Broom Street Academy in New York - Report Example

Broom Street Academy, New York History of the school’s program Broom Street Academy, New York, is a school that takes in students of grade 9 to grade 12 from at-risk youth. The school was started in the fall of 2010 as part of an organization that was started in 1972 to help at-risk youth within the city of New York1. Ever since it was started, the school has been able to help so may at risk youth who need help2. The school works in conjunction with The Door, to help as many at-risk youth as possible to be able to achieve excellent academic achievement3. The school tries to make sure that it addresses the special needs of the students who attend to school in order to help them overcome their problems. It has many programs such as reproductive health care and education. The school also provides the students with mental health counseling and crisis assistance and well as legal assistance. Broom Street Academy and provides its students with HSE and ESOL classes and tutoring and homework help. The students also benefit from college preparation services to prepare them for college after they graduate from high school. The students who attend the Broom Street Academy benefit from its career development program and job training as well as placement. Broom Street Academy also partners with its supporters to provide supportive housing and sports and recreational activities to the at risk youth who attend the school. The students also learn arts and related skills. More so, to help the students to concentrate with the studies and personal development, the students are also provides with free nutritious meals. All these services are provided for free at the Broom Street Academy. The mission The mission for the Broom Street Academy is to help as many youths as possible to have a path to a successful life after high school and possibly college4. The mission is achieved through multiple pathways to help these at-risk youth to have a smoother way to colleges and universities in order for them to be able overcome the challenges they are already going through. The school seeks to provide tuition-free education to students from economically unfortunate homes, children from the streets and those from foster homes and poorly performing schools. The school also seeks to instill the principles of personal success and growth through their Professionalism, Resilience, Investment, Dignity, Empathy model, commonly known at the school as PRIDE. Programs Broom Street Academy It is necessary to know that at Broom Street Academy, the students are given more than just what the curriculum at their level requires. The students get much more than the mainstream programs. This goes with the mission of the school, and the organization called The Door which is the support organization behind Broom Street Academy. Its programs range from personal health issues to educational matters. These are some of the programs offered in the Broom Street Academy; Reproductive health care and education This program is geared towards helping the students to be able to understand their bodies. This is especially important due to the age of the students, who are usually between ages of 12 and 21. Most of these students do not have stable homes, or parents and the only place they can hope to get this kind of education is from school. As a result, the Broom Street Academy offers them this education as a way to help them understand their changing bodies as they develop. The program is especially important to the female students who need to be taught about their changing bodies. Mental health counseling and crisis assistance Most of these students come from hardship backgrounds, with some of them even being taken from the streets. Counseling is always in order for most of these children. Even without considering their backgrounds, the Broom Street Academy understands that some of these young people of these age bracket are always having issues. As a result, the Broom Street Academy offers these children mental and psychological counseling so that they can be able to cope with any issues they may be having. Extra counseling is given to those may have extra problems. This helps the students to be able to perform better in their education and therefore be more prepared for life in college and thereafter. Legal assistance Some of the students in Broom Street Academy may need legal assistance. Some of them come from troubled past and may have some juvenile criminal records. Giving such students legal assistance is always an inevitable thing because only then that the students can be able to overcome their past. Since Broom Street Academy is also concerned with youth behavior rehabilitation, offering legal assistance to those who may need legal assistance in order to make peace with their past is always a necessary part of Broom Street Academy’s mission. HSE and ESOL classes Tutoring and homework help This is geared towards helping these students to do better in their studies. This is in line with the mission of the school which is to prepare these students as much as possible for higher education in colleges and universities. Tutoring and homework is especially given to those students who may be lagging behind in class. As has been established, Broom Street Academy wants to make sure that all students who go through the school are best prepared for life, and that they can gain positive life outcomes once they graduate from school5. In this regard, the tutoring and homework help program is geared towards achieving this. The Broom Street Academy recognizes that it is only by helping these students to be able to achieve academically that they can really change their lives for good. College preparation services Apart from educating and tutoring the students, Broom Street Academy also makes sure that these students to be able to know what will be expected of them after high school when they go to college. This may also include preparing them for college applications. Career development The students are also prepared for career