Jefferson County
August 06, 2019 4:30 PM
Work Session: Plan for a Girls of Color Academy
I. Girls of Color STEAM Academy
Rationale

8 6 19 Work Session Audio

In the American psyche, young Black and Brown girls are often inaccurately typecast as threatening, pitiful, angry, and broken due to hardship. The creation of a Girls of Color Academy with a planned STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) focus, seeks to move beyond stereotypes and untruths that saturate certain provinces of American culture, and create new opportunities for young women to grow and thrive as scholars and leaders. 

In 2018, Superintendent Pollio and the Board, ushered in a new school, the W.E.B. DuBois Academy. This school is founded upon the belief that high expectations, Afrocentricity, and innovation can dispel, disrupt, and redirect understanding about what is needed to ensure educational equity and excellence for boys of color.

 It is clear, based on research and the lived experiences of females of color that Black girls and White girls have the same cognitive capacity, yet outcomes and opportunities vastly differ. The Girls of Color Academy will build upon the lessons learned in starting the DuBois Academy, with adjustments to take into account the particular needs of girls of color, to create new opportunities and better outcomes for the students in the school.

This work session will unveil the general plan of the Girls of Color STEAM Academy. The Board will receive information that supports the need for this school and sets forth, in broad terms, how the school plans to support improving outcomes for Black and Brown girls.

Submitted by: Dr. John Marshall

Attachment

Attachments