Success Academy

New Genesis Success Academy (NGSA) is modeled after the nationally known “Harlem Children’s Zone Project” (HCZ). Like the HCZ project, New Genesis focuses on a defined group of children to offer an extended school day and extended school year with a range of supportive services to assist them and their families.

The Academy addresses the problem of low academic achievement among economically disadvantaged students by partnering with Woodward Elementary School for Technology and Research.  New Genesis is partnering with many different organizations and non profit agencies to provide a comprehensive pipeline of services.

The NGSA provides a safe, structured environment where children can go during crime times between 3:00pm and 6:00pm during the school year and 8:00am to 6:00pm in the summer months.

To deal with lack of parent involvement in the education process, New Genesis has collaborated with Prevention Works to provide family programs that are designed to strengthen and enhance the relationship between parents and their children.  National studies have demonstrated that youth that participated in their workshops, Strengthening & Celebrating Families Program, were more likely to improve academic performances and were also less likely to engage in substance abuse and other juvenile crime activities. 

The partnership with the Kalamazoo Public School, Woodward Elementary, is very important to the success of this project. By partnering with Woodward, the school will identify at risk students, provide transportation to the center, evaluate progress of students and promote staff, teacher and parent involvement. To further strengthen parent involvement, Woodward and New Genesis will work together on a point and reward system for parents who participate in school activities.

For example, parents will get credits for attending school events such as open houses, workshops and conferences. Top credit achievers will be eligible to receive scholarships for summer camp. The number of scholarships awarded will be based upon available funding.