BY DAVID SAITO-CHUNG FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY How do you inspire inner- city children to excel at school? Ron Sadoff answers this way: Teach children to set goals. Give the pupils posi- tive feedback. In 1997, the market-beat- ing money manager invest- ed his own cash to open the Milwaukee College Prepara- tory School (MCPS). He hoped that kids from some of the poorest neighbor- hoods would rise to become academic stars. Sadoff picked one tough place to realize such a dream. When the K-through-eighth grade school opened that fall of ’97, the high school gradua- tion rate among the city’s urban blacks was 43.7%. Sin- gle parents ran three out of four Milwaukee urban black homes. Sadoff and Principal Rob- ert Rauh knew that pupil confidence would be low. So from the first day, they had every teacher tell the children how nice they looked in school uniforms and how smart they were. The kids didn’t buy it. No one raised their hands. Most of them stared at the floor. “After the first week, we scratched our heads and thought, ‘Could we con- tinue?’ ” Sadoff told IBD. “We kept trying. By the third week, the kids made eye contact with their teachers. Then they smiled. They started rais- ing their hands. After three weeks, we felt we could suc- ceed.” They were right. Dubbed by a magazine the “Miracle on 36th Street,” MCPS boasts solid numbers. Its alumni graduate from high school at an 88% rate; 66% have gone to college or other advanced schools. That’s in a city where less than 10% of black adults have a college degree, ac- cording to MCPS officials. Well-Read All third-graders read Ayn Rand, Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson, “and they are loving it,” Sadoff said. No wonder 81% of last year’s fourth-grade class scored “proficient” or “advanced” in reading in the statewide evaluation tests — higher than Milwaukee public schools’ 61%. “(MCPS) is one of my fa- vorites,” said John Gee, ex- ecutive director at Wiscon- sin Charter Schools Associa- tion. “Once you walk into the school, the atmosphere just reeks of people who are happy, polite and friendly. You’ll see third-graders walking down the hall and you immediately get a sense of pride and community that is not like your typical urban school.” Sadoff, 68, gives credit to Rauh and his teachers. But staff and pupils alike believe Sadoff’s passion for stu- dents’ lives has been crucial. “When it comes to the foundersof aschool, you usu- ally hear of them, but you don’t know them,” said Ash- ley Godley, an MCPS grad studying nursing at Texas’ Prairie View A&M Universi- ty. “I met Ron plenty of times. We were always see- ing Ron and (Sadoff’s wife) Micky helping the teachers a lot. It made us think this man is really serious about changing lives, and this school has really done that. Being the best is No. 1 — they always said that.” (Continued) Investor’s Business Daily www.investors.com @ Copyright 2009 LEADERS & SUCCESS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009 Sadoff’s Keys What: Founded an urban school to help Milwaukee kids aim for college. How: “We want teach- ers to love our stu- dents.” Money manager Sadoff decided 12 years ago to open the Milwaukee College Preparatory School, whose alumni reach advanced education at a 66% rate. His School Makes The Grade Inspire: Ron Sadoff goes the private route to steer pupils toward the right path
Transcript
B Y D A V I D S A I T O - C H U N GFOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
How do you inspire inner-city children to excel atschool?
Ron Sadoff answers thisway: Teach children to setgoals. Give the pupils posi-tive feedback.
In 1997, the market-beat-ing money manager invest-ed his own cash to open theMilwaukeeCollegePrepara-tory School (MCPS). Hehoped that kids from someof the poorest neighbor-hoods would rise to becomeacademicstars.
Sadoff picked one toughplace to realize such adream. When theK-through-eighth gradeschool opened that fall of’97, the high school gradua-tion rate among the city’surbanblackswas43.7%.Sin-gle parents ran three out offour Milwaukee urbanblack homes.
Sadoff and Principal Rob-ert Rauh knew that pupilconfidence would be low.So from the first day, theyhad every teacher tell thechildren how nice theylooked in school uniformsand how smart they were.
The kids didn’t buy it. Noone raised their hands.Most of them stared at thefloor. “After the first week,we scratched our headsandthought, ‘Could wecon-tinue?’ ” Sadoff told IBD.“We kept trying. By thethird week, the kids madeeye contact with theirteachers. Then they
smiled. They started rais-ing their hands. After threeweeks,we feltwe could suc-ceed.”
They were right. Dubbedby a magazine the “Miracleon 36th Street,” MCPSboasts solid numbers. Itsalumni graduate from highschool at an 88% rate; 66%have gone to college orother advanced schools.That’s in a city where less
than 10% of black adultshave a college degree, ac-cording to MCPS officials.
Well-ReadAll third-graders read Ayn
Rand, Shakespeare andEmily Dickinson, “and theyarelovingit,”Sadoffsaid.Nowonder 81% of last year’sfourth-grade class scored“proficient” or “advanced”in reading in the statewideevaluation tests — higher
than Milwaukee publicschools’61%.
“(MCPS) is one of my fa-vorites,” said John Gee, ex-ecutive director at Wiscon-sinCharterSchoolsAssocia-tion. “Once you walk intothe school, the atmospherejust reeks of people who arehappy, polite and friendly.You’ll see third-graderswalking down the hall andyou immediately get a senseof pride and communitythat is not like your typicalurbanschool.”
Sadoff, 68, gives credit toRauh and his teachers. Butstaff and pupils alike believeSadoff’s passion for stu-dents’ lives has been crucial.
