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Sep 28, 2017
What it Means to be Puerto Rican: A Scholar & Parent Reflection
Joey is a seventh-grader at AF Summit Middle School. This Hispanic Heritage Month, we sat down with him and his mom, Sunshine Ortiz, to talk about the importance of culture. Why is Hispanic Heritage Month meaningful to you? Sunshine: We came from Puerto Rico, and not many people know the struggles that my family went […]
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Sep 01, 2017
The Results Are In – High-Five for Our Scholars!
As we launch another exciting school year across our 34 schools, we are also celebrating our students’ strong performance on last year’s state tests. New York results (grades 3-8) came out last week, and our scholars and schools have so much to celebrate! Our oldest tested students, eighth-graders, are showing what is possible when […]
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Jul 26, 2017
Hartford Teen Explores Talents Through ‘Diversity of Dance’ Program
This article originally appeared in the Hartford Courant. Edwin Rodriguez did not need to see much of Gabriel Francis’ dancing to know he would be an optimal fit for his production. Rodriguez, an instructor at Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts “Diversity of Dance” program, said Francis was one of the first students he chose for […]
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Jul 20, 2017
Team & Family and Family: DiCo & Joey
Do you ever wish you could bring your friends and family to work with you? Well, through our referral program, you totally can! We’re talking to AFers who’ve referred their loved ones and BFFs to join us at AF to hear about how they’re taking Team & Family to the next level. Read our previous […]
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May 03, 2017
“Our #1 ranking feels like we are proving people wrong:” A Scholar’s Story
U.S. News and World Report ranked Amistad Academy the #1 high school in Connecticut and #20 in the nation. What’s it like to attend Connecticut’s top high school? We asked AF Amistad High senior Diamond to find out. What is your favorite thing about going to school at Amistad? The best thing about it […]
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Apr 07, 2017
“My Grandma is a Jamaican Immigrant with a 6th Grade Education. Now she has a granddaughter who got Yale, Brown, Princeton, Penn & Stanford.”
Isis, AF Amistad High ’17, was interviewed in Affinity Magazine after her inspiring tweet (which has earned 2100 likes and counting!) gained attention on Twitter. We thought our blog readers would enjoy reading her thoughts as well, so we’re re-posting here. Enjoy! How has your grandmother and her struggles influenced your life? My grandmother was never close […]
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Jan 11, 2017
I am the Kind of Student Who Goes to Charter Schools
Some people claim that charter schools only pick that best and the brightest students. Then, what does that mean for me? Back in 2007, I got into Amistad Academy Middle School through the lottery. My mother had been applying year after year looking to give me a chance to gain the support needed to […]
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Dec 07, 2016
Welcome to America: A Student’s Poem
Today on the blog, we’re excited to feature an original poem from one of our scholars. AF East New York Middle student Isaiah read The Great Gatsby as part of his TEAK fellowship and connected it to A Raisin in the Sun, which he’d read in school. He saw that both served as commentary […]