First-Time-Voting ADS Senior Gives her Family a Voice
18-year-old ADS Senior Suheydee Sabino gave her family a voice in American politics for the first time when she voted in the November election. "For [my father] to lose his job affected the whole family. He came to the United States to work and have a better future for us." said Sabino, who is the only registered voter in her family. "Their voices matter, even though they're not actually voting." Along with other first-time voting ADS seniors, Sabino was featured in a primetime interview by PIX11. Pictured above, clockwise from lower-left: Suheydee during sixth grade team-building; with her father at eighth grade graduation; as an eleventh grade student; at left, Sabino with classmates and Head of School Melissa Melkonian during the PIX11 interview.
Faculty Spotlight: Gregorio "Batman" Miranda
"From little kids memorizing Pi to now voting, it’s a beautiful thing."
Gregorio Miranda was a first-year teacher in 2008 when he watched the film “The Dark Night” and decided he would be the Batman of education. Like the Bruce Wayne character, Miranda had lost both of his parents at a young age (10). “My utility belt is teaching math and telling stories and building relationships,” thought Miranda. “I want to save Gotham City through teaching.” 

Miranda was the first in his family to attend college and studied education, driven by a love of tutoring others while in high school. He joined ADS in 2015 and taught math to the current senior class when its students were in both seventh and ninth grades. “From little kids memorizing Pi to now voting, it’s a beautiful thing,” he says. “I always wanted to be somewhere where I could have that experience of seeing my students grow academically, socially, and as leaders.”

As Ninth Grade Team Leader and Algebra 1 teacher, Miranda’s role is to ensure every ninth grade student is supported socio-emotionally as well as academically. “I’ve taught in places where it’s too focused on test scores and I’ve taught in places where it’s just a hang-out spot. ADS is right in the middle: We have high expectations but we’re going to love you, too, and focus on providing the tools you need to go to college but also to be successful as a citizen.”

Miranda notes that parents are a key part of the equation. "They are invited to attend a monthly "Cafecito con la Directora" (Coffee with the Director) that originally started with our founder and has since grown to each of our campus directors." They can also sit in on their child's classes. "This allows the parents to be a part of the community. They are part of the student's growth. There is a reason why our crest has three people on it, representing the student, parent, and teacher."

A talented spoken-word poet, Miranda wrote and performed for this ADS video.
Out the Window to Ivy League Dreams in Three Generations
Above, ADS Parents Susana Flores and her husband with their children; below, Susana's parents.
Shortly after Susana Flores gave birth to her daughter, she labeled almost everything in their apartment in both Spanish and English. Later, while her children attended elementary school, she took online courses in early childhood education Susana was determined to give her children the level of academic support her parents weren’t able to give her.

Susana’s parents grew up in Puebla in southern Mexico. They attended the same small elementary school. Susana’s mother watched as her future husband jumped out of the school’s first-floor window each day and ran away to work the fields with his older brothers so the family could afford to buy food, as they sometims went hungry. He never learned to read, write or count. Susana’s mother was removed from school after third grade by her father, who feared she would learn to read and write and send boys love letters. She learned anyway, from a local teacher who secretly taught her and others for free. 
The couple immigrated from Mexico to the south Bronx before starting their family, in order to give them educational opportunities they couldn’t afford in Mexico. Susana’s father found work in construction, and Susana, who was born in the south Bronx, became the first in her family to graduate from high school. She then earned an Associate’s Degree before a high-risk pregnancy forced her to pause her higher education..

When her daughter was in fifth grade, Susana heard about a school in their neighborhood that began with sixth grade and taught in both Spanish and English. She knew she had to send her children there. “ADS is what we need for immigrants and kids learning English,” she says. “A school where they teach them, where they support them and where they are always positive. ADS tells them, ‘You can do it. You are able to learn two languages and you will have more opportunities.’"

Susana’s eldest is now a ninth-grade student at ADS, her middle child a seventh-grader and her youngest, in fifth grade, will start at ADS next year. Susana has high hopes for her children's futures, beginning with the Ivy League. Susana has also resumed her own pursuit of her and her parents' dream. She is back in college and on track to receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education in 2022.
Our Mission: The American Dream School develops academic excellence in both Spanish and English for grades 6-12, preparing students to excel in college and become leaders in their communities.