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Hope lies on the horizon.
With massive coronavirus
vaccine sites going up a
cross the city this month,
parents, students, teachers
and school boards can look
forward to a time when
school is back to normal.
And while that time cannot
be determined quite yet,
Challenge Charter School
is poised for the next chapter.
Challenge has spent the
last decade bringing excellence
in education to Far
Rockaway. With a brandnew
70,000 square foot
early college and CTE high
school, Challenge is ready
to offer the next building
block in a bright future for
its scholars.
When the idea of opening
a school in Far Rockaway
began, Challenge
Charter’s Founder and
CEO, Rev. Dr. Les Mullings
dreamed he would start
with a high school. He knew
from his work as a pastor
and mentor to youth that
the community needed better
options to help students
graduate high school and
get job training to be ready
to enter the workforce. But
the timing for a high school
wasn’t quite right—yet.
Through the rigorous
charter school approval
process, Mullings realized
he needed to shift his
dream to the more immediate
needs of the community
at the time. And so, in 2010,
Challenge Preparatory
Charter School opened beginning
with Kindergarten
and First Grade. Challenge
Charter grew, year-by-year
and grade-by-grade. After
the Kindergarten through
Fifth Grade site at 710 Hartman
was filled, Challenge
Charter Middle School began,
first at 1526 Central,
then moving to 1279 Redfern
to accommodate more
students.
As Challenge Middle
found its footing, the scholars
that started at Challenge
Preparatory were reaping
the benefits of the strong
vision that began years
before the doors opened.
Challenge Charter ended
the 2018-19 academic year
with rising state test scores
and 100% high school placement
for its scholars in the
first round. Yet even with
better test scores, Challenge
Caribbean Life, F 26 ebruary 19-25, 2021
remained dedicated
to the longer, more difficult
road of providing personalized
education for their
scholars, encouraging each
to be life-long learners becoming
their best selves.
With educational improvements
and a growing
school population, the
school came up for its second
renewal in 2019. For Dr.
Mullings and the Board of
Trustees, the time felt right
to propose the final piece of
the dream. In May of that
year, Challenge’s charter
was expanded to include a
high school, and plans began
for the opening of Challenge
Charter High School
in the fall of 2020.
In late February, right
in the midst of the 2020-21
Application Season, the
novel coronavirus was beginning
to make its ugly
mark. The 2019-20 school
year ended with parents
and teachers grapling with
the changes online learning
posed for their children
and their home environments,
and now Challenge
faced a number of difficult
decisions for the new high
school.
By late summer it was
clear that none of the scholars
would start the year
walking through the halls
of the school’s four sites
including the first class
of Freshman at Challenge
Charter High.
Challenge quickly pivoted
to meet the needs of
scholars and families in
the new school year.
During Remote Learning,
Challenge has offered
daily live instruction, tech
support for over 900 devices,
outreach calls and virtual
meetings with scholars
and families struggling
to keep learning going at
home. Knowing knowledge
is power, Challenge Charter
also partnered with
Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine, Medicine f or
the Greater Good, and St.
John’s Episcopal Hospital
to provide informative
workshops on COVID-19
for parents across the community
this past fall.
Now, almost a year
has passed since the first
known coronavirus case
in New York City. Every
group of stakeholders in
the landscape of education
has been changed by the
effects the virus has had
on our city and nation. But
hope lies on the horizon.
Application Season is
here again, and with i t,
Challenge Charter High
School is ready to help students
prepare for the future.
With an early college
and Career and Technical
Education (CTE) program,
Challenge High offers free
industry certification or
two years free college beyond
a high school diploma.
Students can focus on four
pathways that represent regional
job growth in Allied
Health, Aviation, Culinary
Arts and Hospitality, or
they can explore any number
of careers through the
school’s partnerships with
local businesses, colleges,
and universities.
Dr. Mullings has seen
his dream through, and
Far Rockaway has a new,
tangible gift at 1520 Central
Avenue, the home of Challenge
Charter High. As M
ullings says, “ I look at the
educational landscape of
our city, and I see the opportunity
to invest in a bright
future by responding to
the needs of our children.
Every child’s education is
important no matter where
he or she lives, no matter
what background he or she
comes from. Those of us in
the educational space have
a responsibility to provide
and protect equity in our
schools.”
Challenge C harter S
chool is now taking applications
for the 2021-22 academic
year. Rising freshmen
and transferring
sophomores are encouraged
to apply to Challenge
Charter High.
For more information,
visit www.challenge
charterhighschool.
org or write to CTEhighschool@
challengecharterschools.
org.
EDUCAT I O N PROFI LE
Challenge Charter School: Bright Future Ahead in Far Rockaway
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