MOTHER CAROLINE ACADEMY AND EDUCATION CENTER Annual Report 2020 WE MATTER Our Mission Founded in 1993, Mother Caroline Academy is a tuition-free, independent school for girls grades 4-8. We serve Boston families with limited resources. Our mission is to provide a high quality education that develops the individual gifts of each student and prepares her for success in competitive secondary schools and colleges. Originally created in the Catholic tradition, the school is now fully independent. We recognize the dignity, value, and assets of each person. The Academy emphasizes the importance of scholarship, leadership, and social and moral development. We Matter What a year this has been! With the abrupt school closings on March 15, 2020, our ability to come together as a team was imperative for our students and their families. We quickly realized we would not be returning to school for some time and made every effort to stay true to our mission: “by focusing on the needs of the whole family and by preserving a spirit of volunteerism and commitment among all those who aid, support and benefit from MCAEC”. In the days after the school closing, we were able to connect with many donors committing to continued support. Additionally, Phill and Elizabeth Gross offered to help us to achieve our gala goal through a match challenge. This funding, coupled with a Covid Emergency Fund, provided us the opportunity to supply each student with a computer, upgrade our school building with a Nurse’s pod and isolation rooms, new floors, PPE, handwashing stations, and sneeze guards. We were also able to provide families with gift certificates for basic needs. More importantly, for the first time ever in the history of the school, we were able to hire an registered nurse and licensed mental health counselor. The social and emotional struggles of our students, as well as medical concerns, will finally be supported by these full-time staff members. We find post pandemic glimmers of hope that have evolved from students learning virtually at their homes for the past six months. One of our students mentioned that she and her mother had begun weekly virtual visits to the area library. Another student arrived at our pre-opening day with a self portrait of herself and an essay she wrote on love. Our students, supported by the faculty and staff, have embraced self-efficacy at the moment it is most needed. In this pandemic we realize that 21st century skills such as digital citizenship, math, and comprehensive writing continue to be essential, but also that students need regular intermissions from academics. Creative outlets and innovative classes such as drama, art, social-emotional well-being, and trauma-informed yoga have all been added to the schedule. We are so proud of our students and families who stepped up to meet the challenges of managing work schedules, food security issues, illness, and unemployment. They have managed all of this while supporting their student’s education at MCAEC. As we enter our 28th year of bringing students out of poverty and propelling them toward a bright educational future, we pause to thank all of our donors. We simply could not do our work without you. One of my favorite quotes is by the educator Angela Duckworth who said, “Enthusiasm is common, endurance is rare”. We at MCAEC have certainly endured with great pride and hope for the future before us. Thank you all for your support. With Gratitude, Annmarie Quezada, Head of School Who We Serve Mother Caroline Academy educates girls in grades 4-8. In the current pandemic, we did not accept a new fourth grade as virtual onboarding was not possible. Our student body for the 2020-2021 school year is comprised of girls that identify as Black (73%), Latina (7%), and Mixed Race (20%). Students and their families fall under an income of $50,000 (with at least four family members.) Families come from Boston neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roslindale, Fenway/Mission Hill, and Jamaica Plain. MCAEC is located in the Grove Hall section of Boston, where Roxbury and Dorchester meet. Potential students are welcome to apply to the school if they: 1) live within the City of Boston, 2) meet the income guidelines for a tuition-free school and 3) have a caregiver or guardian willing to partner with the school. MCAEC is an equal opportunity employer and admits girls to the school from all faiths, races, and family systems. “My role model is myself. It may not seem like a good idea of a role model, but it isn’t what you think it is. When I say myself, not my personality at the moment, but myself as in the person I want to be.” An MCAEC 6th Grade Student COMMUNITY Opportunity Gap In recent years, the phrase Opportunity Gap, as opposed to Achievement Gap, has become the appropriate wording to express the inequality in education due to outside factors such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, community wealth, or familial situations. The unequal distribution of resources contributes to the opportunity gap seen in students such as ours at MCAEC. In seeking to support the needs of the whole child, MCAEC addresses each of the many factors that contribute to this gap. Students from lower income families do not have the financial resources that support their more affluent peers. Poor nutrition, lack of healthcare, an inability to pay for preschool, for tutoring, for test prep, and for college tuition contribute greatly to the gap. At MCAEC, students are provided breakfast and lunch daily, have access to a school nurse and licensed mental health counselor, are provided one-on-one tutoring, mentoring, and test prep, and are given high school and college counseling along with financial aid assistance from our staff. Students from lower income families, and indeed specifically minority students, may be subject to bias and prejudice in their education and access to learning opportunities. At MCAEC, students are encouraged to “reach for the stars,” as the pathway out of poverty, beginning at MCAEC, is through education. Students from lower income families may be the first in their family to attend college. The encouragement and support affluent families give to their children, especially regarding the family’s educational experience, may be an unknown for our students. At MCAEC, all students participate in an intensive, individualized two year test prep and secondary school application process. Our Assistant Principal works with each family to match each student to private high schools all over the US, based on academic achievement, socio-emotional needs, and family proclivity. OPPORTUNITY Schools in economically disadvantaged communities may have a high student to teacher ratio, overcrowding, less effective teaching methods, rundown facilities, and a dearth of extracurricular activities. At MCAEC, the student to teacher ratio is 6 100% to 1. Our large building at 515 Blue Hill Avenue has been fully updated as of Summer 2020 and students have access to sports, music, drama, and other extracurriculars, of MCAEC alumnae graduate even virtually in the current pandemic. from high school Lower income communities may have reduced access to internet connectivity, computers, and overall technology. At MCAEC, part of the pandemic response consisted of providing students a fully updated laptop to keep at home, along with help with internet access for families. 96% enroll in college. MCAEC provides a safe environment where girls are empowered to find a path out of poverty through education. Students, with a caring and committed faculty and staff, develop self esteem, self confidence, self advocacy, and healthy decision making. Extended day access to athletics, STEAM, art, music, experiential opportunities such as camps and field trips, and service learning create a full circle approach 85% to meet the needs of the whole child. Wrap-around services such as health and graduate from college hygiene, nutrition, parenting classes, service referrals and assistance, social work and family crisis response meet the needs of the student and her family. within 6 years. MCAEC faculty and staff commit to compassion, respect, and high standards for For comparison, national education all students with a recognition of culturally relevant care and an understanding of diversity and inclusion. statistics for economically disadvantaged women of color show a 79% high school graduation rate, “My favorite thing about my school is my classmates ... a 55% college enrollment rate, and a 12% college graduation rate. all of us are sisters.” An MCAEC 6th Grade Student Student Work “Ode to a Shakespearean Sonnet” As I wake up its half past dawn. After multiple minutes I get out, into the car. I enter school with blurry eyes, still I yawn. Classes may have started, but the end is still far. 100% of MCAEC students received chromebooks. I go to school to learn. I may have rough mornings but musn’t be sad. For I know me and my peers, our dreams we yearn. Lower School Students read But of course there are days where little things still make me feel bad. 500 books this summer! Yet I am still a little kid still filled with glee. MCAEC provides 8.5% more I’m very passionate and I stay very strong . instructional days than Boston Pinned to my heart, that happiness has no fee. Public Schools, and 7% more I am not perfect; but for a change in the world I long. instructional hours per day. You may ask what a kid knows. 91% attendance rate for I try my hardest, because all I know is that things come and go. 2020 school year. An MCAEC Grade 6 Student 100% participation in optional mindfulness class in Spring 2020.