Melissa Bailey Photo
Warren Wicks, Jr. and Jada Miller set to work Tuesday on their first day at college, as Southern Connecticut State University launched a new program to tackle the achievement gap. They may be going to college for eight years, and for free.
Warren and Jada (pictured above) are rising 4th-graders at New Haven public schools. On Tuesday, they became members of the first-ever Southern Academy. They’ll return to class every weekday for five weeks — and, if they want to, every summer until they are seniors in high school.
Southern Academy launched Tuesday with 25 students from three schools: King/Robinson, Lincoln-Bassett, and Beecher. Students will attend summer classes from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the morning, they’ll focus on reading and vocab. In the afternoons, they’ll do art, drama, physical education and go on field trips.
SCSU interim President Stanley Battle, who came up with the idea, said he intends to welcome these kids back every summer for a total of eight years, to give them support until they’re ready to go to college.
Battle (pictured) said he found room in the university budget to pay for the program.
“If we don’t invest in them, they’re not going to go to college,” Battle said.
It’s part of a new effort he’s been making, with the help of his pal Bill Cosby, to encourage New Haven kids from low-resource communities to stay in school and go to college. Cosby promoted the program during one of three visits to the participating New Haven schools. Cosby also hit the streets in Newhallville to spread the word from door to door.
Parents must provide transportation for the Southern Academy; the rest of the ride is free. Battle said he aims to add a class of 25 students each year; he said Cosby will return to New Haven in the fall for a fundraiser that will help pay for the program’s expansion. One corporate donor, Dell, has already made a large contribution.
Steve Seaforth, an education account executive for Dell, revealed that gift Tuesday: As part of the program, each student got a free Dell Notebook laptop, which they’ll be able to use during their classes on campus. Dell donated the computers. The company will be donating staff time to maintain the computers for three to four years, and more staff time to give kids tutorials in how to use them, Battle said.
Dell has committed to providing laptops for 200 students, Battle said.
The summer classes will be taught by SCSU graduate students, including Sareth Burgess (at left in photo), who teaches at the Clinton Avenue school. The ratio of students to teachers will be no greater than 5 to 1, said SCSU spokesman Joseph Musante. The relationships won’t stop when summer classes end on Aug. 10: Students will visit the campus regularly and take field trips with Southern Academy staff, he said.
In a speech before the students Tuesday, New Haven schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo thanked Battle for dreaming up the idea for the academy and giving kids a rare opportunity. He said the program complements the district’s summer classes, which serve 6,000 kids per year.
Mayo later said the program will give a big boost to the city’s new effort to encourage college-going, including the new Promise college scholarship program. Southern Academy will help kids to get comfortable at a college campus, and to “get that [college-going] culture started early on.”
The program will also include some workshops with parents — parents like Sonja Schmidt, daughter of Amanda (pictured). Amanda met Cosby when she visited Beecher school in June. Schmidt said the family lives in East Haven, and got into Beecher through the interdistrict magnet lottery.
“It’s amazing,” she said of the new program. “She’ll be part of this until she’s a senior.” She said her daughter is already talking about attending college at SCSU.
That’s precisely what Battle was rooting for in making this investment in the kids, he said. He said he hopes they get college degrees, so they can launch successful careers.
“I want them to pay my social security,” he quipped.
Battle pledged to be personally involved with Southern Academy, just as he has been in the city schools. He has adopted a kindergarten class this year at King/Robinson; he said he plans to continue tutoring there next year.
Jim Barber, SCSU’s director of student support services, said the students at Southern Academy were selected by administrators at the three participating schools. He said he asked principals to pick kids who would most benefit from a five-week session — not the top-performers who would do fine without the program, and not the bottom-performers, for whom five weeks may not make a big impact.
Battle said the end goal is to boost New Haven public students to the level of their suburban peers.
“I’m tired about hearing about achievement gap,” Battles said. “We don’t need to talk about it — we just need to work.”
After the press event, students set to work filling out get-to-know-you BINGO cards with information on their new classmates.