Foundation Grantee Receives Schott Award
July 24, 2007
This year the Frederick Douglass Academy (FDA), a New York City public school and a Hayden Foundation grantee, received The Schott Award for Excellence in the Education of African-American Male Students, which recognizes high schools that support academic excellence, that are closing achievement gaps in graduation rates, and that are successful as educational institutions for male Black students. The Frederick Douglass Academy is the only urban inner-city school in the country to receive such recognition.
In recognition of this award, the Schott Foundation for Public Education granted a $10,000 college scholarship to Najee Gardner, a 2007 FDA graduate.
About the Academy
The Frederick Douglass Academy opened in 1991 in the center of Harlem with a goal of providing “a rich, vigorous and challenging academic curriculum that will prepare students to enter the college of their choice.” It currently has approximately 1,600 students in grades 6 through 12. Ninety percent of the students live in the immediate neighborhood, almost 100 percent are Black or Hispanic, and about 20 percent have home languages other than English. In 2005, 63.6 percent were eligible for free lunch, a figure that says much about the socio-economic status of the student body.
Even so, The Frederick Douglass Academy consistently competes successfully with the best schools in New York City. In 2005, the graduation rate was 92.6 percent, in line with a 7-year average of 92 percent. Regents and SAT scores are also consistently higher than the city average by 30 to 40 percent. FDA students currently attend colleges and universities such as Boston College, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard and Ithaca College. The Class of 2007 was awarded $6.5 million in scholarship dollars.
All this, and FDA actually spent less money per student than other New York City schools.
A Climate of High Expectations
According to a recent Department of Education Quality Review, “The principal provides outstanding leadership for the school. His passionate commitment that all students will do well is the driving force behind the sustained high performance of the school.”
That principal is Dr. Gregory Hodge, who adheres to a stringent formula of strict discipline and high expectations. “Every student must take the rigorous courses we demand of them,” he observed. “They must take calculus. That’s not a choice. It’s not an elective. They must take physics. That’s not an elective. The more difficult the curriculum, the greater the likelihood that students will be successful.”
New students must attend a mandatory Summer Academy (6 weeks for high school students; 3 weeks for middle school) to prepare them for succeeding at FDA. There is also a strict dress code. Students are required to wear plain white shirts/blouses, navy blue pants/skirts and black shoes. “The more you keep the street out of the school,” noted Principal Hodge, “the more you set the tone for instruction.”
All students must adhere to a Student Creed, based upon Morehouse College’s, as well as to a list of “12 Non-negotiable” rules and regulations governing attendance and behavior. Four hours of homework are given every night. College preparation begins in the 6th grade. Middle school students study Japanese or Latin, music, art, chess and dance in addition to academic classes. Students take regents classes starting in the 8th grade, and many will have completed the requirements for a high school diploma by the end of the 11th grade. Students then take advanced placement courses, and in some cases, introductory college courses at Hunter College.
Moreover, Principal Hodge insists that his staff display the same drive that he does. According to the Department of Education, Hodge “has assembled a team of like-minded colleagues who share the school’s aims and values.... Teachers are selected for their support of the school’s mission, their subject mastery, and their willingness to engage in extra-curricular activity.” When prospective teachers ask how they will be evaluated, Hodge replies, “How will you evaluate your students? Through test scores. That’s how I’ll evaluate you—through their test scores.”
The Charles Hayden Foundation is proud to be a supporter of The Frederick Douglass Academy, and we extend our congratulations to Principal Hodge, to his dedicated staff, and, of course, to the students themselves!