About Our SchoolEvery year In June, The Frederick Douglass Academy (“FDA”) celebrates the fulfillment of a dream—that of our children graduating from high school and beginning their undergraduate studies. The goal of FDA is to provide a rich, vigorous and challenging academic curriculum that will prepare our students to enter the college of their choice. College preparation begins in the 6th grade. Students in the middle school study Japanese or Latin, music, art and dance in addition to academic classes. Students take New York State Regents classes starting in the 8th grade, and many students will have completed the requirements for a high school diploma by the end of the 11th grade. Students then take Advanced Placement Courses, and in some cases, introductory college courses at Hunter College. We offer Advanced Placement courses in Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, English, Spanish, French and American and European History. The school provides a wide variety of clubs and teams to supplement the roster of academic courses that are offered. These activities may take place before or after school and/or on Saturdays. Each student and family must make a commitment to becoming part of the dream of attending college. Students are expected to strive for excellence in every part of their lives. Students are accepted at FDA based on the results of an interview and two written recommendations. Eighty percent of the accepted students must reside in the Harlem community and twenty percent come from outside of District Five. The school has approximately 1,500 students in grades 6–12, and 65 staff members. Students are required to wear plain white shirts/blouses, navy blue pants/skirts and black shoes. Emphasis is placed on one’s intellect and not on one’s appearance. All students are expected to graduate from high school and attend college. The values and beliefs that influenced Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. when he studied at Morehouse College are exactly the same ones that each Frederick Douglass scholar is expected to exemplify. Every student is expected to learn The Frederick Douglass Student Creed (based on the Morehouse Student Creed) and the 12 Non-Negotiables, also referred to as Academy Rules. Four hours of homework is expected from our students each day. As funding permits, a summer enrichment program is scheduled and entering students are required to attendžthree weeks for the 6th and 7th grades and six weeks for the 9th grade. FDA Regents Success* FDA has a very high level of academic success. Our regents scores are above city average by 30 to 40 %.
FDA Partnerships FDA is fortunate to have developed partnerships with many organizations. A few of our major collaborations are with the GAP (internships, mentorships, jobs, scholarships and “Little Shop of Scholars” school store); HBO (internships, mentorships and computers); PricewaterhouseCoopers (mentorships); our public/private public service partnership with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP (Advanced Placement Book Fund, Lion Fellowships (scholarships and peer college mentoring program), in-school instructional support for teaching critical learning skills and writing, study skills curriculum library, public service training, and speakers bureaus for the Career Programs); Sumitomo Bank and JAL, Japan Airlines (travel opportunities); IEarn (Belarus and Japan student exchange and international research); and Building With Books (travel programs to Mali and Nepal and student leadership opportunities). Other benefactors have sponsored trips for our students to Italy, France, Israel, Japan, South Africa, England, and Canada. The Hayden Foundation funded a weather station, science tutorials and FDA student participation in the Astrophysics Program. In addition, the City Council, as a result of a recommendation by C. Virginia Fields, Manhattan Borough President, provided funds for an upgrade of science laboratories and for a greenhouse. Honors and Awards U.S. News & World Report, January 18, 1999 included FDA in a list of schools that achieved excellence within their peer cohort. In the same year, FDA was awarded the prestigious New York State Governor’s Arts Award for Dance. In 2001 FDA won the city-wide Lincoln Douglas Debate competition thereby joining previous winners Bronx Science and Stuyvesant High Schools on the first place silver loving cup. FDA has been featured in numerous articles in the press and featured on all local television stations. Founders Ms. Patricia Black, Manhattan Superintendent of High Schools, Dr. Bertram Brown, Community School District 5 Superintendent and Dr. Lorraine Monroe (former Deputy Chancellor of Instruction) organized FDA, which opened in the fall of 1991. In 1996, Dr. Monroe retired and started The School Leadership Academy, a training institute for new principals. Ms. Dorothy Haime served as Acting Principal for seven months. Dr. Gregory M. Hodge then assumed the helm and has worked diligently to provide more opportunities to the children of the Harlem community. Realizing the FDA Mission and Goals FDA has a Leadership Team which is composed of FDA administration, faculty and staff; the Parent Coordinator; parents/guardians; and student representatives. The FDA Management Team is composed of Dr. Hodge; the Assistant Principals; and the other Department Coordinators: ˇ Mr. Ernesto Acosta (Physical Education) ˇ Mr. Tim Hearn (Science) ˇ Mr. Curtis Lawrence (Social Studies) ˇ Ms. Yvonne Yamusah (Foreign Languages)
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