1975
The Complementary
Schools Project, created by Headmaster Theodore Sizer, seeks avenues
where PA can further its constitutionally stated mission of educating
“youth from every quarter.” Seizing upon a national shortage
of people of color in science and math, administrator Jerry Foster
submits a proposal to the William Randolph Hearst Foundation for a
summer program to help remediate the problem. |
1976
With assistance
from both the Hearst Foundation and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation,
PA establishes Math and Science for Minority Students, (MS)2, naming
John L. Jackson as director. Its mission is to bring bright, but economically
and educationally disadvantaged, students to campus from targeted
cities for three summers of science and math immersion. The entering
class has 26 students, many of whom have never been away from home.
The faculty is a mix of PA and public school teachers. |
1978
Diane
L. Jones, a math teacher from Stockton State College in New Jersey,
assumes the directorship. More funding is obtained, allowing an expansion
to 47 students. An on-campus steering committee is named to help establish
policy and develop new ideas. |
1979
Elwin
Sykes, of Andover’s English department, is named director. The
first class of eight students graduates. A college counseling component
is developed. Field trips and cultural sharing have already emerged
as vital ingredients of the (MS)2 experience. |
1980
PA math
teacher Frank M. Eccles becomes interim director. An English workshop
is established, covering usage, vocabulary and composition. Teaching
assistants are added to the faculty. |
1981
(MS)2
enrollment climbs to 86 students from 19 cities. |
1982
Educator
and engineer Victor C. Young begins what will be a five-year term
as director. Surrenthia Parker, a member of the inaugural (MS)2 class,
becomes the first graduate to return as a teaching assistant. |
1985
(MS)2
enrolls 119 students from 21 cities and two Native American reservations. |
1987
Nathaniel
B. Smith, a Phillips Academy math teacher, serves as interim director. |
1988
Walter
A. Sherrill assumes the directorship, which he will hold until his
death seven years later. The Fort Worth Independent School District
in Texas establishes High School Plus, a program frankly modeled after
(MS)2. “This replication of our paradigm is an important and
far-reaching contribution by PA to the improvement of public educa-tion
for minority students in mathematics and science,” Sherrill writes.
Christopher Cleveland, an engineer who graduated from the program
in 1980, proposes the formation of an alumni association for the purposes
of networking, mentoring and fund raising. |
1989
(MS)2
is highlighted by Boston-area’s Channel 5 as part of its “Great
Expectations” series, which recognizes exemplary educational
programs for disadvantaged students. The new (MS)2 Alumni Association
holds its first meeting, with Cleveland as president. An endowment
fund for (MS)2 is launched. |
1991
(MS)2
marks its 15th anniversary, with a student body 110 strong and 13
teachers. Asked “How would you improve this course?,” one
student writes, “You can’t.” |
1994
Nearby
Lawrence, Mass., is added to the list of cities from which (MS)2 accepts
students. A survey by the alumni association shows that 79 percent
of respondents from the classes of 1979-93 work in a math- or science-related
field, with the largest percentage in engineering. |
1995
Walter
Sherrill dies on March 10. PA faculty member Edith Walker, who joined
the program in 1981 as a teacher, succeeds him as director. Calculus
is added to the mathematics program, and discrete mathematics replaces
fractals as the standard third-year math course. |
1996
(MS)2
celebrates its two-decade mark with a Founders Day program that overflows
Kemper Auditorium. Bolstered by a $500,000 two-to-one challenge grant
offered by The Sperry Fund of New York in 1992, the (MS)2 endowment
reaches $2.5 million. |
1997
Two 1992
(MS)2 graduates return as teaching assistants in mathematics. Three
other teaching assistants come through IRT, the Institute for Recruitment
of Teachers, another Andover outreach program. One math teacher is
a visitor from the Aga Khan Academy in Nairobi, Kenya, linked with
Andover through the International Academic Partnership (IAP). |
1998
(MS)2,
like the Phillips Academy Summer Session, is shortened from six weeks
to five, but with no reduction in rigor. For the first time, the faculty
includes two Phillips Academy graduates as teaching assistants. Edith
Walker steps down as director and is replaced on an interim basis
by Temba Maqubela, chair of Phillips Academy’s chemistry department.
In the fall, Maqubela turns over the (MS)2 interim director reins
to Andover physics instructor J. Peter Watt, former associate director
of the program. |
1999
In a Sept.
21 commentary, The Boston Globe recognizes (MS)2 as “one of the
most powerful … bridge programs” in math and science education
for minority students. A new course in probability and statistics
is added to the third-year math program. |
2000
In its
annual report, (MS)2 lists a total of 674 graduates, a per-pupil cost
of $4,450 per summer and a yearly budget of $400,000. Schools enrolling
the largest number of (MS)2 alumni are Brown University, Dartmouth
College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oberlin College,
Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University.
|
2001
Temba
Maqubela becomes director. (MS)2 alumni constitute an unprecedented
27 percent of the program’s faculty, including three engineers,
two medical students, a graduate student in biochemistry and a public
school teacher. Also on the faculty are two IRT graduates and three
Phillips Academy alumni. |
2002
(MS)2
observes its Silver Jubilee. More than 120 alumni return to campus,
as well as past headmasters Theodore Sizer and Donald McNemar, past
and present PA and (MS)2 administrators, donors and representatives
of funding agencies. A panel of eight alumni addresses the impact
of (MS)2 on their lives. Other celebrations are held in Chicago, Fort
Worth and New York. Orthopedic surgeon Surrenthia Parker takes over
leadership of the alumni association from Chris Cleveland. The Christian
Science Monitor and The Boston Globe, as well as the local press,
cover the 25-year milestone. |
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