Charter Schools
Charter school open house month begins
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
February is New York
City’s charter school open
house month, and despite
the pandemic NYC charter
schools have been performing
incredibly well – offering
educational support and resources
to students across the
city. Charters have been doing
so well, in fact, that this year
marks the sixth consecutive
year of growth for the NYC
Charter School Center.
This month, prospective
students and interested parents
will be able to schedule
virtual and in-person visits
to charter schools within
their neighborhoods to see
if the services offered would
better benefi t the student.
According to data released
Jan. 31 by the NYC Charter
School Center, charters citywide
have seen a 1.3% enrollment
increase this school
year, 20% growth for English
A class at a Success Academy Charter School. Wikimedia Commons
February 18 and March 18
Find out what
NYC public charter
schools can offer
your child!
CharterNYC.org
Caribbean L 22 ife, February 4-10, 2022
Language Learners (ELL) – leading
to an overall increase of 63% of ELL
students over the past fi ve years –
and an increase in Black student enrollment,
with current fi gures indicating
25% of Black students across
all fi ve boroughs are now attending
charter schools.
“Despite a cap on the creation of
charter schools in New York City
and the historic challenges of the
past two years, the City’s public
charters continued to grow during
the pandemic – by 9%,” said James
Merriman, CEO of the New York
City Charter Center. “Our growth is
a direct result of the incredible work
of our teachers, staff and school leaders
across 272 schools to provide a
high-quality education to the students
who make up our diverse and
vibrant public charter school community,
and to give families a choice
to fi nd the school that’s best for their
child.”
Charter schools are public
schools that run independently like
private schools, but are funded by
state income tax, grants, awards and
donations. While “normal” public
schools are federally funded. This
allows charters to tailor their curriculum
more personally to fi t the
needs of independent students, while
still fulfi lling the overall mission of
educating a community of students.
Charter schools are also held to a
standard they set of advancing student
achievement and if they don’t
reach these goals, they can be shut
down.
“The difference between public
and charter schools at a government
level is that charters are
of course run independently of the
district,” said Merriman in an interview
with amNew York in January.
“This gives charters the ability to
give more options to parents regarding
class size and curriculum or way
in which the school approaches how
they view parent/student relationships
and parent/teacher relationships
or a particular emphasis on
certain school subjects.”
This more hands-on approach to
learning seems to be appealing to
more NYC parents, with the ability
to be more informed on a child’s individual
needs and educational development
being one of the reasons
parents are gravitating towards
charter schools, and another reason
being racial representation within
educational spaces.
“There are many many Black
and Latinx educators in NYC charter
schools, and there are charter
schools that are diverse by design,”
said Merriman. “Because charter
schools often cater to low-income
families, they were created precisely
to serve those families because
those are the families where the system
hasn’t well-served all kids historically.
So for those students, it is
about making sure that they are performing
well and getting a rigorous
education and getting themselves
ready for college or careers.”
DON'T MISS OUR UPCOMING
CHARTER SCHOOL GUIDES
Scan to view
open house
events in your
neighborhood.
For information on how to advertise
your school in the
Charter School Guides
email: aberryhill@schnepsmedia.com
link
/CharterNYC.org
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