2015-2016 Blackboard Award Honoree: Marlon Lowe

Editor’s note: To read profiles of all 2015-2016 Blackboard Awards honorees, click HERE!

Mott Hall II
Principal: Marlon Lowe
6-8
234 West 109th Street
Award: Outstanding Principal

Describe your school’s core educational philosophy.

Mott Hall II is a small and progressive school located on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Our school’s motto is “Today’s Scholars, Tomorrow’s Leaders.” Scholars are challenged to question, anticipate, and solve problems, assume personal responsibility, and emerge as enthusiastic life-long learners and independent thinkers motivated by the pursuit of academic excellence and social responsibility.

Tell us about a few of the school’s achievements or distinguishing programs.

Mott Hall II has had a lot to celebrate over the past few years. We were designated as a Reward School by New York State because of the performance of our scholars on the New York State Assessments. Mott Hall II was acknowledged for overall proficiency and for closing the Achievement Gap amongst the various constituencies we serve. Also, Mott Hall II has been recognized for providing high quality support to our scholars with disabilities.

Marlon Lowe. Photos by Marcus Photography.

What’s new?

For the first time, Mott Hall II offers Latin to all scholars. This addition is important as it was borne from a collaboration between parents, teachers, and the administration. Mott Hall II is also able to offer music for the first time in years. All scholars receive instruction on piano or keyboard and singing. Afterschool offerings have expanded exponentially. In addition to Mott Hall II’s afterschool program which includes competitive sports, science enrichment, tutoring, etc., Mott Hall II also partnered with Sheltering Arms afterschool program. This partnership allows us to offer parents an afterschool program five days out of the week. Finally, Mott Hall II has led the effort to use Google Chromebooks to support learning. By the end of the 2015-2016 school year, Mott Hall II will have a Google Chromebook available for all scholars.

What do you love about your school?

Mott Hall II is a truly special place… I went to schools where most of the adults didn’t know who I was. Mott Hall II is the exact opposite. We prioritize the needs, interests, and pursuits of our scholars. We make sure they are known and we afford them a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment where they can thrive. It is incredibly validating to hear scholars express how much they love the school and appreciate the environment we offer them.

The Language Workshop For Children

After offering both group and private lessons for many years and analyzing the results over&nbsp;time, The&nbsp;Language Workshop for&nbsp;Children, founded&nbsp;in1973, has decided&nbsp;to emphasize private remote lessons at shorter intervals.&nbsp;Our skilled educators&nbsp;will&nbsp;focus their attention exclusively on the&nbsp;unique needs, learning style, and interests of your child.&nbsp;This allows a&nbsp;bond&nbsp;to develop&nbsp;between teacher and student, which&nbsp;has been&nbsp;shown to&nbsp;drastically improve retention.&nbsp; OUR METHOD&nbsp; Developed by the pioneers of language education for children, our programs bring decades of&nbsp;experience to your living room with individualized, active language classes. Each lesson is based on proven methods and materials perfected to capture your&nbsp;child&rsquo;s attention during the ages when he/she absorbs information the fastest. &nbsp;&nbsp; While other online language classes rely on videos for passive learning, we deliver interactive, and engaging lessons with native-fluent teachers. In addition, all our teachers are certified in the Thibaut&nbsp;Technique which has been featured&nbsp;in the New York&nbsp;Times, the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal, and many other well-respected&nbsp;publications.&nbsp;&nbsp; Our short one-on-one lessons give kids the chance to focus, hear pronunciation clearly, and practice speaking in their target language.  THE PROCESS&nbsp; First, students have a short meeting with our Director&nbsp;Francois&nbsp;Thibaut, in&nbsp;English, with&nbsp;their parent(s)&nbsp;present.&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut&nbsp;will determine&nbsp;the best course of study, including&nbsp;class length and&nbsp;frequency, the&nbsp;right&nbsp;teacher, lesson&nbsp;format and materials (or action games for younger students.) Then the learning&nbsp;begins!&nbsp;Mr. Thibaut will continually check in on your child&rsquo;s learning to assure they are getting the most&nbsp;of&nbsp;their&nbsp;classes.&nbsp; OTHER OFFERINGS&nbsp; We can also help your child prepare for: the French subject tests for SAT, AP &amp; CLEP, the European DELF/DALF, the Canadian TEF and other standardized testing, college entry exams, studying or traveling abroad,&nbsp;cultural changes when moving abroad,&nbsp;and much more!&nbsp; &nbsp;

St Andrew Avellino School

St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, voted &ldquo;Best in Boro&rdquo; by qns.com, is a home to students ranging from Nursery through 8th grade. We offer a safe and nurturing learning environment and a family-oriented community where students of all faiths and backgrounds can excel academically, socially and emotionally. The St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy Advantage: Engaging and challenging lessons created by experienced and passionate faculty that encourage critical and creative thinking. Traditional teaching approach and educational programs that adheres to New York State common-core curriculum and is accredited by Cognia. Early Childhood foundation in academics, emotional literacy and faith. High-school level Regents classes for advanced learners. Support services for learning differences. Hands-on science experiments in a STEM lab. Art, music, robotics, and physical education classes. Catholic faith formation from religion classes, weekly church liturgies, and Christian service projects. Wide range of programs and extracurricular activities (music, clubs, sports) that cater to the students&rsquo; diverse interests and needs. Excellent Student Outcomes: Above average standardized New York State test scores every year. Graduates attend and succeed at prestigious high schools (Regis, Chaminade, Bronx High School, Stuyvesant, and Townsend Harris) and Catholic high schools in Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island. Graduating classes receive an average of $250,000 in Catholic High School scholarships. Financial assistance is available for families that qualify. Early morning drop-off and afterschool care are available.

The Knox School

The Knox School is Long Island&rsquo;s oldest established private school. An inclusive environment provides students with a broad world perspective and a wide range of skills to prepare them for success after high school.&nbsp; A Knox education unlocks every student&rsquo;s potential.