Tracking Chance Students
While Chance School emphasizes the use of authentic assessment tools, standardized testing is given to third, fourth and fifth graders. We are pleased to report that the Chance way of educating students consistently yields high results. For example, results from the Stanford Achievement tests for recent years document that 65% of Chance fifth graders scored in the top third of students as compared with 23% of their peers nationally.

Equally impressive are the grades students earn after they leave Chance. Each year we obtain transcripts of Chance graduates. These official reports show that Chance graduates transition successfully to next schools as validated by their grades – over 95% were reported as A’s and B’s. This holds true whether they attend private schools (approximately 60%) or public schools (approximately 40%).

Success for Chance Graduates

As our graduates share their talents beyond the walls of Chance School, they make contributions in a variety of ways at their next schools. These former Chance students continue to apply themselves as they face new challenges in the classroom, and also on sports and academic teams, in clubs and on committees. Words that receiving schools use to describe our graduates include “mature, responsible, respectful, excellent role models, risk-takers, problem-solvers, resourceful, involved, prepared, invested learners, achievers, active participants.”

One such graduate is Shel Abramson, Class of 1994. We’ve watched Shel grow from a toddler to a young adult. During his years at Chance, he began as a two-year-old. Preschool teachers remember Shel as a quiet, shy child who initially wasn’t so sure about leaving his mom and dad during his first weeks of school. With patience and support from his parents and teachers, he began to realize that Chance was a fun place to be. With opportunities to explore and discover, Shel began to make connections that whetted his appetite for learning. As he applied himself in the elementary years, he excelled at science, math and reading. His teachers remember Shel as having a good sense of humor, being an excellent student and a great friend to all. After graduating from Chance, Shel attended Kammerer Middle School and duPont Manual High School. As a student in the Math, Science & Technology magnet, Shel graduated as Valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. He was co-Editor-in-Chief of the school newspaper, President of the Young Democrats, a member of Beta Club and the National Honor’s Society, and a Governor’s Scholar. He enjoys both playing and watching sports from basketball to cycling. Shel now attends Yale University and is interested in psychology. Fortunately for us, he returns to Chance School each summer as a camp counselor.