PSVP PRESENTS ANNUAL PHILANTHROPIST OF THE YEAR!
By John Denny, April 17, 2009
And the winner is . . . . .
Our very own Jeremy Resnick.
During last night’s “Solutions for Society” conference, PSVP presented our Philanthropist of the Year Award, recognizing the incredible contributions of both time and money to implement innovative solutions to challenging community challenges. Several top notch philanthropists were nominated by our partners, but the winner was Jeremy Resnick.
For those who don’t know Jeremy, he is synonymous with education reform in our community and country. Jeremy is the founder and driving force behind Propel Charter Schools, a set of five charter schools in Allegheny County. An early advocate for school reform, Jeremy first founded Northside Urban Pathways Charter School, one of the first in the State. He quickly built his own “School District” with five charter schools.
But it’s not the number of schools Jeremy has started, it’s the number of kids in his schools that are achieving great things. Here is a quick example of the academic achievement in Jeremy’s schools.
The McKeesport Propel School which has the same socio/economic and demographic characteristics as the City of Pittsburgh Schools has out performed the City overall as well as the City’s best performing schools. In the 2008 State Standards 79% and 97% of low-income students at McKeesport were proficient or advanced in reading and math respectively while only 35% and 52% were so in Pittsburgh.
McKeesport also out scored two elementary schools in the highly affluent school district of Fox Chapel in Allegheny County.
Congratulations Jeremy and keep up the great work.
