How We Make A Difference
Adelante Program
JOCELYN’S STORY
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is an important pillar of Amber Schools’ support of students because it is central to both learning and development. It is the way in which children and adults learn and use knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage emotions, gain and use empathy, develop strong and healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions.
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and our reliance on remote learning, we saw students struggling to control emotions and make age-appropriate decisions. The need for action was urgent; we needed to help students learn – or re-learn – crucial SEL skills before progressing to the next grade level.
Thanks to the Amber Education Fund, we were able to launch the Adelante (Spanish for “Forward”) Program which gives students, grades 2-7, the tools to tackle tough issues like bullying by using positive self-talk and empathy. The program offered interactive lessons for small groups of students using smartboards as they worked closely as a team to support one another. Sheena Welch, a 4th Grade Teacher at Amber notes “this program was so important for our kids because its another opportunity for our children to learn and grow together – something that is so important to our Amber community.”
Jocelyn is a 4th grader at Amber who learned important skills in the Adelante Program. “The program was so nice and encouraging,” she says. When asked about her favorite activity, she says “it was the anti-bullying work where we learned the difference between being an upstander – someone who stands up for someone being bullied – and a bystander, who is someone who just watches it happen and does nothing.” She continues: “I liked the activity where we drew out scenes and then acted them out with a partner. That made it real for me.”
Unidos Program
ROSE'S STORY
“It was a scary time for Amber students and families,” recalls Rose Castillo, mother of two Amber students. Indeed, the COVID 19 pandemic forced more than 1,000 Amber students into distance learning along with their peers across New York City. “Our children were feeling frustrated, stressed and frightened and we needed to understand their challenges to help them.”
Thankfully the Amber Education Fund was able to secure funding to offer UNIDOS, a parent workshop and support network to help dozens of Amber parents, like Rose, better support their children during the pandemic.
“UNIDOS workshops helped us understand social-emotional learning and learn study skills we could teach our kids at home. We also learned how to be stronger decision-making partners in our children’s education,” she says.
Equally important, UNIDOS brought Amber parents together. Rose recalls: “For the first time, families came together to share stories about challenges and successes in working with their kids. Thanks to this program we never felt alone. And its why I value the family and community that we are building at Amber Schools – my kids feel safe and loved there.”
High Dose Tutoring Program
EDUARDO’S STORY
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Across the nation, students continue to struggle with learning loss due to the pandemic. At Amber Charter Schools, thanks to generous support secured by the Amber Education Fund from the Robin Hood Foundation, we are tackling this challenge and helping our students bring their test scores back to grade level – and beyond – through our intensive High-Dose Tutorial Program.
Eduardo is an Amber Charter Schools student who is benefiting from this help. He proudly tells us, “Tutoring really helped me get my math and ELA grade up . . . I even got a 90%!” Thanks to the dedication of his teachers and tutors, Eduardo says “Division used to be so hard, but now I understand it and I almost always get the answer right.”
Helping students like Eduardo learn skills to make reading easier is an important part of the program. “I liked the ELA tutoring,” Eduardo says. “We read passages and practice annotating and inferences. I would point out unfamiliar words to my tutor and she showed me how to figure out what these hard words mean. We also worked on short responses and using evidence in my responses.”
We understand how hard it can be for many of our students to build or rebuild their skills. But with the support and care of High-Dose Tutors and Teachers, we are helping these remarkable students gain the confidence they need to succeed. Says Eduardo, “Miss Rianna would encourage me to slow down and take my time. I feel much more confident doing that now.”
Summer Program
SEVASTIAN’S STORY
The national statistics continue to look daunting for elementary students – disruptions caused by the pandemic have resulted in learning loss. And students need extra help and extra time to recover. Thanks to the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Amber Education Fund is taking bold action to support Amber Charter Schools efforts to help students build English and Math skills while having fun with their peers during the summer.
Sevastian is a third-grader at Amber who benefited from our program. A bright and engaging student, he tells us that the experience meant so much to him in many ways. “I really enjoyed spending time with my friends and our teachers. I LOVED math with Miss Mercedes – she taught me how to solve word problems and I really enjoyed explaining my answers to our class,” says Sevastian. “I also liked our English program. We read a book called ‘Year of the Dog’ and I was able to relate to the story.”
Summer offered Sevastian opportunities to learn other important lessons. He says, “In our groups, I learned that even if you say something wrong, the important thing is that you spoke up and you tried.” Learning how to add numbers vertically, Sevastian told us that he showed this new skill to his dad. “He challenges me, “says Sevastian, “to be brave and try new things.”
