A Dream Grows in Harlem IC forges a relationship with a remarkable inner-city school. On April 7 the FDA formalized its two-year relationship with IC in a ceremony at the academy. Once plagued by low test scores, student violence, and poor faculty morale, the former Intermediate School Number 10 has flourished under the FDA banner. Excellence is expected of and delivered by a student body that draws the majority of its members from single-parent homes.
Many students live in poverty and in areas where drugs and crime are a way of life.
Still, more than 95 percent of the school's 1997 graduates went on to college, and that percentage is expected to grow with this year's class. The 1996 show also prompted a visit by Pat Tempesta, program coordinator for teacher education in the College's School of Humanities and Sciences. It' s the result of a lot of hard work by the faculty, staff, and students. We've been working with them for the past two years, and we're delighted with the experience and opportunities they've brought to us. The relationship began to take serious shape at the conclusion of a spring 1997 trip to the Ithaca campus by FDA staff and faculty.