The superintendent of East High School said he’s looking forward to another five years of the Educational Partnership Organization with the University of Rochester.
The Rochester Board of Education voted 5-2 on Thursday night to extend the EPO, and Shaun Nelms said this is a great opportunity for both East and the City School District.
“I’m looking forward to us sustaining the practice and continuing to improve on our academic measures,” he said. “But I’m most excited about being able to share these practices with other schools throughout the Rochester City School District.”
Since the inception of the EPO in February, 2015, East High’s graduation rate has nearly doubled, attendance has increased, and the dropout rate has dropped significantly.
Nelms responded to criticism of the high cost of the program by pointing out that the EPO has turned around a failing school.
“What we have proposed, and we’ve cut our budget by 10 percent, is that now that we have some success, some of those interventions we may not need anymore, and that funding should be returned to the district,” he said
Nelms said extending the EPO another five years shows the commitment from the district and the university to continue to partner in ways that benefit students at East, but more importantly, begin the process of sharing resources and new learnings with the rest of the district.
Click hereto view the board resolution concerning the EPO.