Welcome to THE PARACLETE FOUNDATION, South Boston, Massachusetts


			OUR MISSION: To enrich young lives through education We accomplish this by: Providing an arena in which people from all faith traditions can make a meaningful difference in others’ lives. We enlist volunteers with diverse interests and abilities to provide educational enrichment for youth from less advantaged communities. Conducting all of our programs in a safe, open and welcoming environment that places value on hands-on learning, exploration, character, and spirituality. Fostering global connections, focusing on communities in need that have called on us for help. Educating the whole child. We nurture the physical, spiritual, intellectual and social development of our students and encourage parental commitment to education of their children. Striving for excellence. We develop innovative and exemplary education-based programs that serve as models for others. Paraclete Foundation Promoting Education, Globally and Locally The Paraclete Foundation is a ten year old organization whose founders, Barry T. Hynes and Sr. Ann Fox, have built highly-effective partnerships that fuel and drive its mission. It is located in a former South Boston convent which provides ample program and residential space for its activities. The Paraclete Foundtion has three distinct areas of activities. 1. Paraclete Academy – Enriching young lives through education Middle school is a critical age to open up the world of opportunities for children so they may fully develop their talents, minds and character. The Paraclete Academy does this by offering a wide range of high-quality hands-on classes in science, math, engineering and English for urban students. We are an educational resource for our families, often immgrants, and work with each family and child to help them find the best educational opportunites, providing support as needed through high school graduation. Our faculty is a cadre of volunteers from first rate universities who live at the Paraclete building and are a full time presence in the community. We also call upon the assistance of local universities and businesses for their experise. In the last ten years over 500 students have participated and now our first classes of college graduates are returning to help. 2. Rwanda Parternships – Forging ties of friendship, understanding and support The Paraclete Foundation provides a forum to foster Rwandan – American personal relationships which often result in the development of educational projects such as the Byiamana School of Science scholarship program, the Yellow Springs Teacher/student exchange and the Thousand Hills Coffee Company. These partnerships also support various projects of the Rwandan Benebikira Sisters, some of whome are in residence with us while attending school in Boston. We host Rwandan events and provide hospitality to the occasional Rwandan visitor. 3. Educational Iniatiives –An incubator for schools The Paraclete Foundation provides the frame work and the experience to bring together people who are interested in launching small private schools to serve the underserved, globally and locally. We have completed two schools that are now operating independently: Nativity Prep of New Bedford, MA and the Maranyundo School for Girls in Rwanda, Africa. A third school, Covenant Prep opened in September in Hartford, CT with an independent Board. BACK TO TOP Board of Directors: CHAIRMAN Fred Pfannenstiehl PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sister Ann Fox PRESIDENT Barry T. Hynes CLERK Kevin Delehanty , Esq. Assistasnt CLERK Ann Hynes TREASURER Kathy Lydon Sullivan DIRECTORS Eileen MacNeil DeMichele Gerry Dwyer Thomas Gunning William Kemeza Fr. Robert Kennedy Matthew Lagan William A. Larrenaga Paul McDevitt Br. Straton, MALISABA, BACK TO TOP The Paraclete Foundation Report for 2008-09 School Year *Our Building – Bought and Becoming Green* Yes, the St. Augustine’s Convent is now officially owned by the Paraclete Foundation. The Archdiocese accepted our offer of half the appraised value and the Mt. Washington Bank provided the financing. The timing was timely -- the financial market crashed shortly after we passed papers. We received a total of $200,000 funding from the City of Boston, Amelia Peabody Foundation and the Barr Foundation, to “green” the building with energy efficient improvements in heating, lighting and roofing. *Recap of our History* The Paraclete Foundation was founded in 1997 by Barry T. Hynes and Sister Ann Fox to provide out of school educational enrichment of the youth of South Boston. In the he last 12 years it has expanded in scope to be an incubator for three new middle schools and to bring in an international dimension with its Rwandan connection. Still, its major program and center of activity is the Academy and its educational enrichment for middle school youth. The Academy results are impressive. Each year 90 percent of our ISEE prep students enter private or exam high schools. In the past twelve years 246 of them have gone off to four year colleges. It served as a laboratory to develop new learning projects working with Tufts Engineering, LEGO, MIT, NASA. TERC, AXIS and Kids Can Cook. Most notably the first Lego robot was built by our students. The past twelve years have seen a huge demographic shift as working class families were replaced by young professionals and the housing developments welcomed immigrant families with children. The parochial school presence was reduced from five schools to one. But South Boston remains a neighborhood where children are bussed out to 103 different public schools. Enrollment in local schools from the neighborhood is capped at 50 percent. The school age population is now largely centered in the neighborhood]s three large housing developments, all within walking distance of the Paraclete. Our Academy – A New name, new principal and new school partnerships serving a new South Boston We renamed our after school learning center “The Paraclete Academy” to better convey the educational thrust of its activities. To further strengthening our educational image and program, we have for the first time a principal to oversee the day to day operations and craft a model for learning outside the classroom. Stewart Stubbs comes with experience in the Nativity School in New Bedford and the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. We have forged a strong partnership with Boston College High School. The Paraclete works closely with the school to recruit and prepare likely candidates for admission as well as providing meaningful community service opportunities for their upper classmen. In addition, BC High faculty provide excellent