ACLC Lead Facilitator Report – David Hoopes
ACLC Board of Directors
June 3rd, 2015
ACLC National Rankings Best High Schools
ACLC is back in the US News and World Report list of medal wining schools. The U.S. News rankings include data on more than 21,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were awarded gold, silver or bronze medals based on their performance on state assessments and how well they prepare students for college.ACLC’s Bronze medal award reflects our model and the calculation used by US News. Bronze is the highest award possible given the high weight they pace on AP courses.
Many different kinds of schools are among those recognized in the 2015 Best High Schools rankings. U.S. News looked at more than 29,000 public high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine which schools excelled in each state and nationally.To create the 2015 Best High Schools rankings, U.S. News worked with RTI International, a North Carolina-based research firm. High schools were evaluated in three stages.
First, U.S. News looked at overall student performance on state-required tests. Schools had to perform better than average to pass, but because of a slight change to the methodology this year, more schools qualified for the rankings.Then, U.S. News factored in how effectively schools educated their least-advantaged students -- those of black, Hispanic and low-income backgrounds. Finally, schools were assessed on how well they prepared students for college based on participation in and performance on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.
In the national rankings, 500 high schools received gold medals, 2,027 schools earned silver and 3,990 took home bronze.Again, it is important to note: A bronze medal school either does not offer any AP or IB courses. We are very proud to be back on the list.
ACLC College Acceptances:Congratulations to our seniors! This has been an exciting year with acceptances from many different colleges:
New York University, Yale, Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Univ. Of British Columbia, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Northeastern, Pratt Institute, Sarah Lawrence College, Northwestern, Mills College, Syracuse, San Francisco Art Institute, Academy of Arts, MCPHS Univ., California College of the Arts, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame de Lamur, Pudget Sound, CSU Fullerton, San Diego State, Pomona State, Chico State, San Jose State, Humboldt State, CSU Monterey, Sonoma State, San Francisco State, Sacramento State, CSU East Bay, CSU Los Angeles, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego,
Graduation
OnTuesday June 9ththe entire ACLC community, friends, and family are invited to celebrate the Graduation of the Class of 2015.The graduation will be held from 2-4pmat the Kofman Auditorium located at 2200 Central Avenue in Alameda- At 6pm, an invitation only dinner will be held at the Wedgewood Metropolitan Golf Links at 10051 Doolittle Dr in Oakland (just past the Oakland Airport)
- At8:30,the ACLC community is invited to join the graduates and their families for dessert and dancing. The party will conclude at10pm.
CCEFand PAC Update
CCEF and PAC held another joint meeting to look at their survey results. The meeting was attended by the CCEF Board members, PAC members and a few new parents starting at ACLC next school year. The meeting was especially interesting as we were able to lay out some frustrations between the two bodies. Also, we had a chance to do some long range planning for the summer and next year.
Please look at the results from the Mid year survey. They are very insightful.
May 12th is ACLC's Annual Community Forum!
On May 12th parents learners and community members gathered for our annual forum in the Boys and Girls Club. The event was open to the entire community. The evening was facilitated by Pac Leadership and Lynn Kameny. It was a dynamic dialogue to help shape ACLC moving forward. Groups discussed the following five areas of growth and provided suggestions for future change. Learners led these discussion groups.
- Intramural sports/ arts enrichment
- The Center revisited/ alignment of Center with ACLC model
- Community involvement/ community events
- Physical environment/ beautification/ school spirit
Cardboard Boat Races
- The annual Jim Richards Cardboard Boat Races were held at the Emma Hood Swim Center at Alameda High School . The culminating project for ACLC's 8th Grade Science and Nea's 9th grade Physics classes, the Cardboard Boat Project tasks learners to use their knowledge of density, buoyancy, and other physical science topics to design and construct two-person boats made only of cardboard and small amounts of tape, glue, and paint.
The culminating project for ACLC's 8th Grade Science and Nea's 9th grade Physics classes, the Cardboard Boat Project, tasks learners to use their knowledge of density, buoyancy, and other physical science topics to design and construct two-person boats made only of cardboard and small amounts of tape, glue, and paint. During the actual Boat Races event on the 27th, learner teams will compete in exciting pool length races vying for the coveted Gold, Silver, and Bronze Paddle Awards (for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in the races), as well as other various honors, including the Golden Bulb Award (for most creative design) and the Bronze Bucket Award (for the fastest sinking boat.)
Please come out to see a fine example of our programs' creative project-based curricula, and to cheer our learners on.