development. For Broom Street Academy, the end result is to help these students to have good careers and to be financially and economically stable in their adult lives. In this regard, the school gives the students career development advice and training. This is in regard to career chose, which also includes advice on how to choose a college program that will help them arrive at their desired career choice. Job training and placement Broom Street Academy also seeks to help these students to get goods jobs. In this regard, the school offers job training and placement, especially for those students who don’t have a place to live, i.e. those who were salvaged from the street. Supportive housing The Broom Street Academy also gives the at-risk students housing support, depending on the situation of the students. Again, this is important because most of these students either come from very poor homes or from the streets. Sports and recreational activities and Arts Broom Street Academy realizes that some students may have a talent in non-curricular activities such as art or sports. In this case, these are highly supported in the school and the students not only allowed but are also encouraged to take part in sport and to try out arts, such as performing arts and fine arts. Nutritious meals Of course, meals are a must in the school because the school deals with disadvantaged children who may not have anywhere else to eat. The school provides the students with high quality chef cooked meals so that the children can get to eat meals that are as good as if they were living in their own homes with a nuclear family. The school understands that a good meal is part of a quality life and that the children in this school are at an age where proper nutrition is extremely necessary for their mental and physiological development. Concrete practical methods and strategies for intervention The school tries to make sure that they offer a complete intervention for the at-risk youth they rescue from the streets. The program at the Broom Street Academy involves all the pillars necessary for the full rehabilitation of a youth6. The program can be said to have two aspects. The first aspect is the preventative measure that is aimed at youth who are at risk of getting into destructive behavior. These are youths who are either in very poor home environments or in the streets. For these youth, the program seeks to provide them with a safe place (the school) and an education as well as life training. The other lot of students includes those at-risk youths who may already be criminal activity. For this type, the school looks to offer legal assistance as well as rehabilitate them through education and life training. Juvenile delinquency theories in practice The school seems to apply the environment theory of delinquency. The school believes that the environment has a very big impact on the way the person is likely to behave. Unlike other institutions that may believe in other theories of crime, such as trait theory or strain theory, the school believes that the youth can be saved from crime and delinquency if they are given a better environment and also a way to deal with their problems. In this regard, the school always seeks to make sure that it provides for an environment that supports these at-risk youths to be able to refrain from any delinquent behavior. Apart from that, it also seeks to give them the skill that will help them to be able to serve as a way to have a better life. The Broom Street Academy does not seem to consider the Rational Choice theory of juvenile delinquency. This theory suggests that a person only commits a crime based on the balance between the possible consequences and the possible benefit he or she can get from the crime. This theory can be said to be valid to some extent and in most cases, people commit crimes because there are no limiting factors that are enough to stop them. It is necessary for Broom Street Academy to be able to also consider this and have policies that are able to deal with that kind of situation. To deal with this kind of situation, the Broom Street Academy should consider that even after giving these young people able they need, they can still be involved in criminal activities if there are no enough limiting factors. In this regard, the school should also try to make sure that these students understand that there are consequences for committing crime. What I learnt from this program Being involved in this program revealed a number of issues that are relevant to the New York juvenile delinquency issues. It was evident to me that the issue of juvenile delinquency is a big one and that needs serious solution. The numbers of juvenile delinquency are just too high and they range from sexual offences to issues such as unwanted pregnancies. The number of at-risk youth is just too high and this indicates a problem both from the society as well as the justice system. What seems to be even more unfortunate is that there are no proper ways to deal with the issues of juvenile delinquency. Not of the theories of juvenile delinquency. The laws addressing the issue of juvenile delinquency are also not adequate to deal with the situation. It is indispensable for parties involved to be able to come with solutions that are practical and that address the issues beyond just theories. One of the biggest issues with juvenile delinquency theories which are mostly used in dealing with this issue is that they are overly simplified and generalized. It is necessary for this issue to be addressed. Bibliography Broom Street Academy. Mission & Overview . 2013. http://www.broomestreetacademy.org/mission-overview (accessed December 15, 2014). Brrom Street Academy, 2012. Brrom Street Academy. 2013. http://www.broomestreetacademy.org/about-door (accessed December 15, 2014). The Door. Broome Street Academy Charter High School Now Approved! September 16, 2010. http://www.door.org/news/charter-school-approved (accessed December 15, 2014). The Door. Our Mission. 2014. www.door.org/about-door (accessed December 15, 2014). Read More