Few urban high schools
working with students who are demographically underrepresented in higher
education have been able to prepare all of their students to attend college. JFF
Program Director Donna Rodrigues founded one such school, the
University Park
Campus
School in
Worcester,
Massachusetts. All UPCS students have passed the rigorous,
state-mandated graduation exam, and all graduates have gone to college. The school
was named the highest performing urban high school in
Massachusetts by MassINC and the #68 high school in the nation by
Newsweek Magazine.
Jobs for the Future has
partnered with the
University Park
Campus
School and Clark University in
Worcester,
Massachusetts to create the UPCS/Clark Institute for Student
Success. The Institute uses UPCS as a “learning laboratory” to train school
developers, leaders, and teachers to implement the proven instructional and
leadership practices that have made the
University Park
Campus
School into a national model. Because the professional
development takes place onsite with real teachers and students, the institute
provides a concrete example of excellence to the
early
college
high schools and other small schools in attendance
.
The UPCS/Clark Institute for
Student Success offers a summer institute where participants observe the
school’s
August
Academy orientation session for incoming seventh graders and attend
instructional leadership workshops. During the academic year, the institute
hosts two-and-a-half day immersion residency trainings at the school. It also
develops print and online resources to support practitioners as they implement
the best practices used by UPCS at their own sites.
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