North Bay Leadership Council
Public/Private Partnerships
Algebra Academies
North Bay Leadership Council’s (NBLC) Algebra Academies will be offered in Novato, San Rafael and Petaluma in 2012. NBLC Algebra Academies are a public/private partnerships and based on the very successful Hauser Algebra Academy in Santa Rosa.
As an employer-led public policy advocacy organization, NBLC members have made education one of their top priorities. NBLC seeks to create more public/private partnerships to improve education so that there will be a highly skilled workforce in the North Bay ready to fill the jobs generated by the region’s employers.
Algebra Academies run for 3 weeks in the summer. Each academy has 25-30 students from 7thor 8thgrade who are English learners selected by their schools who we hope to inspire to take algebra and prepare to graduate high school and go on to post-secondary education. Without algebra, these students are not eligible to attend a CSU or UC school. The students become inspired by their visits to the workplaces where they meet with the engineers, scientists, finance and accounting personnel, and others who use math and science in their work and share with the students what they do and why it is important to learn math and science. This allows the students to make the connections between the importance of studying algebra and the possibilities of future careers. The goal of the Academy is help jumpstart students’ interest in and knowledge of algebra, as well as other math and science-related topics. This knowledge will do more than improve their academic achievement – it will connect the dots for them on why learning algebra is a linchpin for college and career readiness.
There is a paid teacher who works with the students every day while the students visit the workplace of the host organizations. North Bay Host organizations include: Infineon Raceway, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, North Marin Water District, Marin Sanitary Service, Kaiser Permanente, Veolia Water and Novato Sanitary District. Participating companies each host the students for 3 – 5 working days and provide the students lunch. Ideally,
Sponsorships fund the teacher(s), teachers’ preparation, supplies, students and parents’ orientation meeting before the start of the academy and graduation.
It is true, “it takes a village”, so we welcome you to Contact Us for more information on getting involved and becoming a 2012 Sponsor or Host Location!