Community Appeal to “Occupy the High”

Dear Community Members,

This is an appeal to the community at large to support Boys and Girls High School, affectionately known as the “Pride and Joy of Bedford Stuyvesant.” It is no secret that we face many challenges in educating our students and the recent failing Report Card grade is indicative of a challenge that we must both address and overcome. Our school’s vision states that children achieve success and embrace learning when they feel safe and are supported by competent and caring adults. We are launching “Occupy the High,” an initiative to recruit and train 100 competent and caring members of this community to come in and tutor our students, supporting them in passing their Regents Exams in January and June of 2012. If this campaign is successful it will assist in upgrading our school status and improve our graduation rate. Boys and Girls High School is a Community School and Principal Gassaway recognizes the strategic role that the community must play to successfully turn around this important institution.

The staff and students of Boys and Girls High School have also worked hard to prove our commitment to this community. We recently hosted Thanksgiving Dinner serving over 500 senior citizens in our cafeteria. That same weekend Kangaroo Basketball Classic brought together over 1000 members of this community in support our scholar athletes. All athletes are required to do community service and Principal Gassaway recently announced that Boys and Girls H.S. students would render at least 25,000 hours of community service this year. While we are far from a failing school, we do recognize that there is still tremendous work required to turn this institution around. There is no institution more important to this community than Boys and Girls H.S. and there is no greater resource than you the residents.

This is a critical and transitional moment in the history of Boys & Girls High School, and your support is of the upmost importance.

We are looking for tutors with expertise in the areas of Math, Science, and History. We look forward to hearing from you and to returning our school to its great legacy of scholarship and community service. “Occupy the High” is an initiative of the CARE Center, a network of community partnerships providing support services to the students and families of Boys and Girls High School. If you are interested in joining “Occupy the High” please contact Stanley Kinard at 718-467-1700 ext 1230 or Kizzie Brown-Duah via email at Kbrown@restorationplaza.org. There will be a recruitment meeting for tutors at 6pm on Wednesday December 7, 2011 at Boys and Girls High School.