(05.04.09) - Grammy Award winning comedienne Whoopi Goldberg brought the house down with laughter during an April 30 fundraiser for New Beginnings Family Academy public charter school. The daytime talk show co-host of The View performed before hundreds of supporters in the jam-packed ballroom at the Inn at Longshore in Westport.

 

A tuition-free public school of choice, New Beginnings Family Academy (NBFA) offers longer days and an extended school year to 360 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. As a public charter school, NBFA receives roughly 25 percent less, on average, in per pupil funds from the State Department of Education than traditional urban school districts. The funding disparity jeopardizes programs and services that directly benefit student achievement and forces New Beginnings to engage in aggressive ongoing fundraising.

 

Dubbed “Laugh, Clap, Give,” the show was the third biannual event produced to help raise money for the independently operated charter school. In 2005, the school’s non-profit support organization brought in Grammy Award winning R&B Artist Gladys Knight; in 2007, Jazz Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis was the draw. The success of both shows prompted Friends of NBFA to go for a three-peat.

 

Organizers say Whoopi Goldberg was a hit. “We've been inundated with calls and emails from guests who credit the event with being the best time they've had in recent memory," says Ronelle P. Swagerty, executive director of Friends of NBFA. "With her incredible name recognition and unique style of humor, Whoopi Goldberg was the absolute best pick to fill the house with supporters eager for a good laugh."

 

Whoopi kept the audience roaring with laughter from the moment she took the stage. The evening also featured a silent slide show during dinner, an informative video on New Beginnings Family Academy and a speech by a 2008 graduate.  

 

Opened in 2002, New Beginnings Family Academy ranked the highest of all public schools in the state in four categories on the 2007 Connecticut Mastery Test, including #1 in elementary school improvement, #1 in elementary school performance gains, #1 in elementary African American scores and #1 for middle school improvement.