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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APRIL 1-7, 2022 BXR
BY SHNIEKA L. JOHNSON
Considering a Charter
School
While many schools
work to accommodate students
via in-person or remote
in the time of COVID
19 -many parents are
seeking a school in what
is the prime school-search
season in New York City.
If you are one of the thousands
of families weighing
their child’s educational
options for pre-Kindergarten,
elementary, middle,
and high school, you are in
the thick of applications,
essays, and assessments or
testing. Aside from your
regular work and daily activities
during this time,
you now must add researching
schools, contacting administrators,
and Zoom
touring neighborhood options
to your busy to-do list.
For families in the midst
of the school search, a common
online application
(available via nyccharterschools.
org) represents approximately
75% of New
York City’s charter schools,
adding ease to the process
of applying. New York families
interested in applying
to charter schools can our
check individual school
websites for listings of
tours, open houses, and application
instructions.
Charter School Listings
Bronx
Capital Preparatory
Bronx Charter School
755 Co Op City Blvd,
Bronx NY
www.capitalprepbronx.
org
info@capitalprepbronx.
org
Since 2006, 100% of Capital
Preparatory School’s
graduates have been accepted
to 4-year colleges.
Now they are bringing that
commitment to the Bronx.
Founded by Dr. Steve Perry
and Sean “Diddy” Combs,
Capital Preparatory Bronx
Charter School is committed
to fostering a loving environment
where students’
individual needs are met
and expectations are exceeded.
University Prep Public
Schools
UP High School:
600 St. Ann’s Ave., 4th
Floor
UP Middle School:
470 Jackson Ave., 3rd
Floor
718-292-6543
uppublicSchools.org
hsadmissions@UPpublicschools.
org
Opening its doors over
10 years ago, University
Prep Charter High School
(UPCHS) is among the
highest performing High
Schools in the Bronx.
UPCHS is a free, public,
9-12, college-preparatory
school serving 440 students
in the Mott Haven neighborhood
of the South Bronx.
Urban Dove Team
Charter School II
860 Forest Ave, Bronx
718-682-3975 or 646-341-
0079
bronx@urbandove.org
www.urbandove.org
Urban Dove Team Charter
Schools are completely
unique and innovative alternative
sports-based
high schools for over-aged,
under-credited youth that
combine a rigorous academic
curriculum with a
hands-on, real-world vocational
program, and an
award-winning college and
career readiness program
that strives to give each
graduate a high school diploma,
a foundation for
higher education, and the
job skills needed to enter
the workforce. New students
must be 16 years old
or younger, have already attended
9th grade, and have
completed less than 8 core
credits. Visit www.urbandove.
org to apply!
Zeta Charter Schools
Zeta Bronx 1 Elementary
222 Alexander Avenue,
Bronx NY
646-897-4643
zetaschools.org/apply
Zeta Schools are highperforming,
next-generation
schools with an innovative,
whole-child approach.
Starting with a foundation
of world-class academics,
their complementary
social-emotional program
emboldens students with
the skills to thrive. It is extraordinarily
important
that children have the time
and space to explore potential
interests and passions.
That’s why at Zeta, students
engage in Specialist Classes
as part of the school day,
which may include chess,
music, art, sports, and Taekwondo.
Currently, Zeta is
accepting applications for
pre-K through 3rd grade
for the 2020-21 school year
at schools located in Upper
Manhattan and the Bronx.
Capital Preparatory
Bronx Charter School
755 Co Op City Blvd,
Bronx NY
Considering a Charter
School for Your Kids
What are the benefits of sending your child to a NYC charter school?
BY BRONX TIMES
Families around New York
City might be faced with the
realization that their children
may not be heading back to
school for the remainder of the
2019-20 scholastic year due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
While online lesson-planning
has provided a consolation of sorts
for students to finish out this year,
it isn’t too early for parents to plan
ahead for next year and beyond
when school doors re-open.
The school choice movement
has provided parents in New York
City and across the United States
with more options on where to
send their children.
While the only legitimate options
in the past were between
public, private and homeschooling,
charter schools have become
a viable and attractive option for a
child’s education.
A charter school is an independently
operated public school that
usually operates under a contract
with a government agency or nonprofit
organization. It allows the
school to not have to follow a mandated
curriculum, thus designing
their classrooms and lessons to fit
the individual student’s needs.
While the idea of charter
schools has been met with plenty
of criticism, there are overarching
advantages of sending your child
to such an institution:
Adapting to challenges
Within today’s educational
landscape lies the growing challenge
of properly informing, preparing,
and developing students
who learn and grow under different
circumstances.
There are four ways children
can properly learn and retain the
material of their coursework: visual,
auditory, reading/writing,
and kinesthetic.
Charter schools can provide a
perfect match.
If your child is struggling with
learning disabilities that withhold
them from flourishing at public or
private schools, there are charterschool
options.
If your child is advanced and
is not being challenged enough
in most group settings, there are
charter-school options.
Specialization with no tuition
Charter schools provide the
best of both schooling worlds.
While they are independent,
they still must have licensed
teachers, students must take statemandated
tests, and underperforming
institutions can be closed
— much like most public and private
schools.
But the ability to tweak the
curriculum and offer specific
courses that set it apart from public
schooling.
The best part? Parents won’t
have to pay tuition as they would
in private school. Charters are
funded on tax dollars.
They outperform public
school
Looking at the data, New York
City charter schools are putting
up better numbers than public
schools.
According to the New York
Department of Education, public
school students grades 3-8 were
47% proficient in English Language
Arts (ELA) and 46% proficient
in math in 2019.
Per NYCCharterSchools.org,
charter schools in the city provided
much higher proficiency
numbers last year.
ELA proficiency rates for students
grades 3-8 were at 57.3%
while math proficiency rates were
at 63.87%.
Those numbers result in more
learning gains, allowing students
to learn more material in the
same amount of time as publicschool
curriculum allows.
Charter schools have plenty
of support
Parents’ schedules are already
packed as it is. Their wallets
might not be overflowing, either.
The last thing they need to
do is participate in fundraisers to
get their public school some extra
money.
Charter schools don’t have
that problem as they are privately
funded more often than not, meaning
parents won’t have to donate
more of their hard-earned money
to ensure their child gets a proper
education.
Charter School Guide
/www.urban-dove.org
link
link
link
link
/www.urbandove.org
/www.urban-dove.org
/www.urban-dove.org
/www.capitalprepbronx
/www.capitalprepbronx
/uppublicSchools.org
/www.urbandove.org
/apply
/NYCCharterSchools.org
link
link