A LOOK INTO KALEIDOSCOPE:
"AN ENRICHMENT PROGRAM"
New Rochelle’s Kaleidoscope program is offered to 4th and 5th grade students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievements and receive high scores on a series of tests (including the STAR ELA and STAR Math or the NYS ELA and NYS Math assessments). However, the racial makeup of students participating in these programs is disproportionate to the racial makeup of the students in New Rochelle’s school district.
The preceding data exhibits that white students make up nearly half of Kaleidoscope’s class size. According to the Superintendent’s Preliminary Budget 2019-2020, Kaleidoscope received $287,145 from the CSDNR’s 2017-2018 Budget to allocate towards 58 students, half of whom are white.
This is not a demonstration of the diversity that New Rochelle prides itself on. We insist that students from all 6 elementary schools must be given the proper educational opportunities to perform well on the entrance exams and fit Kaleidoscope’s criteria.
Students in 8th grade are eligible to enroll in an advanced Algebra 1 course. By beginning their required math courses earlier on, they have a head-start when they get to high school. Similar to Kaleidoscope, the Algebra 1 course requires students to obtain high scores on placement tests.
As of 2015, Isaac E. Young Middle School had 1,196 students total and 82 students enrolled in the Algebra 1 course. Albert Leonard Middle School had 1,241 students total and 199 students enrolled in the Algebra 1 course. How could it be that two schools in the same city with nearly the same amount of students had such drastically different enrollment numbers? Albert Leonard had more than double the number of students in the advanced course than Isaac E. Young did.
This data concludes that students at Isaac E. Young Middle School are already at a disadvantage by the time they enter high school. We need to bridge the gap between the two middle schools and ensure that all students in New Rochelle are receiving an equitable education.