Say Yes comes to Niagara Falls

Did you realize Niagara Falls High School’s graduation rate is up to 86%, Say Yes Is coming and that Head Start in the district is putting 1 and 2 year olds in class?

I didn’t either.

That was just one of the tidbits Superintendent Mark Laurie dropped Thursday at a Coffee Club Networking event at Red Door Real Estate.

The school district is the largest employer in Niagara Falls with 7,000 students, 11 buildings, and 1,500 employees.

That graduation rate was 68% just a few years ago.

“I will not be satisfied until the first number is a 9 and the second number is a high number” Laurrie said of the graduation rate.

David Rust of Say Yes! Buffalo will be leading the new initiative in Niagara Falls. Efforts in Buffalo have resulted in a $69 million endowment to fund the program. It will take about $20 million in Niagara Falls. The idea behind the endowment is for the programs to be grant funded forever.

In Niagara Falls, Say Yes! Will start with Saturday academies at two schools twice a month where families will be fed and arts, music, academics and recreation will be available. Other programs will include mentoring for young men of color, workforce development.

Laurrie said emphasizes college is not for everyone.

“Every student needs not a job but a career,” he said, discussing not only college but direct entry agreements with labor unions.

One of the projects he discussed was a gazebo being built in Hyde Park with the help of unions working with students.

Even before the new program, the district has in place a pathways program where students take a aptitude survey in 6th grade and then begin working on academics to that end in grade 8 through 10 before moving on to more rigorously targeted instruction in the last two years of high school.

Laurrie said there are currently about 50 different college-credit classes being offered at the high school from 8 to 10 different institutions.

Rust and Laurrie will be fund raising for the endowment, hoping to get it fully funded so the program can be sustainable going forward.