“When it comes to thefoundersofaschool,youusu-ally hear of them, but youdon’t know them,” said Ash-ley Godley, an MCPS gradstudying nursing at Texas’PrairieViewA&MUniversi-ty. “I met Ron plenty oftimes. We were always see-ing Ron and (Sadoff’s wife)Micky helping the teachersa lot. It made us think thisman is really serious aboutchanging lives, and thisschool has really done that.BeingthebestisNo.1 —theyalwayssaidthat.”(Continued)
Investor’s Business Daily www.investors.com @ Copyright 2009
LEADERS & SUCCESSTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009
Sadoff’s KeysWhat: Founded anurban school to helpMilwaukee kids aimfor college.How: “We want teach-ers to love our stu-dents.”
Money manager Sadoff decided 12 years ago to open theMilwaukee College Preparatory School, whose alumnireach advanced education at a 66% rate.
His School Makes The GradeInspire: Ron Sadoff goes the private route to steer pupils toward the right path
Investor’s Business Daily www.investors.com @ Copyright 2009
According to Rauh, theschool has hosted 20 in-terns who have gone onto start high-performingcharter schools in high-poverty areas, includingEdmund Burke CharterSchool in Boston andHenry Johnson School inAlbany, N.Y. In Novem-ber, the Wisconsin Char-ter Schools Associationchose MCPS as its firstWisconsin Charter Schoolof the Year.
Before starting MCPS,Sadoff thrived in the fieldof investing by adopting ado-it-yourself mind-set.
The son of a doctor,Sadoff fell in love withthe stock market whilestudying at the Universityof Wisconsin. A businessprofessor challenged Sad-off and classmates to digdeep into the financialsof high-growth stocks,such as bowling gearmaker Brunswick. Hepushed the class to under-stand what caused greatfirms to peak and decline.Sadoff calls it “findingthe rainbow.”
Sadoff opened a stock-trading account andfound that his brokergave poor ideas. So hespent mounds of hoursstudying companies whileinside a brokerage’s li-brary. “I learned whatdidn’t work,” he said.“Sometimes that helpsyou a lot more.”
Take earnings estimates
made by Wall Street ana-lysts. Sadoff says the esti-mates by themselvesaren’t useful. But hefound the direction of astock can depend onwhether it’s beating ormissing those targets.
Sadoff, who continues tohead Sadoff InvestmentManagement LLC, closelytracks the monetarycycle. If the Federal Re-serve is expanding creditby lowering interest rates,he turns bullish and looksfor sectors that have beenbeaten down for five to10 years. These sectorstend to gain price momen-tum after surprising theStreet with better-than-ex-pected earnings and sales.
So why hasn’t the Fed’sactions the past yearhelped the market? Sadoffalso studies price trendsof commodities, real es-tate, consumer loans andother big asset classes.Michael Sadoff, one ofRon’s two sons who workwith him at Sadoff Invest-ment Management, saystoday’s environment isunique because Americafeels the bursting of manybubbles at once. “Moneymanagers obviously areaware of the economy,but they look at stocksand not the bigger picture.(My father) looks at theeconomy and how it willaffect the market. He’sable to come to the con-clusion, ‘Boy, the economy
looks like it’s going into arecession. Let’s get out ofthe market entirely.’ ”
This knack of timingthe market has boostedSadoff’s performance.From Jan. 1, 2000,through Dec. 31 of lastyear, the firm’s growthportfolio had a 13.6% re-turn vs. the S&P 500’s28.1% drop. Since theend of 1980, the portfoliohas had a 2,750% returnvs. 1,360% for the 500.
One day, he and hiswife saw a TV show pro-filing a successful Chica-go school headed byMarva Collins. Sadoff vis-ited it, then got a licenseto open the Marva Col-lins School in Milwaukee,now known as MCPS.
Sadoff admits he “knewnothing about the eco-nomics of education.”But he built a dedicatedstaff by sharing his pas-sion for education. Hevisited an inner-city pri-vate school, met with theprincipal, Rauh, and rat-tled off questions. Rauhquit and became the firstprincipal of MCPS.
“He would ask probingquestions, such as ‘If youget a $10,000 check inthe mail, what would youdo with it?’ ” said Rauh,the MCPS principal sincethe start. “He takes youto the next level in termsof thinking about how tomake a great school.”
Sadoff expects dedica-tion from his school’s
teachers. If a pupil issick and stays at the hos-pital, the teacher visits.In return, he writesthank-you notes to eachteacher yearly.
The PushSadoff presses teachers
and pupils to challengethemselves.
“It was intense,” saidMCPS grad Godley. “Wehad to memorize poemsevery week. We alwaysmemorized new vocabu-lary words. If you’re in sev-enth grade, you were doingeighth-grade work. Ineighth grade, you’re at thehigh school level. You al-ways had something to do.But with the support of myfamily, I could do it.”
Tokeeptheschool tuition-free, Sadoff realized heneeded grass-roots help toensure its future. So hebroadened the schoolboard to include local out-fits to help raise money forthe gap between state fund-ing and the cost per pupil.
The school has no buses;parents drive their kids toschool. As a result, momsand dads spend a lot of timeinside the building. Theylikely hear teachers and pu-pils recite a “Declaration ofExcellence.” The six-para-graph pledge begins,“Today is a new day. I willuse this day to the fullest inmy quest to know who Iam, what I want and whereI am going. I believe in therelentless pursuit of excel-lence.”
