December e-ClassNotes

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Honoring Top Educators

We partner with outstanding leaders who are transforming education for students across the country by embracing the power of game-based learning. During an intimate holiday gathering of Classroom, Inc. friends, donors, and partners, we honored a few of these incredible educators who are impacting students’ lives in New York City.

Three Cheers for Our Honorees:Derek Cradle, Assistant Principal, High School for Sports Management, Brooklyn
Marilyn Machuca, Teacher, The Incarnation School, Washington Heights
Pauline O’Brien, Principal, High School for Medical Professions, Brooklyn

Derek explained what it’s like to witness the games in action: “These young people have an opportunity to really control their learning. It’s the best environments when I see the young people working—they are reading, they look forward to coming to class each day.” And that engagement makes a difference; Pauline proudly shared that what was once a very low graduation rate for her high school, is now around 90 percent thanks to partners like Classroom, Inc. Marilyn brought in the child’s perspective by sharing a favorite anecdote from one of her students: “It is a great program, we enjoy learning and take advantage of everything we’re learning. We appreciate everything that we learn to put into practice for our future. Thank you, Classroom Inc.!”

We thank all of our students and educators and look forward to a successful new year!

2014: That’s a Wrap!

What a year! We are barreling into the holidays and 2015 at warp speed, but we thought we’d take a minute to reflect on our highlights of 2014. Thanks to so many amazing partners, we had a banner year!

Launched After the Storm, our premier literacy learning game for middle school students.
Expanded our reach. We worked with 17,000 students and 325 educators, and hit the one million-visits mark with The Sports Network-2 on BrainPOP’s Game Up.
Completed a four-year study of our programs, which showed average reading gains of one year, five months during the school year. Read the analysis by third-party evaluator Metis Associates.
Joined important conversations about the power of learning games and assessments.
Learned from our peers and experts at education conferences around the country. Get a refresher on some our highlights: SXSWedu, National Conference on Summer Learning, Council of Great City Schools & AMLE, and Games in Education.

Happy New Year! We look forward to topping all of these accomplishments alongside each of you in 2015.

We’re Hiring!

Know of a fundraising candidate with a couple years of experience? Please share the open position with your network:

Development Associate

Archdiocese of New York

This fall, we launched programs at four schools that are part of the Archdiocese of New York, including St. Brendan (Bronx), St. Benedicta (Staten Island), St. Ann (Bronx), and St. Lucy (Bronx). Students are using Classroom, Inc. programs to explore their roles as bank teller, physician’s assistant, editor-in-chief of a magazine, and managing director of a sports network.

We visited St. Brendan and St. Ann earlier this month, and immediately saw how much of an impact the learning games are having on students. They told us firsthand (although the pictures are worth a thousand words!):

Jesus: “It helps with reading, it helps with important stuff, like prompting you to write down the main idea. I like that it guides you, but you make the decisions. It’s a game!”

Layrena: “It’s a little bit of everything. I feel cool being the boss.”

Ananya: “I really like how you can interact with the program, it’s so different!”

In January, we’ll return to the schools to provide professional development and hands-on guidance to help educators link the games to Common Core-aligned projects. This partnership has been made possible by the generous support from Bob & Kate Niehaus.

Check out the full list of news, blogs, and reports that caught our eye this month in our December RoundUP.

NY State Education Commissioner to Leave Post, NY Times:John King will leave his post for a high-level position under Sec. Arne Duncan. The staunch advocate for the Common Core will leave the state at the end of the year.

FCC Pumps Additional $1.5B into E-Rate Funding, US News & World Report:

This month, the FCC approved additional funds to help schools that need the most support with access to technology and high-speed Internet. The program has received flat funding for more than a decade, so this is a significant development.

Edtech Implementation Without Supports Cannot Stand, Education Week:

This blog notes that successful edtech implementations can be tough stuff. And what gets most often overlooked? Ongoing support for teachers in using the different tools.

We’re making our plans for various events over the next month. Want to meet up with us?

Email: CInewsletter@classroominc.org

Tweet at us: @ClassroomInc

FETC::Orlando, FL, Jan. 20-23, 2015

Closing the achievement gap by using technology and the world of work to engage, teach, inspire, and empower middle and high school students.

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