Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy
A Community of Educators
We
are not a building. We are not a facility. We are a
community of educators. We help our students set and achieve
ambitious dreams.
–Uri Lessing, 5th Grade Teacher
An extraordinary place...
Lee A.
Tolbert Community Academy is an extraordinary place to go to
school and an exceptional place to work. There is no other
school that shares the atmosphere we have carefully
cultivated. Come and visit us. We want to show you what our
community feels as we walk through the door.
Come and enter
into our state-of-the-art, beautiful building that comprises
a modern four-year-old-facility connected to an elegant,
historical synagogue from 1921. This fusion of maturity and
innovation is the perfect learning environment for our students.
Students come from all over Kansas City to be here.
Come see their faces full of energy and enthusiasm. Students
carrying backpacks go through our doors happily, secure in
the knowledge that they are entering a safe place. They know
they belong to a kind community with committed teachers and
clear opportunities for success.
Full of hope that the present has brought us...
The adults in charge have
high expectations. They demand academic vigor, but they are
also nurturers. Students are more than educated here. Their
social-emotional needs are met as well.
Every morning, over
fifty children seek out a specific adult in the building.
These students have had difficult days in the past, and now
go to discuss with their adult partner how they can make
this day more successful.
Students
begin their day in a beautiful sanctuary. Light streams
through the venerable stain-glass windows of a building that
was formerly the Beth-Shalom Synagogue. Students greet each
other and sit with their classmates, all the while keeping
their voices hushed.
With the presence of an adult at the
front of the room, roughly four hundred and seventy students
fall silent. Our attendance rate manifests itself in the
lack of empty seats. Students don’t come to our school
because they have to—they come because this is simply a good
place to be.
The adult leads the students in the Pledge of
Allegiance and, together, the entire school sings the first
verse of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a song written by
James Weldon Johnson, the first African American to pass the
bar in the state of Florida and the former Executive
Secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People.
“Sing a song full of the hope that the
present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day
begun, Let us march on till victory is won.”
With these
words, the school day begins. Students’ birthdays are
recognized. Each of our students have the honor of having
“Happy Birthday to you” sung by four hundred and seventy
voices once a year.
Announcements are made, but this is more
than a time to disseminate information. This is a learning
time. Character building skills are shared. The students
display their completed projects. Children take a moment of
silence to think about how they are going to improve their
day.
Friday morning assemblies are particularly dynamic,
because it’s Student Recognition Day. Adults stand in front
of the student body and acknowledge individuals who have
worked extra-hard, made good choices, and made our school
proud. The school cheers its leaders and the community
celebrates its exceptional members.
It’s almost time for
students to move to the classrooms to begin their formal
academic work, but before this transition begins,
everyone—faculty, staff, administrators, Kindergartners, 5th
graders, 8th graders—everyone, recites the
Lee A. Tolbert Student Pledge. It’s a page of text that
every student has memorized. They then depart for their
classrooms.
The value of being a part of a community
Conversely, on Wednesday mornings the sanctuary lies empty.
On that morning, practically every staff member in the
building—from the principal to the custodian—invites ten
students to join him or her in a special place in the
building. These ten students are each from a different grade
level. They have arrived for care teams.
The model is a
family. Here problems are shared, and accomplishments are
celebrated. Sometimes, a student will tell the others about
a tragic event in her life. Other times, a joke might be
told to the group. The care team is another way we teach our
students the value of being a part of a community.
Together,
the care team says the pledge, and then departs. The team
may only meet once a week, but they are linked together
always. An 8th grader now has a 6th
grader that he knows well. A Kindergartner knows that a 7th
grader is concerned about her. These small caring teams
strengthen our community as a whole.
"I showed my teacher my room and my mother's room and my
mother's workshop."
Our
teachers know our students well. Before the first day of
school arrives, they meet most of their students face-to-face.
Lee
A. Tolbert Community Academy begins the year with home
visits. These visits set the pace for developing positive
relationships and may prevent major problems from arising
during the school year. Their prime purpose is to strengthen
the relationships between teachers and students.
Teachers
drive to their students’ houses to meet them in person. That
way, each of our students’ first encounters his or her
teacher in the coziness of their own home, instead of the
newness of the classroom.
Students know they are special when
they get their new teacher all to themselves. “I was kind of
scared at first, but I started to realize it was going to be
a fun year,” said 11-year-old, LaSharelle when discussing
her home visit.“
I was excited and when I saw my teacher, I
enjoyed it,” stated Jamese, a 5th grader who
showed her teacher some bicycle tricks when he visited
her.
Most importantly, home visits allow students to share a
bit of themselves with their teacher. When De’Aun, a 2nd
grade student, was asked about her home visit, she shyly
responded, “I asked (my teacher) her name, and I told her I
liked book reports. I showed my teacher my room and my
mother’s room and my mother’s workshop.”
On the first day of
school, children know who their teacher is and recognize
that their teacher knows who they are. Home visits are not a
time for curriculum allotment or academic information. It’s
a time for parents, students and teachers to get to know
each other.
Parents know our building and our staff well.
While
classes are in session, the school is not only occupied by
students and staff but parents as well. Parents know that
they are welcome to come to our school whenever they want.
In fact, we stipulate that our parents spend at least twenty
hours a year volunteering in our school. Our ultimate goal
is that parents will know our building and our staff
well.
The school’s philosophy recognizes that parents are
crucial allies in the fight against ignorance, and the
community must play an active role in the education of
children.
All of our teachers have an open door policy. As
long as parents do not interrupt the learning, they are
welcome to observe and help with the activities of the day.