Please share this link with those you think might be interested in attending:
For newbies, or those who need a reminder of how much fun this event is, here is a video from last year:
Romeo and Juliet
- An ACLC annual event, this year, to honor S.E. Hinton's classic novel, the ninth grade class will be presenting, "Romeo and Juliet The Ultimate Outsiders." Set in the 1950s, the Freshman class will be re-writing, casting, staging and directing their re-visioning of the classic tale of star-crossed lovers
Sometimes a trashy photo and a clever hashtag are all that's needed to start a global movement. Inspired by his daughter's concern for the environment, Oakland resident Jeff Kirschner started a clean-up campaign in 2012 by taking photos of trash he picked up in his neighborhood and posting them on Instagram with the hashtag "#litterati" along with a geo-tag showing the litter's location.
Soon other litter picker-uppers joined the effort by posting images of their geo-tagged trash using #litterati, and the Litterati movement went viral. Kirschner followed-up by launching "The Digital Landfill" website to showcase the #litterati Instagram feed, along with a Google map displaying the geo-tagged and time-stamped images of litter picked up around the world.
The Alameda Community Learning Center (ACLC) was fortunate to have Kirschner as the keynote speaker at their first ever school-wide Earth Day Celebration, held on April 22. Kirschner's talk about the Litterati movement and other earth-friendly activities were the focus of the daylong celebration to create greater environmental awareness at the school.
"Jeff showed us how easy it is to make our world a better place," said ACLC sophomore, Avalon Cassard. "He explained that Litterati not only inspires people to pick up trash, but that they use the geo-tags to help cities put trash and recycling containers where the most litter is found. The photos of trash with brand names also encourage those companies to be more environmentally aware. It's cool that something so simple can make such a big difference!"
Besides Kirschner's keynote presentation, ACLC's Earth Day event featured a variety of environmental educational sessions run by other guest environmental experts, students in ACLC's Environmental Leadership class and ACLC facilitators (teachers). Sessions included: making pillows out of recycled fabrics, making glassware out of recycled glass bottles, making chair mats out of recycled T-shirts, planting trees and other foliage around the school, and how to use solar and other alternative sources of energy. The day wrapped up with small group sessions to exchange ideas on how to be more environmentally conscious at home.
The Earth Day event was planned and run by ACLC's Environmental Leadership class consisting of seniors, Michelle Cossette, Michelle Luo, Taylor Tran, Chloe Feng, and junior, Kasilena Gonzales, and facilitated by ACLC teacher, Patricia Williamson.
"We wanted to make the environmental message real to our fellow learners," said Michelle Cossette. "That's why we planned hands-on activities they'd have fun making, be able to take home and use, or give as gifts. Each time they see or use the item they made from recycled materials, they'll be reminded to take care of the earth."
ACLC Radio
ACLC Radio is now up on our YouTube channel. Here's the link to the video:
Perspectives:
ACLC is on the radio. Senior Nia Brown is highlighted in "Perspective" on KQED radio, with an essay she wrote for English 4:
Congratulations toJocelyn Briar and Justin Kelley-Cahill
Jocelyn Briar and Justin Kelley-Cahillreceived the Delta Kappa Gamma annual citizenship award. These special learners were honored with a personalized plaque at an awards ceremony.Justin and Juclyn were nominated by facilitators and received the award last weeks in a ceremony at Paden Elementary.
Feel free to subscribe to it for any video updates.Thank you everyone who has supported ACLC Radio thus far!
Congratulations to the physics class and the solar cooking project. They learned about concentration of heat, light waves and the power of solar energy. Also, teamwork, problem solving and collaboration. Spot Randy in the background helping learners.ACLC Pioneers in Engineering (PiE)
Congratulations to the ACLC Pioneers in Engineering (PiE). ACLC had an exhilarating two days of competition. After the qualifying rounds ACLC formed an alliance for the semifinal round competition. They were very proud of their result. Once again, congratulations to Danny Bradac and the entire learner team for their hard work.Romeo and Juliet at ACLC
An ACLC annual event, this year, to honor S.E. Hinton's classic novel, the ninth grade class will be presenting, "Romeo and Juliet The Ultimate Outsiders." Set in the 1950s, the freshman class will be re-writing, casting, staging and directing their re-visioning of the classic tale of star-crossed lovers. You'll definitely "go ape" for this "fat city" version of Romeo and Juliet! Slated for the end of May, stay tuned for exact dates, based on scheduling of the gym at the Boys and Girls Club.
ACLC SPED Count
- 504’s = 33
- IEP’s = 28
- 3 alternative placements