professional development opportunities for our teachers To strengthen our ties with local public schools our three volunteer teachers assist in their 5th grade classes . This helps the schools and makes a seamless transition for children coming to the Paraclete. Our enrollment reflects the vastly different South Boston where now over half of the school age children are non-white primarily from immigrant families. Our Academy – What Has Not Changed We continue to use hands-on projects, explorations, technology to enhance the learning experience. We don’t give up on the basics: reading, writing and math We provide the middle school youngster with opportunities to widen their horizons, to challenge them to dream, to help them find their talents while all the time doing all that is necessary to help them know how to be good students. One of major objectives is to provide the foundation that will allow out students to enter schools of excellence at the high school level, , help their families in this process, and to instill in them the concern for others and their responsibility to serve. Our volunteer teacher corps continue to provide the enthusiasm for learning, the mentoring and the teaching that is so important at this age. *Educational Initiatives:* We worked with a former young principal of Nativity New Bedford to create a similar school in his home town. Hartford, Connecticut. It is up and running with its own independent board. The operations of the Maranyundo School in Rwanda, begun at the Paraclete Foundation, were officially turned over to an independent board to operate and by 2010 will be run by our Rwandan School Board. *Rwandan Connections:* We continue to be a forum to develop personal relationships among Americans and Rwandans with the result that these connections have evolved into mutually beneficial projects that promote the economic and educational life in Rwanda. For instance, we have fostered a group of “Friends of Byiaman” who this year provided scholarships to 100 students at Rwanda’s top science high school. The Paraclete Foundation building is home to the Benebikira sisters, a native Catholic congregation of nuns, who are able to come for higher education and share their third world experience with others. Thef Friends of the Benebikiras are providing furnishings for the congregations dormitory for women at the National University. *Outlook for 2009* We have always run a lean operation so there is not much in our budget for us to cut. Our operating budget for 2009 will be $260,000. We expect to reduce that amount as our energy efficient improvements kick in to lower utility costs and as the principal on our mortgage is paid off, reducing interest payment. The Class of 2005 Kevin Alessandro – US Navy Kate Balaconis - Boston University Jaqueline Aldred - University of New England Phillip Burke - University of Massachusetts Amherst Gregory Burke - University of Massachusetts Amherst Gabriella Baquerizo - University of Massachusetts Amherst Lauren Coll – Northeastern University Meghan Cook – Riveria College Molly Downs – Curry College Ellizabeth Good - Wellsley College Monica Green – Bentley College James Griffin – Hesser College Brendan Hill - University of Massachusetts - Amherst Kaitlyn Hurley - Salve Regina Brian Itri – Curry College Joseph Kane - Stockbridge College at U-Mass Amherst Ryan Kelly – Bridgewater State College Jack Kilcommons - U Mass Lowell Margaret Moiforay – Salem State College Ellen McDonough - Harvard University Justine McLaughlin - Boston University Leanne McLaughlin – Westfield State College Joe Moreno – Curry College Sarah O’Donnell - University of Massachusetts – Amherst Colleen O’Toole - Salve Regina Tuan Pham - Worchester Polytechnical Insititute James Repass - Worchester Polytechnical Insititute Krissey Roach - Deerfield Acadmey Emily Stapleton – University of Massachusetts – Amherst BACK TO TOP The Class of 2004 Dennis Alesandro – United States Coast Guard John Attridge – Amherst College Michael Bain – University of Massachusetts – Amherst Sharon Campbell – Johnson and Wales Joe Cappuchio –Champlain College Michelle Carter - University of Massachusetts – Amherst Stephen Chase - University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth Minik Chuigyn – Baystate College Brian Delahanty – University of Massachsetts – Bridgewater Joyce Dorion – Currry College Lindsey Farina – University of Massachusetts – Amherst Chris Flaherty – Univeristy of Massacusetts - Boston Kerry Foley - Bowdoin College Julie Anne Kennedy – Suffolk University Katlyn Long – Laboure College Brian McCarthy – University of Massachusetts – Boston Martin Nee – University of Vermont Nicole Tkacik – University of Massachusetts – Amherst BACK TO TOP The Class of 2003 Michael Alessandro – University of Massachusetts, Amherst Kate Burke – University of Massachusetts, Amherst Sharon Campbell - Johnson and Wales, Rhode Island William Carr – Bentley College Samantha Connolly – Columbia University, New York Timothy Cook – Mt. Helen’s College of John Moores University, Liverpool, England Gus Cooney – Boston University Cardinal Medeiros Scholarship Annie Downs – Marymount College of Fordham University, New York President’s Scholarship Meghan Greene – University of Delaware Andrew Lane - University of Massachusetts, Boston Kelly Logue - Bennington College, Vermont Jessica Mickiewicz - Merrimac College, Andover Shannon Moran - University of Massachusetts, Amherst Colleen O’Dwyer - University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth John Owens - St. Michael’s College, Vermont Cale Putnam – Worcester Polytechnical Institute Laura Stapleton - University of Massachusetts, Amherst Kathleen Sullivan –Pace University, New York Allison Walton – Salve Regina College, Rhode Island BACK TO TOP
	Our Challenge Annual Report Class of 2005 Class of 2004 Class of 2003

	The Paraclete Academy -- Our Challenge . We are convinced that educational enrichment for urban youth at this stage of their life is not a luxury. It is absolutely essential to help them discover their talents and realize their true academic and personal potential.They have an innate curiosity and desire to explore the world outside the confines of family and school. They don’t easily give-up on themselves and are open to help and trying out new ways of “being.” Although it seems counter intuitive to expect that educational activities would attract youth, we have always had a full enrollment, currently 75 students. Our students come by choice at least three days or evenings a week. Families are interviewed as part of the admission process and parents are invited as partners in our evolving, creative approach to opening the doors of opportunity to urban youth.