SEI Charter School: Our application to become a charter school in 2004 school year was not only favorably received, but approved! This means we’ll get the opportunity to show that the academic mentorship and monitoring model we’ve found to be so successful in our inschool and afterschool format will have even greater results with students in a full day program.

School Crisis: Whew! The SEI family, and we know many of you as well, are breathing a sigh of relief now that our school children will in fact have a complete school calendar this year. A shortened school year would have been an academic disaster for so many children. There’s still a lot of work yet to do to avoid a similar crisis next year, but we continue to advocate for kids. We hope that the worse is behind us.

Rose Festival Kudos: On a lighter note…Congratulations to SEI Student and new Jefferson High School Rose Festival Ambassador Myleen Roberts!! Myleen participates in our Pamplin Leadership Program, and is quite an accomplished pianist. Myleen is on her way to Howard University in the fall. Way to go, Myleen!!!

Giving Back, Learning Lessons: One of the values that SEI teaches students in the program is the importance of giving back – especially to our elders. During spring break, Miki Hunnicutt, an SEI High School Coordinator, and a group of SEI High School students spent the week delivering meals for Loaves and Fishes. At first the students were a little timid in their assignments, but by the end of the week, Ms. Hunnicutt had a hard time getting students to keep on schedule! Turns out many of these great people had some valuable stories to share with our young people – and our students were eager to listen and learn.

Until next time, remember "Life Has Options"!