Lesson One Foundation Inc
General Information
306 Dartmouth Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 247-2787
Website
LESSONONE.ORG
Organization Contact
[email protected]
Year of Incorporation
1980
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Statements & Search Criteria
Mission Statement
The Lesson One mission is to help children and adults take control of their lives and provide a
culture-change in schools, homes and neighborhoods. We aim to teach children fundamental
social and emotional skills such as self-control, resliency, self-confidence, responsibility, critical
thinking, problem solving and cooperation in the same sequential and straightforward way that the
alphabet and numbers are taught so they can survive and succeed socially and academically.
Background Statement
The history of Lesson One is marked with numerous accomplishments and exciting milestones.
After its founding as a non-profit organization in 1976, Lesson One began in the Boston Public
schools and soon expanded to municipalities throughout Massachusetts. Within a few years, the
Governor of Massachusetts awarded Lesson One a proclamation for the important work doing with
children throughout the state. In the 1990’s, Lesson One received a citation from the Boston School
Committee and was recognized as a model for safe and drug-free schools at a White House
ceremony for the National Education Goals. Soon thereafter the company was awarded a 5-year
federal grant, along with the Harvard School of Public Health, to assist with development of a
curriculum for grief, loss and peacemaking. The national media began to take notice and Lesson
One was the subject of stories on ABC World News Tonight, Dateline NBC, CNN, and USA Today.
In May of 2000, Parade Magazine published an article about the success of the Lesson One
program and nearly 6,000 people contacted us looking for help with teaching the Lesson One skills
to their children. Due to this heavy demand, Lesson One was then adapted for national audience
and disseminated to educators, schools and communities in over 30 states and Canada. In 2004,
Simon and Schuster published our first book Lesson One: The ABCs of Life which has received
glowing endorsements from Bill Cosby and Marian Wright Edelman, among others.
Impact Statement
1. Lesson One presented a workshop at Temple University with Bill Cosby for educators and future
teachers focusing on the trials and tribulations of urban education.
2. Our book, "Lesson One: The ABCs of Life" by Simon & Schuster went into it's fifth printing.
3. Our intervention expanded to six schools in California and is now being used by schools in
Canada.
4. The Lesson One intervention is slated to be on the Substance Abuse Mental Health Service
Administration's website listing evidence-based programs.
Needs Statement
While we have worked in schools and communities in Boston, in Massachusetts and nationally we
have only been able to do so through word of mouth and sporadic media attention. We often think
of ourselves as the best kept secret in education. Therefore, one of our most pressing needs is to
receive help in marketing and public relations to bring our intervention to more schools and
communities. In addition, we are currently working with several schools and communities that want
to initiate Lesson One but who lack the funds to do so. We lack the financial and personnel
resources for a comprehensive fundraising campaign that will help fulfill the many requests for our
intervention.
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CEO/Executive Director Statement
Lesson One’s intervention is groundbreaking in that it doesn’t just teach skills—it defines them,
simply and clearly, and then teaches them sequentially. Lesson One works with children, teachers,
staff, parents and guardians, to create an environment where children learn to integrate skills from
self-control to cooperation into their lives.
What Lesson One teaches is as critical to life as learning the ABCs and the 123s. These are skills
children need for the rest of their lives, yet they often don’t even understand what these skills are.
Expecting children to exercise self-control and take responsibility for their own actions without
having these basic life skills is like asking them for a book report if they do not know how to read, or
what two plus two is if they have never been taught to count.
The Lesson One skills are vital—every child deserves a chance to learn and internalize them. The
future of our children and our culture depends on it.
Board Chair Statement
In 1973, I was a young teacher on my way to his first day on the job. I got all spiffed up, packed my
new lunch box, and entered the school doors with visions of smiling children’s faces. Instead, a
student punched me in the back. On the second day, she punched me again. The third day, I gently
held her fist and drew a face on it. That face spoke, and told me that her father had held a gun to
her head and her parents were getting a divorce.
That experience coupled with my early life experiences began my journey to develop ways to help
children overcome the many obstacles they face as they navigate through life. Since the founding
of Lesson One, it has been my mission to continue to help children with skills such as self-control
despite the challenges of an often difficult economy and fundraising climate. We face these
challenges directly by evolving and continually improving our intervention and partnering with others
who share our mission.
Service Categories
Primary & Elementary Schools
Geographic Areas Served
While Lesson One has been fortunate to work with communities around the country, we never want
to forget about those in our own backyard. With youth violence being so prevalent in Boston’s
neighborhoods, Lesson One has made it a priority to work with Boston’s most vulnerable – its young
children.
Please review online profile for full list of selected areas served.
