Success Academy Charter Schools Career Opportunities

Success Academies Fast Facts:

Date Opened: August 21, 2006

School Locations: Harlem, Bronx, Upper West & Brooklyn, New York

Current Grades Served: K-5

Enrollment: 2,400

Replication: We have developed a school model that sets the bar extraordinarily high in every subject and for every child that can be replicated across the city. We aim to start 40 charter schools in NYC.

Curriculum: We use Success for All Literacy and Math. The rest of our programs were developed on site. Teachers are directly involved in school design, writing, testing and improving curriculum. These programs include science, geography, social studies, chess, dance, soccer, and art. Science is five days a week and is hands-on and experiment-based. Every child has physical activity every single day.

Reading: Our parents are actively involved in their children’s learning. They share the credit in our off-the-charts reading scores (96% of first graders are reading on grade level with two-thirds of those children reading at a second grade level). Parents have read an incredible 48,000 books this year to their children at an average of about 320 per child!

What Makes us Different:

* Frequent Assessment: We assess our students every 8 weeks so that we can target our academic interventions and ensure real time response. No one slips through the cracks.

* Tutoring: We tutor not just our struggling students but also those who need an added challenge.

* Time Matters: How you use time and structure the school day has a tremendous impact on student performance. We maximize every minute and continuously review our schedule to ensure the most efficient use of time. We have a longer school day and year.

* School Culture Matters: We have a culture where intellectualism, academic dedication and excellent behavior are expected. We have what we call a “beyond z” culture as in the Dr. Seuss poem where readers are inspired to start where most people stop. We strive to go “beyond Z" at all times and believe there must be quality in every stage of the school experience.

* Authentic Parental Participation Matters: We work closely with our parents to achieve the highest levels of student learning. We do not ask our parents to sell candy or fundraise. We ask them to read with their child.

* Treating Teachers Professionally Matters: Our teachers are our professional partners and we work to unleash the talents our teachers bring to the experience. Our teachers are innovators and problem-solvers. All of our teachers have laptops and business cards. They are given the time and resources to plan collaboratively. Our teachers drive our continuous improvement academic culture.