The young men at Eagle Academy always dress in uniforms. Monday through Thursday it’s a blue shirt, Eagle Tie, and dark slacks. Each class has a different color Eagle Tie. The less formal, casual dress, is an Eagle polo shirt and khaki slacks which is worn on Fridays and Saturday mornings.

That’s right the students have school on Saturday morning. The time is used for special enrichment activities which in many schools usurp regular weekday school time.
At Eagle Academy guest speakers come Saturday morning, and many community members offer workshops in their field of expertise such as “Financial Management” or “Proper Etiquette.” Founding Principal David Banks says it’s often easier to get well known speakers on Saturday morning than during the week when they maintain heavy schedules. He listed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, former New York City mayor David Dinkins, U.S. Representative Charlie Rangle as a few of the Academy’s guests.

All parent related activities are also held on Saturday morning and range from parent-teacher conferences to workshop for parents. Since these activities are not scheduled at the end of a work day, Banks says, attendance is excellent.

Many of the participants at Tuesday’s all day session felt that a Saturday program would be beneficial to a lot of their kids. They recognized, however, how the nuts and bolts of making it happened
could put up an obstacle.

As I mentioned yesterday the mentors also meet one Saturday morning a month to share best practices

Banks says boys like to be on teams but they also like the competition that can result from this . In its after school program Eagle Academy does have competitive sports teams, but also boast a Debate Team, a Chess Team and a newly formed Robotics Team, all of which compete locally, and beyond.

The after school program also provides tutoring sessions which are voluntary during the first quarter but become mandatory for students at risk after first term.

There is also a summer bridge program for students who will be entering the Academy as freshmen in the fall. It attempts to orient the students to the Academy’s culture, and also help them improve their reading, writing and math skills.

David Banks emphasized in all of his responses, that each of these activities is not an isolated piece but part of an overall culture of excellence that is built into every aspect of the school

Here are some more attendee action plans from Tuesday:

“Implementing a Saturday Academy for Middle School students”

“Try to start a summer program that targets young men and prepares them for high school.”

"Implementing a summer school for inner city males with a heavy emphasis on charcter building."