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WHEREAS, The Academy Schools, a consortium of nationally acclaimed programs for juvenile offenders located in Western Pennsylvania, has, since the first program's inception in 1982, impacted more than 20,000 young men and women passing through the system which offers comprehensive programming governed by a unique rehabilitative philosophy; and
WHEREAS, The Academy, one of the four schools embodied in The Academy Schools, is celebrating its 20th year at its current location on a 50-acre site in the city of Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, in 1994 this program for court-adjudicated teen-aged young men and women won Pennsylvania's most prestigious award in the field of juvenile justice - “Community-Based Program of the Year” - presented by the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges' Commission; and
WHEREAS, in 2000 Summit Academy, located in Butler, was the recipient of Pennsylvania's “Residential Program of the Year,” presented by the same Commission, for its accomplishments and success in creating a prep-school model for young men in the residential setting; and
WHEREAS, The Academy, in 2002 was chosen from 4000 entrants to be highlighted by The Visionairies, a public broadcasting series viewed internationally; and
WHEREAS, after earning his undergraduate degree at Duquesne University, Mr. Samuel A. Costanzo, Founder of The Academy Schools, originally became interested in serving delinquent and at-risk youth after taking graduate classes in social work at the University of Pittsburgh, where he met, learned from, and later followed his professor and mentor to The Glen Mills Schools, west of Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Costanzo has always strongly believed in treating his students as ladies and gentlemen, creating countless success stories - and thus Mr. Costanzo so impressed Allegheny County Juvenile Court and the City of Pittsburgh School Board that he was encouraged to start a similar program for the purposes of providing a unique and comprehensive secondary educational opportunity in western Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, The Academy Charter School then became the first licensed, secondary Charter school exclusively educating delinquent youth in the nation, a place where Mr. Costanzo can enforce his commitment to “catch kids doing something right”; and
WHEREAS, The Summit Academy serves nearly 350 students from Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C. through multifaceted, individualized treatment including academic education, industrial-trade training, counseling, and athletics, in a complex system, holistically addressing the issues prominent in these young men's lives toward becoming positive, active influences in society; and
WHEREAS, The Academy Schools now encompasses The Academy Day/Evening Program, The Academy Charter School, Sleepy Hollow Academy, and The Summit Academy, serving nearly 700 court-referred youth;
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that in honor of its twenty years in its current location, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Tuesday, September 29, 2009, to be “The Academy Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.