The Boston Scholar Athlete Program (BSA), a public/private partnership between the City of Boston and Suffolk Construction’s Red & Blue Foundation, designed to improve academic achievement through athletics, announced end-of-year statistics for its programs in Boston public high schools, including the West Roxbury Education Complex schools.

Among the report’s findings are increased use of the program’s signature “Zone” facilities amongst students, an overwhelming increase in participation in BSA supported sports, and a significant commitment from coaches to participate in professional development opportunities.

“We are thrilled with the BSA’s progress this academic year,” said John Fish, the CEO of Suffolk Construction and Chairman of the Red & Blue Foundation. “Everyone involved— the scholar-athletes, headmasters, coaches, tutors and BSA staff — should be proud of our accomplishments. The program has had a tremendous impact in the city and will continue to expand next year.”

This academic year, the Boston Scholar Athlete Program staffed a “Zone” learning center in each Boston Public School, including WREC. Zones are staffed, operated, and funded by the BSA, and are available for use during the academic school year by students who are current or aspiring scholar-athletes. Each BSA Zone offers students a quiet, safe and dedicated space to study, interact with peers, and receive tutoring.

West Roxbury scholar-athletes and aspiring scholar-athletes spent an average of 1.5 hours a week at the Zone this academic year, and were served by two tutors who volunteered an average of five hours a month.

When asked to grade their Zones on characteristics such as appeal, technology, organization and facilitator, West Roxbury students gave their overwhelming approval — West Roxbury High scored an “A” in each category.

There were 3,165 active Zone members this year in the Boston Public Schools as a whole. In West Roxbury, 82 percent of scholar-athletes met the academic eligibility requirement, which allowed them to continue to try out for and play on teams each season.

The BSA is committed to establishing a robust coaches academy that provides free, individualized professional development opportunities to all Boston Public School coaches. Three West Roxbury coaches were part of the more than 70 percent of BPS High School coaches who participated in at least one course. BSA partners with Best-in-Class organizations to develop the curriculum and lead instruction.

Through the generous donations of local colleges and corporations, BSA distributed over 1,000 pairs of running shoes, and hundreds of pieces of equipment and uniform upgrades. New Balance, Harvard University, Boston College, Northeastern University and Emmanuel College were instrumental in coordinating these efforts.

The Boston Scholar Athlete Program anticipates increasing its impact to over 4,000 scholar athletes in 2011-2012. Over the next three years, the BSA will also continue to develop its academic support offerings by partnering with Best-in-Class organizations, corporations, and colleges and universities. Zones will continue to support scholar-athletes with tutoring services, and will provide assistance with job placement beginning in the summer of 2010.  It will also be providing a comprehensive SAT preparation curriculum beginning in the fall of 2011, in partnership with The Princeton Review.

About the Boston Scholar Athlete Program (BSA)

BSA was launched in the summer of 2009 in collaboration with Mayor Tom Menino, Superintendent Carol Johnson, and Suffolk Construction's Red & Blue Foundation with the goal of increasing opportunities for Boston Public students to achieve academic success through athletics. BSA Zones are staffed by trained facilitators and offer scholar-athletes in grades 9-12 a place to study, access resources, and receive free tutoring. The BSA currently provides support to all 18 Boston public high schools, 151 athletic teams, 3,900 scholar-athletes and 132 coaches.