Request for Proposal
for
Grant Writing and Evaluation Services for the Elementary Counseling Grant, Administered by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
by
ACADEMY FOR BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
5277 CALHOUN
DEARBORN, MI 48126

Submission Due Date: Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Academy for Business & Technology invites proposals from qualified licensed firms for evaluation services relative to the Elementary Counseling Grant, Administered by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (the "Elementary Counseling Grant") for Academy for Business & Technology. Proposals are to be delivered by email to Nina.Jackson@leonagroup.com, or in person or by certified/express mail to Ms. Nina Jackson, Project Director, 4321 N. Military, Detroit, MI 48210. All proposals must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2012 to be considered a responsive proposal. Academy for Business & Technology reserves the right to extend this deadline by providing a written addendum to the Request for Proposal.

Proposals submitted by facsimile will not be considered.

INVITATION

Academy for Business & Technology is requesting proposals for grant writing and evaluation services relative to the Elementary Counseling Grant. The delivery of these services is to be provided to each of four elementary charter school sites located in the City of Detroit, the same being Academy for Business & Technology, Pierre Toussaint Academy, Cesar Chavez Academy and Allen Academy.

Academy for Business & Technology will accept proposals delivered by email to Nina.Jackson@leonagroup.com, or in person or by certified/express mail to Ms. Nina Jackson, Project Director, 4321 N. Military, Detroit, MI 48210. All proposals must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 15, 2012. Academy for Business & Technology reserves the right to overlook any technicalities and accept or reject any or all proposals that are in the best interest of Academy for Business & Technology.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) can be downloaded from the "News and Events" section of the Academy for Business & Technology website at http://www.abtelementary.com. Copies of the RFP are also available at (i) Academy for Business & Technology, 5277 Calhoun, Dearborn, MI 48126 or (ii) The Leona Group, LLC, 4660 S. Hagadorn Road, Suite 500, East Lansing MI 48823. Both Academy for Business & Technology and The Leona Group, LLC are open for this purpose Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The RFP is not a low-bid price competition. Instead, proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria stated in this RFP. An evaluation committee will first score the written proposals in accordance with the Evaluation Criteria. Proposals meeting the minimum requirements as stated in the RFP, may be selected for interviews. The evaluation committee will then evaluate each firm who was interviewed based on the Evaluation Criteria. The highest ranking firm will then be selected by the evaluation committee to enter into fee and contract negotiations. If in the discretion of the Academy for Business & Technology, the fee and/or contract negotiations are unsuccessful, the Academy for Business & Technology may negotiate with the next highest scoring proposal, continuing in a like fashion until fee negotiations are successful. The selected firm’s proposal will be recommended to the Board of Directors of Academy for Business & Technology and/or their designee for final approval to contract award.

Email submissions should be sent to Nina Jackson at Nina.Jackson@leonagroup.com

or

Hard copy submissions must include three (3) copies of the proposal and be submitted in a sealed envelope that on the outside indicates the name, address, contact person, phone number and e-mail address for the firm responsible for the proposal. The envelope must be marked in the lower left-hand corner with the following notation: RFP – Evaluation Services for the Elementary Counseling Grant

Documents should be addressed to:

Nina Jackson
4321 N. Military
Detroit, MI 48210

Click below to view the entire RFP document:

On Friday, February 3, ABTE was visited by some special well-known African-Americans.  Five staff members played the roles of these individuals and went through a list of biographical highlights of their lives and the special contributions that they have made.  ABTE students were asked to guess who each of these guests were.  It was an enjoyable event to kick-off African-American History Month.  Thanks very much to the Special Events Committee for planning and organizing this event.
Our special guest visitors were:

Students, parents, and families are invited to celebrate Black History Month throughout February.  ABTE has a variety of activities planned to celebrate this event; some of the activities will be in the classroom and some will be whole-school -- during the day and after-school.  Parents are welcome to attend the assembly on Friday, February 3 beginning at 2:30 PM, where students will have an opportunity to interact with famous African-Americans from history.  Thanks to members of both the Black History Month Committee and the Special Events Committee for organizing these activities!
Photocredit:  http://brainz.org/

The Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School welcomes Hightouch Hightech Science to our school.  They have been providing fun and educational science experiences to our students for the last several years:  each experience is a hands-on, up close & personal activity that our students have really enjoyed.  This year's experiences include: "Newton in a Nutshell" for Kindergarten; "Weather or Not" for 1st grade; "What's the Matter" for 2nd grade; "Sounds Like Fun" for 3rd grade; "Edison's Workshop" for 4th grade; and "Up, Up and Away" for 5th grade.  Each experince is grade appropriate, related to science grade level content standards, and involves an activity that the students do not regularly do.  To learn more about Hightouch Hightech Science click the image above or visit their website at http://sciencemadefun.net/. 

The Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School family would like to welcome some new faces at our school as we begin the New Year:  Candice Betrosian (Title I Math teacher) and Justine Rae Cote (Title I reading interventionist).  Both of these women will be serving students who are achieving below grade level, as part of ABTE's Response to Intervention (RtI) program.  We would also like to welcome Vida Steele who will be performing her Student Teaching at ABTE over the next few months;  she is paired up with Mrs. Kalkun (2nd grade) and Mrs. Frazier (Special Education), and she will have a lot to learn from both of these teachers.

As 2011 comes to a close, the staff and students of the Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School wish you and your family a very joyous, safe and prosperous 2012.

On December 23, 2011, ABTE held its first semi-annual Multiplication Bee for students in grades 3-5.  Students have been learning, memorizing, and practicing their multiplication facts for the last month and a half in preparation for this contest.  The students were well-prepared and excited about the competition.  While every student worked hard and did well, we applaud the winners from each grade level:  Isaac Dobis (3rd grade), Claudio Ramirez (4th grade), and Vashun Patterson (5th grade).  The top 15 finalists from each grade competed against one another to determine the ABTE Multiplication Bee Champion, and the winner was Ingrid Ramirez.  The closing of the contest featured students in grades 2-5 performing the Multiplication Hustle -- a performance that even Santa Claus had to take time out from his busy schedule to attend!  Special thanks go to Mrs. Frazier and Mrs. Malik for organizing this event, and for all the teachers and parents for helping the students get ready.  Students are already preparing for the Spring Multiplication Bee.  [Visit the Photo Gallery to see more pictures]

The holiday season kicked off at ABTE with our first annual Spaghetti with Santa dinner and celebration, which culminated with a visit from Santa!  Students, parents, and staff were entertained by the ABTE Dance Club and holiday songs were song by a choir made up of members of the Student Counil and the Service Squad.  Thank you to the members of the ABTE Parent-Teacher Committee (PTC) who worked so hard to make this event possible:  especially Ms. Dewar, Ms. Obermeyer, Mr. Russo, and Mr. Place

The students and staff of the Academy for Business & Technology Elementary School took another step forward in becoming an "Environmentally Green" school and workplace with the kick-off of a new Recycling Program.

Students and staff joined together this afternoon for a Pep Rally to learn and get excited about Recycling!  Midstates Recycling Services has worked with our Green Team to help implement a recycling program that will be user friendly.  Every classroom and office throughout the building now has a cardboard PAPER container and there are PLASTIC BOTTLE bins located near each water fountain -- on both the main floor and upstairs.  The students learned what sort of materials CAN and CANNOT be put into these recycling bins.  Students are encouraged to bring in recycleable items from home too:  paper, plastic bottles and cardboard (borken down, please).

Each month Midstates will provide our school with an Ecological Report that will show how many pounds of paper we recycled and how our efforts had a positive effect on the environment.  If everyone gets involved, we can make a world of difference!

Thanks to members of the Green Team for making this long-standing dream of having a recycling program at our school a reality and to Midstates helping us take these first steps.