AJC Features RCA

Exerpts from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

It was the way the teacher jumped on his desk refusing to be ignored,
pushing a catatonic class beyond the complacency of can’t to a chapter
of no excuses that hooked parents.

This Ron Clark. This wiry white guy who turned around test scores in a
Harlem hood with shtick, high expectations and whimsically spiked
hair. His passion intrigued them. He was the Johnny Depp of at-risk
education. Unorthodox. Funny. Pushy. And famous. A TV movie of his
life starred “Chandler” from “Friends.”

Fast-forward a few years, and you have 20 kids in the first graduating
class of the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta moving on to schools such as
Pace Academy -- with double-digit gains in their test scores.

Excitement about RCA built before there even was a school.

When Clark moved to Georgia, minority parents looking for better
educational opportunities traveled across state lines to get their
kids in front of him. They wanted in Clark's new private school, which
ended up in an old factory near Turner Field, without knowing the cost
or curriculum. Some thought getting a seat for their kids would be
like hitting the lottery -- a quality education that would open doors
to prestigious high schools, colleges and careers.

“I couldn’t download the application fast enough,” said Charlene
Avril, a nurse who learned of the school watching the Ron Clark movie.
“I believed in the vision he had for the children he was teaching in
Harlem. So many schools set the standards too low. I always knew my
son could do more.”

Avril, a mother of two valedictorians, said in public school, she had
to make a fuss just to get her son, the shy A-student, considered for
gifted classes.

At RCA, Osei Avril, who barely spoke in class the first two months,
was educated like the sons of the rich and famous even though he and
the majority of students couldn’t afford to pay the $18,000 tuition.
They jet-setted to six continents on field trips. They sang for
President Barack Obama and his wife. They made class projects that
landed them on network news.

“We are trying to get the kids to the point where they can get a
scholarship to any school they want to attend and give them the poise,
the confidence and the academic ability to be successful," Clark said.
"We want them to be leaders and to interact with people all over the
world.’’

The Class of 2010 has been asked to:
Draw a world map from memory, showing every country and its capital.

Give public speeches without notes, sometimes without preparation and
on occasion, in front of TV cameras.

Learn every British monarch in order and take tests on England's
history, religions, wars and economy before traveling there. They
would repeat a similar regimen for every country they visited.
“We were in South Africa at this apartheid museum, and the guide told
us that the kids knew more about the history of apartheid than she
did,” Clark said.

Parent Shakira Brown says traveling has made her son Jordan more
mature and prepared for high school.

“My child has been everywhere ... during a tribute to Sojourner Truth
in Washington D.C., Michelle Obama gave him a kiss on the cheek,”
Brown said. “My passion is for every child to have a quality
education."

RCA students travel even when they stay in the building. Rooms have
been transformed into planets, ancient ruins and hospitals to teach
lessons in math, science and language arts. Teachers dress up. Their
lectures are musical. Clark calls the method "edutaining," educating
and entertaining at the same time. It's how Clark and his partner, Kim
Bearden, a teacher and RCA's executive director, engage adolescents
used to video games and action flicks. They say their style helps
students master advanced concepts and keeps them eager to learn more.

Clark is paid only $15,000 for his work at RCA. (His income is
supplemented by speaking tours.) Bearden receives about $75,400,
according to a federal 990 nonprofit tax-exempt report. In 2008, RCA
had gross receipts of about $3.9 million, including more than $1
million in program revenue (conferences, teacher training and
merchandise sales). Nearly $1.2 million was spent on salaries and
benefits for 18 employees, records show. RCA must raise $2 million
annually to operate. The rest of its $2.8 million budget is supported
by its teacher training programs.

Most parents feel their gamble on the school was worth it. Some have
watched their kids blossom on TV. Over the years, Willie Thornton, known as "the face of RCA," has appeared polished in cornrows on national network news. His confidence was bolstered by Clark's "Essential 55″ rules requiring students to look adults in the eye, give firm handshakes and speak intelligently and without fear. He and his classmates received 4 million hits on YouTube for a school rap they wrote on the 2008 presidential election. Thornton, a Republican among Democrats, told several news anchors how he stood his ground.

"RCA is a place where you can really express yourself and be who you
are," said Thornton, 14, who will attend Lovett School this fall.

Clark opened a middle school in a low-income community because of the
impact teachers have on kids that age. A Johns Hopkins University
study found that potential dropouts can be spotted as early as sixth
grade and that a student's socioeconomic background can play a role.

The school is a teaching laboratory for educators. Students take core
subjects for 90 minutes while educators observe from theater seats.
Art and music are offered after school. Corridors and classrooms
spring to life with graffiti-painted images of teachers, students and
their international travels. A two-story indoor blue slide shoots
students and visiting faculty out into the front lobby, reminding them
learning is fun.

Students are purposely picked to mirror the mix visiting educators get
in classrooms -- some gifted, some struggling, some average, some with
behavioral problems. Each student receives an interview and home visit
by Clark. Last school year, 370 fourth-graders applied for about 30
fifth-grade slots. The four-year program accepts only rising
fifth-graders.

"We always tell parents, ‘Imagine how strict you think we are going to
be and multiply it by 10,' ” Bearden said. “We push kids here really
hard. Our goal is to remain in their lives all the way though college.
They have our cellphone numbers, and we are their friends on
Facebook.”

