Spotlight on Client Networks
Mid South Network
Since 1997, Middle Start has been implemented in the three Mid South states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi through a partnership with the Foundation for the Mid South and grants from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Currently, the Foundation for the Mid South supports schools with comprehensive school improvement grants. The purpose of these grants is "to enhance middle-grades instruction, particularly in the core areas of literacy and mathematics." Through these grants the Foundation for the Mid South supports schools' efforts to develop or adapt programs and strategies that promote effective instruction and students' success. These grants make it possible for grantee schools to work closely with a professional development partner with specific expertise in mathematics or literacy.
Current and former members in the Mid-South Middle Start network include several education specialists based in the region and the following organizations:
- Academy for Educational Development
- Foundation for the Mid South
- Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois
- Mississippi Writing/Thinking Institute
- Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS)
- Ventures
- W. K. Kellogg Foundation
Greater New York
Beginning in 2006, Middle Start began working with two networks in the New York Metropolitan area: one in New York City and one in Long Island. The New York City initiative has begun to implement the Middle Start's DataSmart program, and the Long Island Network is beginning with the Middle Start School Study program. The work in New York City is focused around two middle-grades schools: Cypress Hills Community School, P.S. 89 (Cypress Hills), and Twenty-first Century Academy for Community Leadership, P.S. 210 (Twenty-first Century).
