The Education Effect marks 4 years at Miami Northwestern

The Class of 2015 at Miami Northwestern Senior High School is the first graduating class to have been part of The Education Effect since freshman year.

When Taylor Williams first set foot on the campus of Florida International University, she found it more than a little overwhelming.

A freshman at Miami Northwestern Senior High School (MNW) in Liberty City, she had never been to a university before.

“I thought I was going to get lost,’’ said Taylor, 17.

Since freshman year, Taylor has visited FIU at least a dozen times through The Education Effect, the university community school partnership that began at the school in 2011.

This summer, Taylor will return to campus – as a nursing student.

“Being on the campus, touring the nursing school, talking to people, made me feel like college was for me,’’ said Taylor, who has been accepted into the Golden Scholars summer transition program.

Taylor is just one example of the many success stories at Miami Northwestern since The Education Effect began. This year’s graduates are the first to have been involved with the partnership throughout their entire high school career.

“The Education Effect has been part of their journey,’’ said Maria Lovett, faculty liaison for the partnership. “When they were freshmen, so were we.”

M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho spoke at this year’s Miami Northwestern Senior High School graduation.

Because of the partnership with FIU, this year’s graduates began thinking about college as early as freshman year, said Miami Northwestern Principal Wallace Aristide.

“They had that mindset early on and they made that commitment early on,’’ he said. “We’ve got middle school kids in Liberty City saying, “I want to go to FIU.’”

Even better, this year’s class achieved a record graduation rate, Aristide said – nearly 90 percent, up from 64 percent before the partnership began.

“We’re pushing toward that 100 percentage and I believe we’ll get there,’’ he said.

Improving Student Outcomes

Much has changed at Miami Northwestern since The Education Effect began. Lovett, who helped get the partnership off the ground, attributes that success as much to the students’ initiative and perseverance as to the work she and others have done.

“The Education Effect is effective because we facilitate opportunities for students to demonstrate what they know and support their demands for a quality education,’’ she said. “We have learned so much from these students – from their brilliant minds, their perseverance against personal challenges and their undeniable enthusiastic tenacity.’’

Working with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) – as well as parents, teachers, administrators and the community – FIU has supported the school’s efforts to boost student achievement, promote 100 percent graduation and ensure that students are college and career ready.

The partnership was funded by an initial $1 million grant from JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Chase followed that up with an additional $760,000 investment.

Last year, FIU secured $1 million from the Lennar Foundation to expand The Education Effect to a second school, Booker T. Washington Senior High School in Overtown.

By all measures, the partnership has been a success.

The school has gone from a historic D/F grade to an A or B ranking. Ten percent more students are going on to post-secondary education – and they are receiving millions of dollars in scholarships to get there.

This year’s 345 graduates received more than 400 acceptance letters for college (some received more than one.) Combined, they have earned nearly $5 million in scholarships to continue their education.

The number of MNW students enrolled at FIU has climbed as well – from 17 in 2010 to 58 last year.

Aristide said he credits The Education Effect team – and Rosenberg – for making such a profound commitment to the school and to Liberty City.

“FIU has a large footprint at Miami Northwestern and in Liberty City,’’ Aristide said. “Everybody in this community – parents, teachers, the entire community – knows about our partnership with FIU and what’s being done here.’’

Taylor Williams, Class of 2015 at Miami Northwestern Senior High, began taking dual enrollment courses through The Education Effect her senior year.

Changing student lives

More telling than statistics are the stories of student transformation.

Gina Greenidge, interim site director at MNW, said one of the greatest successes she witnessed this year was a young man who came to the school after 18 months in juvenile detention. She met with him weekly to discuss his post-graduation plans, research colleges and complete applications. He graduated this year and starts classes at Miami Dade College this summer.

“He was determined not to be what he called a ‘statistic,’” Greenidge said. “Battling homelessness, being a teen parent, having a record, he beat the odds.’’

Through The Education Effect, students at MNW are given opportunities to excel in everything from environmental science and agro-ecology to culinary arts and welding.

An aquaponics lab and organic garden, built at the school in 2013, provides students with hands-on instruction across a variety of disciplines, including science, business, entrepreneurship and civic engagement. A new welding lab at the school has trained more than a hundred students in valuable skills that prepare them to enter the workforce in high-demand, high-paying jobs.

Gaining Recognition

M-DCPS Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho has called The Education Effect the “most transformational force of education reform in America today.”

Rosenberg has traveled to Washington, D.C. to discuss the partnership’s success at the White House.

Last year, a top White House advisor on educational excellence visited both Miami Northwestern and Booker T. Washington to learn more about the partnership.

National accolades are not the only positive feedback The Education Effect has received. MNW students say their experience with the partnership has been influential in their lives.

Raquel Jackson, who will enter Boston College in the fall to pursue nursing and psychology, said the dual enrollment courses at MNW – which allow students to earn high school and college credit at the same time – helped her feel more prepared for college.

She took her first dual enrollment course – in environmental science – as a freshman. In 10^th grade, she got involved with the school’s aquaponics lab and garden.

“Writing for Social Action” – a service learning course in which students engage in meaningful service to enrich the learning experience – exposed Raquel to global issues she had never considered, such as water shortages in Africa.

“We take things like lights and water for granted,’’ she said. “That course really opened my eyes to a lot of things.’’

Moving forward, The Education Effect will continue to address student needs, particularly in career and workforce development, through internships and apprenticeships, said Greenidge. The partnership will work to engage even more parents and teachers from MNW, as well as more faculty from FIU.

Lovett said she is certain the partnership will continue to thrive – at Miami Northwestern, Booker T. and possibly other schools in the future.

“We are truly building a reciprocal partnership that is a benefit to FIU, Miami Northwestern and Liberty City,’’ she said.

She is just as certain about the success of the students who have been at the center of the partnership for the past four years.

“My proudest moment of the year was watching the students from the class of 2015 walk across the stage at graduation,’’ she said. “These kids are leaders. They are not passive. They are here to make a difference in the world and I have no doubt they will do just that.’’