News and Announcements
MetLife Foundation/NASSP Breakthrough Schools
Each year, NASSP, with support from the MetLife Foundation, identifies a series of schools that achieve at high levels despite their high incidence of poverty.
Selected schools will receive a $5,000 grant and be featured in the association's monthly magazine, Principal Leadership. Principals of Breakthrough Schools participate in dissemination activities at the NASSP Annual Convention and other venues throughout the year.
Judith Marty, Principal. Mater Academy is located in a commercial/industrial area in the city of Hialeah Gardens, just outside the city limits of Miami, Florida, in what once was an abandoned big box store. The energy that transformed a vacant store and garbage dump into a thriving, multi-building campus for a grades 6-12 school is apparent in every classroom. Students, parents, community members and staff all speak of the “magic” that is Mater. Striking as the physical transformation was, the continuing academic transformation is what draws people to the school. The Florida Grade A middle school leads the way on this campus. The school, a Title 1, public charter school, is funded by the state of Florida. The middle school’s current enrollment is more than 1,500 students, 94% of whom are Hispanic and 76% qualify for free and/or reduced-price meals.
http://www.principals.org/s_nassp/index.asp?C...
