Discover California GEAR UP, Walnut Creek - Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, Sausalito-Marin City School District

Wednesday, 01 October 2008 21:28

Cherisse Baatin, Principal      Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Julius Holtzclaw, FIP Facilitator/Site Contact

Demographics: Located in Marin City, Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy is a small school that currently enrolls 30 students in grades 7-8.The predominant ethnicities are 89% African American, 4% Hispanic/Latino, and 7% Asian.  93% participate in the Free/Reduced Price Lunch program.   API scores went up from a 2007 base of 638 to 681 in 2008, almost 50 points showing the progress the students are striving towards.

Strategies Used

Staff and parents from Martin Luther King Jr. Academy work with each other to advance the goals of California GEAR UP at their school.

• The "Little Giants" collaboration process is very inclusive and consistently adhered to on a daily basis. The staff blends their resources to operate as a school team of teachers, paraprofessionals, outreach coordinator, and school counselor through peer coaching. The teachers also work on vertical team collaboration between the elementary school, middle school and their receiving high schools.
• The teachers believe in and support AVID as an extension of the GEAR UP goal to help the school and community develop a sustainable college-going culture. At the middle school, one will find AVID principles and concepts across the curriculum.
• The school involves the community through the Family Initiatives Project (FIP) whose sessions have a powerful effect on subsequent parent activities. These activities help all to understand how high standards and expectations, goal setting, deep rigor, data analysis, and differentiated and culturally responsive teaching practices support all students of color to achieve.

Best Practices

"This is a "want to" school that engages all staff in their quest for excellence. They use AVID strategies and have high expectations for sustainability of their college-going culture.

Regional Coordinator:  Don Mar

Team presenters were Cherisse Baatin, principal; Julius Holtzclaw, Administrative Assistant; Debra Moore, teacher; Natalie Jenkins, parent; June Farmer, parent; Juanita Edwards, parent; and Megan Bolduc, teacher.