In the blog post below, SYF’s President and CEO, Michael Durnil, reflects on what makes SYF’s programs different, and how Simon Youth Academies are meeting the challenges brought on by COVID-19.
As most of the country settles into the start of the seventh month of “COVID-19 life,” SYF is focused on back-to-school, the year ahead and graduation of students in 2021.
As one of our board members recently questioned, “You mean school districts are still interested in opening new Academies?”
For me, the answer was some familiar, almost ubiquitous, hashtags that SYF has been using…
#SYFmeansGraduation
#NoMatterWhat
And the new one that I have been pushing this fall…
#NowMoreThanEver
SYF Academies reported the highest annual graduation rate of our history in the 2019-2020 academic year. The annual rate was 98% – a full 5 percentage points higher than the previous year and more than 10 percentage points higher than the national average – which helped us to sustain our 90% cumulative graduation rate since the Foundation began more than 20 years ago.
This academic year SYF starts with 42 Academies across the country focused on helping students who might not otherwise graduate high school. Now more than ever (see what I did there) SYF is a choice that students, families and communities are making to reach many who feel disenfranchised from the traditional high school setting.
As a Foundation, SYF learned in the early days of the pandemic some key lessons about our students and our work. Many of our students were pressed into “essential worker” roles given the types of work and the economic needs of their family. Given that our Academies have always worked with students facing difficult challenges, our teachers and partner districts found creative and accessible ways that the students could alter and shift their schedules to accommodate both their work and their studies. SYF knew all along that our teachers always, no matter what (don’t delete me for my #DadJokes), did what was necessary to help their students achieve their goals of a high school diploma.
Back-to-school for fall of 2020 in the time of COVID-19, presents continuing challenges of uncertainty, fatigue and the unknown. However, I am confident that now more than ever, SYF will continue to mean graduation for our students, their families, our teacher and the communities in which we partner.
Over the weekend, I saw a friend across the aisle at the supermarket and she remarked about SYF’s social media and our stories of student success. She inquired as to what was different for SYF, given everything she is reading about public schools and the challenges they are facing with COVID-19.
For me, it was a simple answer that I have found to always be the true heart of our work. SYF creates support for teachers who want to work with students who want to graduate… and we get out of the way. As a supporting organization, I believe it is our best work to empower our partner districts and celebrate teachers who embody the knowledge that each student’s success is important and vital.
Throughout the country, there have been some amazing stories during this period of COVID-19; wonderful profiles of front-line workers and those who have risen to the challenge.
I am not a pessimist by nature, but I believe that there will always be challenges. It is how we meet those challenges that makes a difference. For SYF, and since our beginning, the Foundation has always worked with those facing challenges and helped them overcome – often what seem like insurmountable – challenges to achieve their dreams and start a new future.
The story I want to tell is about SYF and our amazing teachers and students. They are not only what is different in our story, and they are what makes the difference in our story.
