Choosing
the best
NYC Charter School Open
House Month rolls on
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
CHARTER SCHOOLS
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 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
Charter schools give New York parents options for their children.
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
REUTERS/LUCAS JACKSON
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.”
Two arts-rich public K-5 schools in
Manhattan
Afterschool Available
www.manhaancharterschool.org
212-533-2743 212-964-3792
10 February 17, 2022 Schneps Media
/www.manhaancharterschool.org
/www.manha
