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Partnering for Success: Community Based Organizations

"It takes a village to raise a child." STAR Academy realizes that education goes beyond the classrom and school. We have created meaningful partnerships with many Community Based Organizations to support our students and families. Read about some of our partnerships below. 

Free After-School Program with University Settlement

Our school has a partnership with University Settlment After School Program. 

 

Since 2007, University Settlement's After-School Program has expanded to 13 sites, offering free programs that respond to community needs and create a platform for children to be their best, both in and out of school.

 

Reaching more than 2,000 children each year in grades K-5 throughout the Lower East Side and Brooklyn, the program fills potentially idle hours with enriching recreational and educational activities that might otherwise be unavailable to the youth we serve.

 

Addressing each child's needs, the program fosters social, emotional, physical, moral and cognitive development through creative, project-based learning. All of our after-school programs emphasize literacy and education, providing homework help, tutoring, and the opportunity to use reading and writing as tools for exploration. In addition, we offer a range of enriching experiences, including:

  • Music

  • Dance

  • Drama

  • Visual Arts

  • Sports

  • Recreation

  • Community Service

  • A nutritious dinner

All after-school services are provided free of charge to participants, and our multicultural staff speak English and Spanish.

   
Script to Stage

Every 5th grader in our school gets to participate in a semester-long screen writing program where students write their own original short script, then see it performaced live by professional actors

 

The Script-to-Stage program meets once a week for ten weeks. Led by a volunteer Head Mentor, each session is a mixture of creative game play and one-on-one writing time. Students are paired with a mentor from the entertainment industry to help guide and encourage them as they imagine and develop their own short script. At the end of the program, professional actors volunteer to perform the students’ scripts at an in-school assembly called the “Big Show.”

 
YMCA 2nd Grade Swim Program

Second grade is an ideal time for young people to take on new challenges, learn more skills and enhance their feelings of mastery and competence. Through 2nd Grade Swim, the YMCA of Greater New York seeks to offer children lessons in swimming skills and water safety that will keep them safe and build physical and social skills.

 

2nd Grade Swim works to build on students aquatic skills, while enhancing self confidence and well-being. Classes run in eight-week cycles during the academic year during school hours. Children are brought to their school’s local Y by school personnel who will remain with them throughout the changing process and at the pool area during swim lessons. Our 2nd Grade, participates in this program every year. 

 

2nd Grade Swim students progress through a scientifically-based national YMCA curriculum that incorporates the following five components:

  • Personal Safety: Students learn to be safety conscious in and around water. The information forms the basis of accident prevention. Survival skills, self-rescue and boating safety are taught.

  • Personal Growth: In learning new skills students build self-esteem. They also learn the consequences of their choices in relation to water safety.

  • Stroke Development: Students are taught through stroke techniques. Paddling skills, treading, floating, basic rescue skills and safety using lifejackets are among those taught.

  • Water Games: Games are used to enhance skills learned. Retrieving objects underwater and passing a ball are examples of is taught.

  • Rescue: Students learn safety techniques – knowing when to yell for help, being able to go to an adult for assistance, reaching and throwing assists.

Notes in Motion Dance Program

Notes in Motion Dance Programs are united by a singular approach to arts education, The Movement Exchange Method, in which students take on leadership roles in their own learning, have creative input in the design of the curriculum, participate in critical discussions of the work of their peers, and develop collaborative skills. Programs foster self-discovery, risk-taking, and making connections between different topics, themes, and areas of learning. We aim to provide access to the art form of dance to inspire the next generation of dance appreciators. Students are physically active throughout class sessions practicing improvisation exercises, developing technical skills, working in small groups, and creating original dance performances. In addition, there are many opportunities for students to process their learning through class discussion, writing and drawing exercises, and audience feedback sessions. 

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Notes in Motion also offers a fee-based afterschool program for PreK at STAR Academy.

 

Music and The Brain
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Starting in Pre K, all STAR Academy students get to participate in our music program several times a week. The learn about different genres of music, different concepts of music and the habits of a musician. Our partnership with Music and the Brain has provided us with 25 keyboards in our music room.

 

Four elements are involved in every Music and the Brain class:

1) Music Concepts and Ear Training

2) Warm-ups

3) Learning/Practicing/Playing/Repertoire

4) Performance/Creativity

Recess Enhancement Program (REP) by Asphalt Green 

Asphalt Green's Recess Enhancement Program (REP) transforms the culture of recess by making it an active and cooperative time for both students and staff. Begun in 2001, REP is now in 60 public elementary schools in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx and reaches close to 27,500 students.

 

REP targets neighborhoods with high sedentary levels, as well as schools where a majority of students qualify for free or reduced price meals. REP addresses a range of barriers that prevent physical activity in schools by redefining recess and making physical activity an educational tool for schools and students. It is becoming clear that if we want our children to succeed in the classroom, then we need to start getting them more active on the playground.

 

REP sends coaches to facilitate group games during recess, that encourage all students to participate and become Team Players. 

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Other Partnerships

  • Go Project- Go Project provides extra academic support for students. Students attend a Saturday school and a summer program facilitate by certified teachers. Go Project works closely with the classroom teachers to provide targeted help and assess progress.

 

  • Learning Leaders- Learning Leaders is an organization that puts trained volunteers in the classroom. Learning Leaders work one-on-one with students to support reading fluency and expression as well as support classroom teachers in whatever way they need.

 

  • NYU America Reads Tutors- America Reads tutors provides college students the opportunity to work in schools and earn financial assistance. These tutors work in classrooms to supprt the teacher and work one-on-one with students on their sight words, math fast facts, and classroom curriculum.

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