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Programs
Lesson One: The ABCs of Life
Description
Lesson One’s main intervention involves direct-service modeling
in schools. Lesson One consultants can walk into any school for
the first time on a Monday, and during the course of one week,
help create an exciting transformation in the school culture. We
work to provide classroom modeling in every school classroom in
order to share the Lesson One with all teachers and students.
Through research and experience, we have discovered that
working on-site with students and teachers is the most successful
way of implementing the intervention into the school culture. By
“modeling” the strategies and methods, participants can see how
to implement Lesson One first-hand. In order to achieve this,
Lesson One provides a comprehensive residency to ensure the
intervention is thoroughly presented to both students and staff.
Budget
$.00
Category
Education, General/Other Educational Programs
Population Served
Children Only (5 - 14 years), At-Risk Populations, Families
Program Short Term Success
Short term program success is more quantifiable. The following
outlines outcomes we have come to expect:
• GPAs, Standardized Test Scores, and AYP indicators will show
improvement.
• The rate of office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions will
decrease.
• Stress among both students and faculty will diminish.
• Students’ time on task will improve.
• Intervention schools will notice a reduction in verbal and
physical altercations among students.
Program Long term Success
Lesson One's ultimate goal is to provide adults with tools to help
children internalize skills for social and academic success. As a
result, we aim for a school's climate and culture to experience
significant improvement where students demonstrate healthy
interpersonal and academic skills.
Program Success Monitored By
To assess that Lesson One outcomes are being met, process
evaluations are conducted. The evaluations consist of the
following components:
• Monitoring of classroom-based program implementation
• Student and teacher self-reports
• Adminsitrative interviews
• Tracking of disciplinary, attendance and other relevant statistics
• Analysis of reported incidence of violence and aggression.
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Examples of Program Success
The following examples tell the story of the results we have come
to expect— an increase in learning and the ability to supply the
necessary social and emotional tools for success. After
incorporating Lesson One intervention into their classrooms,
teachers reported the following:
• 30% of their students improved in respecting feelings of other
children instead of calling them names.
• 42% of their students improved in following verbal directions
• 39% of their students improved in learning from their mistakes
and continuing at a task that is difficult for them.
• 38% of their students showed an improvement in transitioning
from one activity to the next and calming down easily after an
exciting event.
• 28% improved in refraining from fighting with their peers.
Most recently, in data collected from schools in Oxnard, CA,
statistics have shown significant decreases in suspensions and
increases in academic test scores.
Program Comments
CEO Comments
Our greatest challenge is to make people aware of the Lesson One intervention and its benefits to
schools, communities and society as a whole. We continue to be resilient in today's climate and
seek out ways to expand our reach. For example, we have recently compiled statistics collected
over the years and submitted them to the federal government for review. We expect that Lesson
One will be included on a list of evidence-based programs on the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration website. We are also currently working with the University of South
Florida on a grant to further evaluate the Lesson One intervention and write about the results in a
peer reviewed journal.
In addition, we have several ideas to adapt the Lesson One intervention for television and internet in
order for children to learn skills such as self-control through a variety of media and for adults to also
be adept at teaching the skills in school, home and the community.
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Management
CEO/Executive Director
Executive Director
Mr. Jon Oliver Lesson One
Term Start
Sept 1976
Email
[email protected]
Experience
Jon Oliver is Lesson One's founder.
Senior Staff
Ms. Fern Shamis
Title
Administrative Director
Experience/Biography
Fern Shamis has been with Lesson One since 1986, has a
Master's degree
in Educational Administration.
Staff Information
Full Time Staff
3
Part Time Staff
2
Volunteers
2
Contractors
1
Retention Rate
100%
Staff Demographics - Ethnicity
African American/Black
1
Asian American/Pacific Islander
0
Caucasian
3
Hispanic/Latino
1
Native American/American Indian
0
Other
00
Staff Demographics - Gender
Male
3
Female
2
Unspecified
0
Formal Evaluations
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CEO Formal Evaluation
No
CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation Frequency
N/A
Senior Management Formal Evaluation
No
Senior Management Formal Evaluation Frequency
N/A
NonManagement Formal Evaluation
Yes
Non Management Formal Evaluation Frequency
Annually
Plans & Policies
Organization has a Fundraising Plan?
Under Development
Organization has a Strategic Plan?
Under Development
Does your organization have a Business Continuity No
of Operations Plan?
Management Succession Plan?
No
Organization Policy and Procedures
No
Nondiscrimination Policy
Yes
Whistleblower Policy
No
Document Destruction Policy
No
Directors and Officers Insurance Policy
Yes
Is your organization licensed by the Government?
No
Registration
Exempt
Permit?
Yes
Collaborations
Lesson One has partnered with a variety of organizations throughout its history including the
Harvard School of Public Health, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Essex County
District Attorney's office. Current collaborations include the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in
Dorchester, MA and the University of South Florida.
