Providence St. Mel President , Paul J. Adams III
Born September 14,
1940,
Paul Joseph Adams III learned the value of education from his
parents, Patsy Lois and Paul Adams, Jr., who enrolled him in private
elementary and high schools in his hometown of Montgomery,
Alabama.
After receiving a B.A. from Alabama State University, Adams moved
north to
Chicago,
where he worked in mental health education while earning his M.A. in
psychology from Northeastern
Illinois
University.
In
1971,
Adams was hired as director of guidance for Providence St. Mel
School, a private Catholic high school in Chicago. One year later,
he became the principal. When the Archdiocese of Chicago withdrew
funding from the school in
1978,
Adams spearheaded a national campaign to raise money for the school.
In response to his publicity-seeking efforts and the support of the
Providence St. Mel students and community, the school received local
and national media attention. Donations poured in from across the
country, allowing Adams to transition Providence St. Mel into a
not-for-profit independent school.
At Providence St. Mel, Adams focused on developing a strong academic
standard while enforcing strict disciplinary codes. To guarantee
the safety of his students, he moved into the vacant convent inside
the school to ward off thieves and vandals. His dedication became
legendary and during the next two decades, Adams successfully
transformed Providence-St. Mel into a premier college preparatory
learning institution for African American students.
Since
1996,
Adams has served as president of Providence St. Mel School, managing
an annual budget in excess of $6 million. He is still very active
in planning the curriculum for the school, which has since expanded
to include kindergarten, elementary, and middle grades, for a full
K-12 grade span. Under Adams' leadership, 100% of Providence St.
Mel's graduating seniors have been accepted to four-year colleges
and institutions of higher learning, with over 50% attending
top-tier and Ivy League institutions for the past seven years.
As part of furthering his
ground-breaking approach to education, Adams waded into the public
school arena founding Providence Englewood Charter School. During
the 2006 -2007school year, he served as Principal while, as part of
Providence St. Mel's Leadership Development Program, he trained the
designated, incoming, permanent school principal.
According to Adams, "I learned early on that without a proper
education, a person is doomed. If I could provide the right
environment, our children could enter these doors and feel
free to
learn and prosper." Due to his constant effort and dedication, the
student body at Providence St. Mel has blossomed to over 600
thriving students, and Providence Englewood has 300 students.
Adams has received numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the McDonald's Education Achievement Award, the African-American Male Image Award, the Rozell R. Nesbitt Community Education Award, and five honorary doctorates. Adams was named an American Hero in Education by Reader's Digest and was voted Man of the Year by the Chicago Urban League. He also was chosen by Michigan State University as a distinguished Crystal Apple Award winner.
Providence St. Mel Principal , Jeanette M. Dibella
As
chief education officer, Jeanette M. DiBella is principal of
Providence-St. Mel School (PSM) and oversees its new charter school,
Providence Englewood, which opened in 2006. An educator with more
than twenty-five years of administrative and teaching experience,
Ms. DiBella leads a faculty and staff of 80, and coordinates a K-12
curriculum for more than 800 students on two campuses.
She began her career at PSM in 1996 and was appointed principal in 2000. Under her leadership, test scores soared to the 73rd percentile (a 45% increase), due to the implementation of her rigorous curriculum that incorporates meta-cognitive instruction, high expectations, positive reinforcement, and teacher accountability. During that same period, ACT scores increased 42%. These results are achieved even though PSM accepts students who score as low as in the 25th percentile upon entrance.
Every year, 100% of PSM’s graduates are accepted to college; under Ms. DiBella's leadership, more than half of these graduates now are accepted into top tier/Ivy League institutions. In 2005 she was named chief education officer, charged with adapting the PSM model to Providence Englewood, which serves an underserved neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. Over the next three years, this K-5 charter school will grow to 500 students in grades K-8.
In 2004, Ms. DiBella received The Crystal Apple Award, the highest distinction for outstanding educators, from Michigan State University's (MSU) College of Education, (ranked number one for the past ten years by U.S. News & World Report). The award symbolizes her outstanding achievements as an educator "representative of excellence and commitment." Ms. DiBella co-authored the study, "Providence-St. Mel School: How a School That Works for African-American Students Works," with the late internationally-renowned researcher, Dr. Michael Pressley of MSU. The study was published in the June 2004 Journal of Educational Psychology. In a statement that aptly captures the work of PSM, Dr. Pressley said the school "does more than increase standardized test scores; it produces better life outcomes for graduates." Indeed, 72% of PSM alumni graduate from college (compared to the national norm of 52%).
Ms. DiBella received her bachelor's degree in special education from Marywood College in Pennsylvania, and completed graduate coursework in education from Loyola College/Baltimore County Schools. She has taught in school systems in Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. In 1995, she received the Kentucky Special Educator of the Year award. In 2004, the University of Illinois at Chicago invited her to teach a doctoral course on transforming schools to principals of Chicago public schools.
Board of Trustees
Critical to the effectiveness of Providence-St. Mel School is its committed Board of Trustees. Representing every facet of business, industry and civic leadership, these individuals dedicate countless hours of their skills and resources to help hundreds of deserving, inner-city children receive a quality, college preparatory education at PSM.
Board of Trustees and
faculty and staff. If you need the latest version of Adobe Reader, download it here. |
