A Different September Foundation is pleased present its annual report on the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. Over the last year, the generosity of private foundations, corporations, and individuals once again enabled ADSF to give essential financial support to the Boston University/Chelsea Partnership in its effort to renew public education in the city of Chelsea.
Chelsea students continued to take important strides forward in 2003-2004. Their scores on the MCAS examination continue to improve at rates that outrun state averages. All Chelsea schools met schoolwide standards for adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, the only urban district in the state to do so. The Hooks School was named a Commonwealth Compass School for its success in student achievement, one of only five elementary schools in the state and the second Chelsea school (the Sokolowski School in 2002 was the first) to achieve this honor. Chelsea third graders attained their highest scores yet on the MCAS third-grade reading assessment, and SAT scores and numbers of diplomas awarded to Chelsea high school students continued their upward climb as well. Hispanic students in the district outperform other Hispanic students statewide.
The steady progress indicates that the Chelsea public schools now have improvement built systematically into their daily business. Challenges are identified and methodically met. Every teacher, every principal, and certainly Superintendent Tom Kingston is focused on helping students learn more effectively, and the schools now give them the tools and support to make it happen.
Donations to ADSF continue to be central to sustaining this progress. Significant curricular innovations, professional development opportunities, parent outreach initiatives, and infrastructure improvements would not be there without ADSF. ADSF looks forward to ensuring that the momentum is maintained beyond the likely end of the formal Boston University Partnership in 2008, and that a generous and interested community of donors is there to build on it beyond the term of the formal Partnership.