Awards
Awards
Award/Recognition
Organization
Year
Goals 2000: Safe and Drug-Free
Schools
White House
1996
Comments
CEO Comments
Jon Oliver, Lesson One's founder and director is currently President of Lesson One's board. This is
an arrangement that has worked well for the organization over the years yet we also recognize the
uniqueness of the situation. We will be making it our goal, as we grow and evolve as a non-profit
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organization, to reinvigorate our Board of Directors and appoint a President who is not also an
employee.
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Board & Governance
Board Chair
Board Chair
Mr. Jon Oliver
Company Affiliation
Executive Director
Term
Sept 1986 to 0
Email
[email protected]
Board Members
Name
Affiliation
Status
Mr. Colin Brenan
Biotrove
Voting
Mr. Roger DeAngelis
Raja Products
Voting
Mr. John Higgins
Retired Teacher
Voting
Ms. Fern Shamis
Lesson One
Voting
Mr. Paul Todisco
Health Care Security Trust
Voting
Board Demographics - Ethnicity
African American/Black
0
Asian American/Pacific Islander
0
Caucasian
5
Hispanic/Latino
0
Native American/American Indian
0
Other
00
Board Demographics - Gender
Male
4
Female
1
Unspecified
0
Board Information
Board Term Lengths
5
Board Term Limits
10
Number of Full Board Meetings Annually
1
Board Meeting Attendance %
100%
Written Board Selection Criteria?
No
Written Conflict of Interest Policy?
No
Percentage Making Monetary Contributions
9
Percentage Making In-Kind Contributions
20%
Constituency Includes Client Representation
No
Comments
CEO Comments
Jon Oliver, Lesson One's founder and director is currently President of Lesson One's board. This is
an arrangement that has worked well for the organization over the years yet we also recognize the
uniqueness of the situation. We will be making it our goal, as we grow and evolve as a non-profit
organization, to reinvigorate our Board of Directors and appoint a President who is not also an
employee.
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Financials
Fiscal Year
Fiscal Year Start
Sept 01, 2011
Fiscal Year End
Aug 31, 2012
Projected Revenue
$400,000.00
Projected Expenses
$375,000.00
Endowment?
No
Spending Policy
Income Only
Credit Line?
No
Reserve Fund?
No
Months Reserve Fund Covers
0
Detailed Financials
Revenue and Expenses
Fiscal Year
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
Revenue Sources
Fiscal Year
Foundation and Corporation
Contributions
Government Contributions
Federal
State
Local
Unspecified
Individual Contributions
Indirect Public Support
Earned Revenue
Investment Income, Net of Losses
Membership Dues
Special Events
Revenue In-Kind
Other
2010
$466,352
$515,265
2009
$443,077
$444,509
2008
$394,416
$334,077
2010
$52,500
2009
--
2008
$49,000
$376,781
$59,623
$43,158
$274,000
---$36,968
$103
-----
$369,157
$156,657
-$212,500
---$73,793
$127
-----
$255,440
$181,110
-$74,330
---$89,881
$95
-----
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Expense Allocation
Fiscal Year
Program Expense
Administration Expense
Fundraising Expense
Payments to Affiliates
Total Revenue/Total Expenses
Program Expense/Total Expenses
Fundraising Expense/Contributed
Revenue
Assets and Liabilities
Fiscal Year
Total Assets
Current Assets
Long-Term Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Total Net Assets
Short Term Solvency
Fiscal Year
Current Ratio: Current Assets/Current
Liabilities
Long Term Solvency
Fiscal Year
Long-Term Liabilities/Total Assets
Top Funding Sources
Fiscal Year
Top Funding Source & Dollar Amount
Second Highest Funding Source & Dollar
Amount
Third Highest Funding Source & Dollar
Amount
2010
$392,195
$123,070
$0
$0
0.91
76%
0%
2009
$342,162
$102,347
$0
$0
1.00
77%
0%
2008
$224,630
$109,447
$0
$0
1.18
67%
0%
2010
$87,452
$82,744
$0
$16,497
$70,955
2009
$169,368
$163,593
$0
$16,000
$153,368
2008
$142,300
$139,397
$0
$16,000
$126,300
2010
5.02
2009
10.22
2008
8.71
2010
0%
2009
0%
2008
0%
2010
---
2009
---
2008
---
--
--
--
Capital Campaign
Currently in a Capital Campaign?
No
Comments
Foundation Staff Comments
Financial summary data in charts and graphs are per the organization's financial reviews. This
nonprofit provided additional information about sources of revenue per their internal records.
Created 06.18.2017.
Copyright © 2017 The Boston Foundation
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