Parents are also interviewed and must commit to volunteering. They
logged 6,500 hours in three years helping with labor like serving
pre-cooked lunch.   “It takes a lot of determination,” said Seretha
Bussey, a Delta ticket agent who was the first to apply to RCA. She
surprised Clark with a phone call after the movie. “There may be
nights where you are so exhausted, but you keep on going.” Bussey took a second job to pay for RCA, and she works nights to keep her schedule free. “I have been offered opportunities for advancement, but I have stayed in the position that I am in so I could transport my daughter to school,” she said. “Alexandra has worked so hard this year. I am proud of her. ”

Parents are still buzzing about graduation on June 16. Million-dollar
booster Oprah Winfrey made a cameo, and artists Boyz II Men and
Yolanda Adams performed. Winfrey praised parents for choosing RCA,
calling the campus of 98 kids the "best school in the United States of
America."

"I don’t think this school is for everyone,” said Ahjanae Colson, 14,
who landed a $40,000-a-year scholarship to Hotchkiss School in
Connecticut. “Some people might not be able to handle it. We had 1,000
questions on our global studies test! The first two weeks of school,
we could not talk unless we were spoken to by a teacher or we were
doing a group project.”

About half of graduates received $800,000 in scholarships and
financial aid to private schools with a pipeline to the Ivy Leagues.
Three won a Pace Academy Scholars award promising a full ride. Two
will attend boarding school for free out of state. Others will go to
high-achieving public schools. A placement officer at RCA worked with
A Better Chance in Atlanta to match students with the right campuses.
“We don't have a slide in our school, but we have lots of other
things,” said Philip McAdoo, Pace’s diversity director. “The
foundation that they have is really going to allow them to adapt.”
Will RCA teens adjust to high school without exotic trips and dramatic lessons?

It could be a "rude awakening" if they're not prepared, Buxton of UGA said. "High school may be a little less engaging."

Pace Academy-bound Osei Avril, the shy student who became RCA's
outspoken valedictorian, however, believes he is equipped to be
successful anywhere.  “This school prepares you for what awaits you in
the world to come,” he said. "It really got me out of my shell.”

Class of 2010 test data
Ron Clark Academy uses the Stanford Achievement Test, a national
assessment measuring subject content knowledge, to gauge student
progress. These results compare scores for the Class of 2010 at the
start of sixth grade and end of eighth grade. The test ranks student
performance according to percentiles. For example, a student in the
75th percentile scored equal to or better than 75 percent of all
students across the nation who participated in the test at the same
grade level. The test is used by some private and public schools
across the nation.

Q&A with founders of Ron Clark Academy
By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4:42 a.m. Thursday, July 1, 2010
The way they see it, school can be like a merry-go-round of facts and
formulas that bores students or a roller-coaster thrill ride that
takes them on an academic adventure.
Nationally renowned teachers Ron Clark, 38, and his co-founding
partner Kim Bearden, 44, formerly of Cobb County Schools, prefer the
latter.

The pair met in 2000 while winning Disney top educator awards and
shared a dream: to open a school without curriculum boundaries where
lessons would leap out of the pages of books.
So how did the public school teachers open the $3.3 million Ron Clark
Academy, a teaching lab training 3,000 educators a year, and a campus
filled with curriculum surprises?

Q: How did you become a teacher?

Clark: When I graduated from college, I wanted to see the world. I
wanted to be an archaeologist. I moved to London and was a singing and
dancing waiter for about six months. I went backpacking across Europe.
I stayed with a family of gypsies and ate a [rodent] mistakenly on a
skewer. When I was hospitalized, my mother called and said a local
school teacher had passed away, would I be interested in a job. I said
no. She said if I didn’t at least talk to the principal, she wouldn't
talk to me anymore.

Bearden: I graduated from Wheeler High and went to the University of
Georgia as an education major. I came back to teach in Cobb. They
helped to mold me into being a good teacher. I was Cobb's Teacher of
the Year in 2000. I was also Disney's Middle School Teacher of the
Year. I always felt middle schools were the place for me because it is
the most critical time in a child’s life when a student can take their
gifts and go down the wrong path or use them for good.

Q: How did you get the money for RCA?

Clark: I was teaching in Harlem and was named Disney’s American
Teacher of the Year in 2000. I got to go be on "Oprah." She leaned
over during a commercial and said you need to write a book. You know,
if Oprah tells you to write a book, you write a book. I wrote, “The
Essential 55” ... common-sense rules for classrooms. It was ranked
140,000th on Amazon. I mailed it to Miss Winfrey. She decided to
profile it. In the middle of the interview, she held the book up and
said, "America, I want you to go out right now and buy this book." One
hour after the show, it was No. 2 in the nation. ... I also had to
take out a loan. ... Slowly, we got some big sponsors. Great American
Financial Resources. Delta. Verizon.

Q: What are your biggest challenges?

Clark: People get the impression that because we are on the news, we
have unlimited funds. That is a misconception. We don’t have a gym, an
auditorium, a cafeteria. We have to keep fund-raising to cover
expenses.

Bearden: Time. We are teachers and administrators.
Q: When should parents apply to RCA?

Clark: They apply when their kids are in fourth grade in early October
for acceptance the following year. This is a four-year program.

Q: How does the tuition program work?

Clark: Tuition is based on a sliding scale. It depends on your income.
The majority of our kids pay about $45 a month. We have a few that pay
full tuition [$18,000]. All trips are included in the tuition.