 10th-graders at Manassas High School who gathered Wednesday morning for the “Reading Is Fundamental” event.

PAVE Academy Charter School Video from Ali Donovan on Vimeo.

A principal’s first day of school is hectic enough, but imagine having to do it twice in one year and you’ll be in David Curry’s shoes.

Curry, 35, of Laurel started Jan. 3 as Charles Carroll Middle School’s newest principal, and said while he plans to continue with the school’s existing programs, he hopes to add student volunteerism, mentoring and a focus on using performance data to tailor instruction to each student.

Curry, who replaces Eric Wood, began the school year at Temple Hills’ Benjamin Stoddert Middle School as a resident principal through the New Leaders for New Schools program, a yearlong principal-training program.

Curry will complete New Leaders by this spring and said his experience as an assistant principal at William Wirt Middle School in Riverdale from 2006 to 2011 helped him get the permanent job at Charles Carroll.

He will be at a Parent Teacher Organization meet-and-greet at the school starting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Wood introduced Curry to staff before winter break and again to students on Jan. 3. Curry’s days have been filled with classroom visits, reading through school documents, and pulling students aside in the halls to get to know them.

“Children are honest, so they’re going to let you know what’s going on, what’s not going on, what needs improvement,” Curry said.

Wood, who had been Charles Carroll’s principal since 2005, announced last summer he would be leaving for a job in the Prince George’s County Public School system’s Office of Talent Development. He stayed on as principal when the school system was struggling to find a good fit for the school.

Because New Leaders focuses on using classroom performance data to drive instruction, Curry will be looking at scores from the Formative Assessment System Test to see what concepts students should have learned by the end of second quarter and how teachers should change their instruction to reach struggling students. Students took the exam Monday through Wednesday.

Curry said he would like to see Charles Carroll students volunteer with the nonprofit Faith Based Collaborative Outreach Group, which holds monthly food pantries at the school, and mentor students at Lamont and Carrollton elementary schools. His goal is to have every student earn at least 30 student service-learning hours per year. County school students need 75 to graduate high school.

Karen Lee, Charles Carroll’s Parent Teacher Organization president, said she would like to see Curry change misconceptions among parents who believe that if their child is in a public school in a high-minority, low-income area that the child is less likely to succeed.

Lee, whose son Quinten Cooper is a Charles Carroll seventh-grader, said she realizes Curry can’t do that alone and is encouraged by the fact that he seems open to talking with parents, students and teachers.

“He made it plain that he was going to be doing a lot of conversation and he would sit down with the PTO, sit down with his staff and convey to us what he saw as a fresh pair of eyes coming in,” Lee said.

Wood said Curry is a great fit for Charles Carroll because, he said, Curry’s previous school, William Wirt, mirrors Charles Carroll in its demographics and programming such as the Transforming Education Through Digital Learning iPad initiative, which gives students Apple iPad tablets to complete school projects and assignments. Wood said Curry is a “tremendous collaborator” who will continue the school’s existing programs.

“He has a heart for the community and a passion for children and academic excellence,” Wood said. “He’s going to do that for all the programs we started several years ago.”

Curry said he was sad to leave Benjamin Stoddert so soon and he left his contact information for the children he grew close to at Stoddert in case they need a mentor or want to see a friendly face at their sporting events.

“We’re all in this business of helping children,” Curry said. “I want to see everybody do well.”

nmcgill@gazette.net

It’s 9:00 on a Wednesday morning and Principal Stacy Place is on the move at
William Paca Elementary school in East Baltimore’s McElderry Park.

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Misha Simmonds (Cohort 7) of University Heights Charter School in Newark, NJ, has been honored as Playworks’ Most Valuable Principal. University Heights students at the school describe him as “silly, a great player, a good teacher and above all else, fun.”

In addition to his outstanding mentorship and communications with the Playworks staff, Mr. Simmonds plays with the kids on the playground and is one of the fastest adults ever to “turn over as many cones as possible during a game of Bulldozers and Builders.

“Mr. Simmonds embodies the power of play and its transformative ability to enhance the culture of a school,” says Playworks Newark Executive Director Adeola Whitney. “While he is a serious educator and has made remarkable improvements and strides at the school, he has done so with a smile and by getting out on the playground to ensure his students are active and engaged at recess. He’s truly committed to play.”

See the full list at forbes.com >>

Read the full article at nbcwashington.com >>

Two students from Academies at Anacostia, a public charter school in D.C., will have the honor of being mentored by none other than President Barack Obama.

Juniors Alonzo Tabron and Malcolm Ware were chosen because they showed a marked improvement, both academically and behaviorally, over the past two years despite challenging home circumstances, a school spokesperson said. The president will mentor them until they graduate from high school.

Since 2009, Friendship Public Charter School has partnered with DCPS to to turn around what was previously called Anacostia High School. According to the school, the graduation rate has increased from 57 percent to 79 percent since the partnership began, with 90 percent of graduates being accepted to college.

Last year, first lady Michelle Obama, gave the commencement address to students at the school. She mentors Gabrielle Dukes, also a junior there.

Photo credit: WAMU