Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Director Dr. Jeff McGee joined school leaders and experts from across the country last week at a two-day summit located outside of the nation’s capital to identify solutions to close the excellence gap—the troubling disparity in academic performance between lower income and higher income students at advanced levels. “Closing the Excellence Gap: Advocating for High-Achieving, Low-Income Students” on February 5-6 was convened by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which offers the largest scholarships in the country to high-performing students who have financial need.
Dr. McGee was personally invited by the Cooke Foundation to collaborate with more than 100 other principals of selective high schools as well as leaders of organizations such as the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools, researchers focused on high-achieving, low-income students, other scholarship providers, education advocates, and John B. King, Jr., senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, to learn about cutting-edge research on and share and identify best practices for supporting high-achieving, low-income students.
At this landmark event, a new organization of these principals formed, called the Coalition of Leaders for Advanced Students Success, with an agenda to support and advocate for high-achieving students with financial need.
“We are leaders in our communities who have a stake in nurturing talent wherever we find it and regardless of a student’s economic status,” said McGee. “It is understood that in order to remain competitive as a region, state, and nation we must continue to develop talent, yet high ability learners (regardless of economic status) and the schools that serve them have largely been ignored in federal and state fiscal dialogue. This summit underscored the fact that Maggie Walker Governor’s School is committed to being part of the solution.”
“I wanted to bring these school leaders together to discuss how to better support high-performing students with financial need because I know the high caliber of their leadership and of the education provided at their schools,” said Harold Levy, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and who is a former chancellor of New York City Schools. “This summit confirmed my belief that these leaders have excellent insights to offer policymakers at all levels of government to benefit high-ability students from low and moderate income families.”
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Climbing on Newsweek’s (2014) list of Americas best public high schools to 12th, MLWGS serves 746 high ability learners from across 12 school districts in central Virginia.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. By offering the largest scholarships in the country, in-depth academic counseling and other direct services, the Foundation seeks to help high-performing, low-income students to develop their talents and excel educationally. In addition to providing students both counseling and financial support from middle school to graduate school, the Foundation provides grants for noteworthy and innovative initiatives that support high-performing, low-income students. Founded in 2000, the Foundation has awarded over $130 million in scholarships to almost 1,900 students and over $80 million in grants. www.jkcf.org
