Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322 named in Top 10 shortlist for World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration
Community School MS 322 Announced the News to Its School Community Today Followed by an Outdoor Celebration in Washington Heights
June 13, 2024 • New York, NY – An inspirational New York school has been named in the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prizes 2024. The five World’s Best School Prizes, founded by T4 Education in collaboration with Accenture, American Express, and the Lemann Foundation, are the world’s most prestigious education prizes and this year’s winners will share a $50,000 prize fund.
Community School Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322, a state middle school in New York City, which is a beacon of hope and resilience, particularly for immigrant families in its community through its holistic support, has been named in the Top 10 shortlist for the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration. It is the first NYC public school to make the Top 10 shortlist.
"We are incredibly honored to be recognized among the Top 10 shortlists for the World’s Best School Prize for Community Collaboration,” said Miriam Rosa, Principal, Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322. “This acknowledgment is a testament to the resilience, dedication, and collaborative spirit of our students, staff, and community partners. Together, we are creating a nurturing environment where every child can thrive academically, emotionally, and socially."
Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322 is a community school, which means it serves as a vital hub for its neighborhood, offering a range of support services that extend beyond traditional education to meet the holistic needs of students and their families. This model promotes strong partnerships between the school, families, and community organizations to provide integrated academic, health, and social services. Children's Aid, as the lead partner, plays a crucial role in this approach. Established in 1992, Children’s Aid’s first community school partnership has set the precedent for what is now a thriving network of schools dedicated to fostering community well-being and student success.
"This nomination highlights the transformative impact of the community school strategy through our partnership with Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322,” said Sarah Jonas, Vice President at Children’s Aid. “By integrating comprehensive health and wellness services, coupled with powerful family and community engagement, we are breaking down barriers to education and ensuring that every student has the opportunity to succeed and thrive. We are proud to stand with MS 322 in their mission to strengthen conditions for student learning and healthy development.”
The five World’s Best School Prizes – for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – were established in the wake of COVID in 2022 to give a platform to schools that are changing lives in their classrooms and far beyond their walls, sharing their best practices to help improve education everywhere.
The winners of the five Prizes will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. In addition, all 50 shortlisted schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today. The school that receives the most public votes will receive the Community Choice Award and membership to T4 Education’s Best School to Work program to help them support teacher wellbeing and solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World’s Best School Prizes, said:
“Unless we solve the urgent challenges global education faces – from learning gaps exacerbated by COVID to chronic underfunding and the growing teacher wellbeing, recruitment, and retention crisis – we will have failed the next generation.
“Trailblazing New York schools like Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322, which have cultivated a strong culture and aren’t afraid to innovate, show the difference that can be made to so many lives. Schools everywhere can now learn from their solutions, and it’s time governments do so as well.”
About Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322:
Salomé Ureña Leadership Academy MS 322, a state middle school in New York City, USA, is a beacon of hope and resilience, particularly for immigrant families in its community through its holistic support. The school was catalyzed by the urgent need for comprehensive educational and wellness support during the pandemic, which exposed significant socialization and emotional distress among students. In collaboration with Children’s Aid, a nonprofit organization serving children and families, tailored programs were created focusing on social-emotional learning, equity, and leadership to equip students to advocate for justice and equality.
The academy serves 280 students and integrates health and wellness services directly into the student experience. Children’s Aid operates a school-based health center that provides the student population with health care services, which have proven pivotal. For instance, since the introduction of these services, the school has seen a remarkable reduction in school coexistence issues by 29% and disciplinary absences by 5% in 2023 alone. The school’s promotion rate has soared from 93% to 96%, demonstrating the effectiveness of its holistic approach.
Administratively, the school’s commitment to adaptability and inclusivity ensures programs evolve with the community’s changing needs. This proactive approach has solidified its role as a central community hub, providing crucial services like medical, dental, and mental health care, as well as nutrition education and support for healthy lifestyles that many students would otherwise lack access to.
Building on its foundation as a community school, the academy has deepened its commitment through its partnership with Children’s Aid, as well as local organizations and businesses.
Initiatives like career days and health workshops, specifically tailored to the needs of its diverse student body, have fortified community ties and fostered an environment where educational and holistic growth go hand in hand, enhancing the socio-economic landscape of the area.
Next steps:
The Top 3 finalists for each of the five World’s Best School Prizes will be announced in September 2024 followed by the winners in November. The winner of each Prize will be chosen based on rigorous criteria by a Judging Academy comprising distinguished leaders across the globe including academics, educators, NGOs, social entrepreneurs, government, civil society, and the private sector.
A prize of $50,000 will be equally shared among the winners of the five Prizes, with each receiving an award of $10,000. Meanwhile, the winner of the Community Choice Award, as determined by the Public Vote, will receive membership to Best School to Work – an independent, evidence-based mechanism to certify schools for their culture and working environment. Membership comes with detailed feedback, actionable insights, and benchmarking data to help schools transform their culture to attract and retain the best teachers.
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We believe every child, everywhere, deserves a good education. We are building the world’s largest community of teachers and schools to achieve this. Together. Our digital media platform provides opportunities for educators to network, collaborate, share good practices, and support each other’s efforts to improve learning and school culture. We work to amplify teachers’ voices because the world we want to see will only be built by listening to those at the heart of education. For more information, please contact Salman Shaheen: salman@t4.education
ABOUT CHILDREN’S AID:
Children’s Aid is committed to ensuring that there are no boundaries to the aspirations of young people, no limits to their potential. After more than 170 years of serving New York City’s children, youth, and their families, we know what it takes to ensure children and youth grow up strong and healthy and ready to thrive in school and life: excellent education and health care, social-emotional support, and strong stable families. Today, we serve nearly 50,000 children, youth, and their families in New York City. For more information, please contact Anthony Ramos: anthonyr@ChildrensAidNYC.org