October 14, 2011 Dear AT&T Foundation, I represent PS 82 The Hammond School, a New York City Public School

in District 28 which is seeking $120,000 to improve the quality of Math education by purchasing a new Math program and updating the technology in the school. P. S. 82Q is located in Jamaica, Queens. We are in a low income immigrant neighborhood where approximately 90% of our students receive free or reduced lunch that entitles the school to be a Title I school. Our school is comprised of many different cultures, but we blend together to a make great learning community where the students are always put first ahead of everything else. Our goal is to improve the problem solving abilities of the students at PS 82Q who need a more visual and tactile approach to learning. In order to accomplish this goal it is our plan to utilize technology in concert with the implementation of a new math approach, Math in Focus (Singapore Math) by the end of the 2011-2012 school year. We will use the programs benchmark assessments, pretests, posttests as well as the standardized testing of New York State/New York City to evaluate the growth of the students. Students in grades K-2 will show a 5% increase in solving addition/subtraction word problems. Students in grades 3-5 will show a 5% increase in solving multiplication/division word problems and show a 5% increase in solving multistep word problems. Math in Focus is a research based math program that was birthed from Singapore Math. Additionally, Math in Focus is aligned with the Common Core Standards which every school in New York State must abide by and every student must meet. In addition, we will provide our staff with Professional Development including a SMART board for each classroom, as technology is vital to the success of the program. We are seeking laptops that are essential to the functioning of the SMART boards. Our teachers use of technology is key to maximizing the success of our students as research shows economically disadvantaged, special education, and ELL populations improve math test scores and their knowledge of math through the use of technology. The virtual manipulative that comes with the program will be an additional help for our students. Math in Focus with technology will be sustained through monies allocated to the school budget, grants, and donations. Additionally for sustainability teachers will improve in their skills to understand and increase proficiency through professional development, promoting collaboration among each other to improve pedagogy of both the math curriculum and technology as well as maximizing math/technology lesson planning. I hope that we will

become a model for other schools to follow in our district through the success of these programs We will be collaborating with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the implementation of Math in Focus with continuing Professional Development. Tech Equipment will be our partner in the purchasing of the Smart Boards/laptops with professional development. This program can be replicated and will become integrated in our learning community. The expected total for this grant is approximately $120,000. This includes the Math in Focus curriculum, SMART Boards, laptops, and professional development for the staff. The project is estimated to be about 4% of our total budget based on projections using the 2010/2011 school budget. Thank you for your time and consideration in our project and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely,

Roberto Cortes, Teacher RCortes51@aol.com (917)518-7441 PS 82Q The Hammond School

Angela Boykin, Principal ABoykin@schools.nyc.gov (718) 526-4139 PS 82Q The Hammond School