Profiles Series with Host Lou Gossett, Jr., Features Urban School Partnership

The Profiles Series television program, hosted by Lou Gossett, Jr., recently showcased an educational success story under way at Cramer College Preparatory Lab School in Camden, New Jersey. The segment was broadcast on the Discovery Channel on Friday, February 24, 2012. An excerpt can be viewed here.

The Profiles Series is a half-hour documentary style program that features the latest innovations and solutions, as well as corporate success stories from around the world. In this episode, producers chose to profile one of the nation’s poorest and lowest-performing schools, where first-grade students are now achieving unprecedented results in reading.

Through a unique partnership with the federal government, private business, and the New Jersey Department of Education, Cramer College Preparatory Lab School is utilizing a transformative learning model developed by American Reading Company. The innovative approach to reading promotes transparency and shared responsibility among the principal, teachers, parents, and students. Each step of the American Reading system is part of a relentless focus on making sure every child is college- and career-ready by the time he or she is 18 years old.

The television producers and film crew went to the Camden school to film a model classroom taught by Judith Licina and to interview Andrea Surratt, principal; Natalie Santiago, parent; Quality Quinn, author and reading expert; Andrea Gonzalez-Kirwin, Assistant Superintendent, Camden City Public Schools; and Jane Hileman, Founder & CEO, American Reading Company.

“We were delighted to participate in the Profiles Series program about Cramer College Preparatory Lab School,” said Hileman. “The students have made tremendous progress already, and the entire school community is working to further advance the reading achievement of every student.”