Page 16 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 JEAN CHARLES ACADEMY, AN ACCESSIBLE, DUAL LANGUAGE PRIVATE SCHOOL, TO OPEN IN LYNN The school is designed to meet the needs of students of color in the communities of Lynn, Chelsea, Revere, Everett, and East Boston LYNN, MA - Jean Charles Academy (JCA), an accessible, private school based in Lynn, will open for the 2021-2022 school year following a recent approval from the Lynn School Committee. Founded by Nakia Navarro, JCA is designed to meet the needs of students of color by building a racially equitable curriculum and school culture within an inclusive dual language educational program. The school will begin enrolling up to 40 students in grades Pre K-7, and will ultimately grow to serve 125 students in Grades Pre K-12. The school will focus recruitment in the underserved communities of Lynn, Chelsea, Revere, Everett, and East Boston. The mission of Jean Charles Academy is to promote biliteracy, bilingualism, and biculturalism for students. The school will prioritize students of color by providing an interdisciplinary and dual language education that will prepare students for the 21st century through an emphasis on holistic learning and critical thinking skills. Jean Charles Academy aims to reimagine public education by: 1. Building schools that are designed to meet the needs of students of color; 2. Diversifying the teaching profession by hiring and retaining teachers with diverse backgrounds, and ensuring that faculty are representative of the diversity of enrolled students; and 3. Equipping all teachers with strategies for building racially equitable classrooms and ensuring a curriculum that is inclusive and refl ective of the student populations Tuition for JCA is based on a shared economy structure, and based on fundraising; the school hopes to provide families with a $25 per week tuition schedule. However, accepted families will not be turned away if they are unable to cover the cost of the program. The school is founded by Navarro, who is also the CEO and Founder of Building Audacity, a local youth support organization, along with a founding board of an additional 13 members. All founding board members are current or former educators, with a combined average of 20 years of teaching experience. In addition, 12 of the founding board members are people of color, half are bilingual, and a number have experience either in assisting the creation of a charter school or in operating a dual language program. Jean Charles Academy is named after Navarro’s parents, who were both born and raised in South Carolina during the Jim Crow era. Both attended segregated schools and believed that education was the way out of poverty. “We believe it is important that students see themselves in the adults who are teaching them day-to-day and who are leaders of the school - whose diversity is representative of the diversity of enrolled students, including language diversity,” said Nakia Navarro, Founder of Jean Charles Academy. “The JCA model will teach students key elements of social emotional learning, have college preparatory practices embedded throughout, and provide hands-on opportunities for students via experiential, projectbased learning that makes what they are learning, particularly complex math and science concepts, relevant to their lives.” The Jean Charles Academy Dual Language bilingual model is based on research that has shown high rates of academic success in both English and the native language for English Language Learners. The goal is that Jean Charles Academy students will be able to listen, speak, read, and write in two languages (English and Spanish), while also developing an appreciation for different cultures. Jean Charles is committed to hiring teachers who will reflect the diversity of the students and families. In addition to faculty demographics, all curriculum standards and decisions will be created with inclusivity and community at the forefront. “I’m excited the City of Lynn is getting a new education option that prioritizes Black youth and off ers a dual language program,” said Nicole McClain, President of the North Shore Juneteenth Association Inc. The school recently acquired space at 498 Essex Street in Lynn. Application forms in English and Spanish, as well as more information about the school’s mission, can be found on the school’s website: www.jeancharlesacademy.org. ~ GUEST COMMENTARY ~ Sometimes People Just Wanna Complain, Not Fix Anything By Sal Giarratani L ong ago, maybe 50 years ago, when I was much younger, a nice old guy, a neighbor who lived next door to where I lived with my family, told me once that there were two kinds of people, “Those who made things happen and those who watched things happen.” Viewing life today and especially with the invention of iPhones and social media, everyone has become seemingly a watcher of life or in some sense videographers. Folks want to catch the news around them but, God forbid, they actually get involved in life around them. We see it all the time, there’s some act of violence. Everybody becomes the audience. Others start fi lming the action. No one would even think of calling the cops or try to break it up. That would entail a person to actually participate in their own lives. I can remember many years back when I was still a police offi cer; I was involved in a struggle on the ground. Folks standing around watching like it was some kind of TV show did nothing but watch or video it on their phone and one guy said to me, “Should I call 9-1-1?” and I said, “That would be so nice of you.” I bring all this up in reaction to a news story right here in this newspaper about the Human Rights Commission attempting to address an anonymous complaint leaving a message on their 3-1-1 line about the volunteer-run Revere History Museum. With that call did come about a conversation between the Commission and the volunteers who run the museum. Too bad the anonymous phone caller who thought the museum in his or her eyes showed “instiNEW 10-YEAR RULE FOR INHERITED IRA’S T he SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) was signed into law on December 20, 2019. A signifi - cant provision of the SECURE Act was the repeal of the ability of a designated benefi ciary of an IRA account to withdraw the funds over his or her life expectancy. Designated benefi ciaries inheriting IRA accounts after 2019 must now withdraw monies from the IRA account within 10 years. The IRS should be issuing proposed Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) regulations soon as a result of the changes made by the SECURE Act. It is no longer necessary to determine the age of the IRA owner at the time of death for distribution purposes as long as the IRA owner dies after 2019 and the benefi ciary is a designated benefi ciary under the IRA account (a Trust or an individual). For designated beneficiaries subject to the 10-year rule, withdrawals from the IRA account are optional until December 31st of the 10th year following the year of death of the IRA account owner. The new 10-year rule also applies to a successor benefi ciary of a designated benefi ciary of the original IRA account owner, who inherited an IRA account prior to 2020, but who dies after 2019. A designated benefi ciary will establish a benefi ciary IRA account and will then select a benefi ciary of his or her inherited IRA account. That subsequent benefi ciary would be deemed to be a successor benefi ciary. If the designated benefi - ciary, however, had died prior to 2020, then the successor beneficiary would have the right to withdraw the remaining balance of the IRA account over the life expectancy of the designated benefi ciary, and not be subject to the 10year rule. Under the SECURE Act, an Eligible designated benefi ciary is eligible to withdraw the remaining balance of the inherited IRA account over his or her life expectancy. The following qualify as an Eligible designated benefi ciary: A. The surviving spouse of the IRA account owner B. A child of the IRA account owner who has not yet reached the age of majority. Once the child has reached the age of majority, the child then has 10 years to withdraw the balance in the inherited IRA account C. Disabled benefi ciary D. Chronically ill benefi ciary E. An individual not falling into A-D who is not more than 10 years younger than the IRA account owner. These are complicated new rules relating to benefi ciaries of IRA account owners. However, since IRA accounts are so common, it is important to understand the new rules. Joseph D. Cataldo is an Estate Planning/Elder Law Attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, Certifi ed Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a Master’s Degree in Taxation. tutional racism” and “white supremacy” in the museum’s exhibits didn’t just mention those concerns while at the museum. Would it not have been better for this person to just talk with museum folk while there? Why the need for so much anonymity in our society? Point out areas that are off ensive. Volunteer to help make the museum more respectful in their eyes to Revere, past, present and future? I am a friend of Bob Upton who is one of those volunteers always pushing the Revere History Museum and constantly trying to make this museum the best it can be. The purpose of this museum is to bring Revere folk together from the multitudes of cultures that have continually built up the fabric of this community. Revere has a rich history, yesterday, today and into the future and that is what this museum is all about. If anyone has ideas on how to improve the exhibits just contact the Museum and let them know your thoughts. I am sure they do not turn away volunteers either. No need to turn criticism into a human rights violation, is there?
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