Comer Kids Leadership Academy

In July 1999 students from Comer Schools in New Haven, CT, Norfolk, VA, and Community School District #13 in Brooklyn, NY came to Yale to participate in the first Comer Kids Academy (CKA). The purpose of the CKA was to provide students with an opportunity to learn more about the Comer Process and to meet Dr. Comer, the School Development Program faculty and staff, and other students from Comer Schools around the country. Parents, teacher, and administrators also participated in the Comer Kids Academy as chaperones.

Comer Kids, organized into teams of 10-12 and led by SDP faculty and field staff, went on a scavenger hunt at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, met with New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. at City Hall, and neurocience laboratories at Yale School of Medicine. They learned about the Comer Process and the six Developmental Pathways. They met with Dr. James P. Comer and learn about his life and work to make schools great places for children and youth to develop and learn so they can become positive and successful contributors in family, work, and civic life.

From 1999 to 2004 several hundred children participated in the Comer Kids Leadership Academy (renamed in 2002). The school districts that participated in the Comer Kids Leadership Academy included:

  • Asheville, North Carolina
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Dublin, Ireland
  • Miami-Dade County, Florida
  • New Haven, Connecticut
  • Norfolk, Virginia
  • Paterson, New Jersey
  • Portsmouth, Virginia
  • Prince George's County, Maryland
  • Richmond, Virginia
  • Springfield, Missouri
  • Tucson, Arizona

Comer Kids in the News

In the December 2011 issue of the SDP Newsline the Comer School Development Program launched a new feature called Where Are They Now? and Melissa G. Quintana of Miami, Florida was the first person featured. Melissa was a student delegate from Banyan Elementary School at the 2003 Comer Kids Leadership Academy at Yale University. Melissa's parents, Silvia and Ariel Quintana accompany their daughter to New Haven to serve as chaperones for the Comer Kids from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

If you participated in the Comer Kids (Leadership) Academy as a student delegate, chaperone, or team leader, please contact Cynthia Savo at Cynthia.Savo@yale.edu.