Our parents feel like they are a part of the school, and not
outsiders.
We also have a Parent Liaison on site at all
times. Our liaison works hard to encourage parent
participation and involvement while improving their
awareness of the educational needs of their children. If a
parent is frustrated with their child’s academic
performance, behavior or something that has happened at
school, they know exactly who to call.
There are also many
organizations and committees that parents can join. PEACE
stands for ‘Parents Empowered to Appreciate Children’s
Education. This group meets monthly to discuss ways they can
assist students’ academic performances and how to aid
families facing crisis situations. Also the group develops
innovative and fruitful fund-raising efforts.
Parents are
also invited to join the Advisory Council, a group that
participates in creating school policies. Other
opportunities for parental involvement include tutoring
students during Saturday school, assisting on field trips,
and volunteering in offices and classrooms.
Providing what they need, not what they deserve.
When
visitors tour our building, the comment we receive most
often is how well our students’ behave. Peeking into our
classrooms, our visitors see engaged students all focusing
on the teachers’ directions and activities. Every student
has a purpose and no one is stopping the learning.
The key to
our success in behavior management lies in our adoption of
the Behavior Intervention Support Team program or BIST.
Using BIST, our school provides successful interventions
with students who act out. Our teachers, counselors, and
administrators have all had extensive crisis prevention and
intervention training and have learned to respond to
children who act out by providing what they need (grace),
not what they deserve (punishment).
The BIST program teaches
that change is possible when students are able to take
responsibility for their problem behavior and construct new
ways of preventing problems. This can be accomplished in an
environment where adults provide instruction and direction
in a caring and consistent manner.
The program creates a
structure that provides every student with a safe and
productive learning environment: a fundamental basis for a
strong education. Our teachers are secure in the knowledge
that they know what to do when a student becomes disruptive,
and children are educated in a consistent and nurturing
environment. We are very proud of the results.
Five and six year olds are handling every facet of it.
In the
spring, an unusual event takes place in the cafeteria.
Kindergarten students sell homemade lemonade for a quarter a
glass. Sweet smiling faces pour the lemonade, make change,
and insure the quality of their product. This is a school
business, and five and six year olds are handling every
facet of it.
At Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy, the
unifying theme of our school is entrepreneurial spirit. We
want students to recognize that creating a successful
business is a rewarding and exciting way to escape poverty.
However, our students know that businesses do not magically
appear. Our school exposes students to the process of
starting up a business with the Young Entrepreneurial Spirit
program (or YES program.).
The YES program is entirely
hands-on. Students at every grade level become involved in
business practices. 2nd graders create a post
office and insure the delivery of mail throughout the
school. 4th graders write, bind and sell
cookbooks. 8th graders write, print and
distribute a school newspaper.
Students work alone and in
groups and learn concepts like budgets, business plans and
decision-making strategies. These skills not only inspire
children to ponder future entrepreneurial careers, but
provide invaluable life skills as well.
On our ground floor, a group of 3rd
graders work on improving their vocabulary through a
Missouri-based linguistic program. On our first floor, 7th
graders receive their math instruction over the Internet. On
the third floor, two 5th graders write a story
together using Microsoft Word. Technology is a strong force
at our school.
Focusing our resources at the 21st
century student.
Our
school focuses on an innovative curriculum instruction. The
school believes that young people today are technology savvy
and encounter diverse media every day. In order to focus our
resources at the 21st century student, the school
has updated resources and classroom instruction methods.
Lee
A. Tolbert Community Academy researched and implemented
several innovative technology programs to support students
with vocabulary development, reading comprehension and math.
Students at Lee A. Tolbert Community Academy also have
access to two computer labs, one stationary and the other
mobile, to assist in boosting their comprehensive knowledge.
Each classroom is also equipped with two Internet ready
computers. Our students use technology every day here.
"The people there were very fancy and polite and treat
you with respect."
Once a
month an explosion of enthusiasm erupts in our school. Over
the course of the month teachers have been meticulously
tracking students’ academic performance and behavior.
Parents are made aware whether or not their child is
succeeding on a daily basis. Those who show a strong
commitment daily to their school and their selves are
rewarded. It’s time for Principal’s Breakfast.
These
successful children are treated to a delicious hot special
breakfast and are treated to a live performance from the
school’s dancers. After the celebratory meal, each student
receives a prize and returns to class proud, contented and
full.
For our 7th and 8th graders, the
reward is coupled with responsibility. When our middle
school students exhibit strong behavior and academic
success, we reward these school leaders by taking them on a
field trip to a local restaurant to celebrate. The sense of
pride and accomplishment these students feel is fantastic,
and the program provides a strong incentive for children to
try their best.
The restaurants are always fancier upscale
restaurants and never fast food. For some students this is
their first exposure to a restaurant like this.14-year-old
Breyonna said, “I liked the chicken we had. We went to
Harper House. I had never been there before. It was
different from other from other restaurants I had been to.
It was fancier.
”Dah’keviah, an 8th Grader stated,
“I experienced different kinds of food. The people there
were very fancy and polite and treat you with
respect.
”Sharae, a 14-year-old summed it up when she said,
“It wasn’t like ordinary restaurants.
”The Principal’s Lunch
Program exposes our students to the rewards society offers
to people with a solid education and a strong work ethic.
We
consider ourselves an open school that takes delight in
showing visitors what we have accomplished. We are proud of
this community of educators, and as members of our state
community, we welcome you to Lee A. Tolbert Community
Academy.
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