On Monday, December 8th ten seventh and eighth grade students from Excel Academy Charter School will visit Harvard Business School. The students have been invited to the campus by the Latin American Student Association (LASO) at Harvard Business School. LASO members will host Excel students during a lunch, guide them in a discussion of an HBS business case, bring them to a first year Marketing class led by Professor Ray Weaver and then treat them a tour of the grounds. This event will provide Excel Academy students with a unique opportunity to engage with graduate-level material, observe a business school class, and learn from and be inspired by the Latin American students of Harvard Business School. This event will be the first in what we hope will be an ongoing relationship between Excel Academy Charter School and LASO.
The mission of Excel Academy, a public, charter middle school located in East Boston, is to prepare middle school students to succeed in high school and college, apply their learning to solve relevant problems, and engage productively in their communities. The student population is 69 percent Latino and 75 percent low income. Excel Academy students are among the top performing students in the state on annual MCAS examinations. On the Spring 2008 MCAS exams, Excel’s current eighth grade class placed first out of 284 districts and 463 schools in the state on the 2008 English MCAS exam after achieving a perfect 100 percent Advanced/Proficient rate. These seventh grade students also ranked second out of 284 districts on the 2008 math MCAS exam, with an 85 percent Advanced/Proficient rate. All Excel Academy students outperformed their local and state peers on the 2008 English, math and science MCAS examinations.
The mission of the Latin American Student Association at Harvard Business School is to proudly promote the Latino Culture at the Harvard Business School. They fulfill this mission by creating a support network of Latino students at HBS, increasing the number of Latino applicants and matriculants through the HBS admissions process, connecting current students with HBS Latino Alumni and improving awareness of Latino issues in the HBS community.
