Harlem Success Academy
Encyclopedia
Harlem Success Academy Charter School (HSA) is the foundation of Success Charter Network, Inc. Its students, most of them starting with disadvantages, have been consistently achieving some of the highest test scores in the state. The Academy offers a tuition-free multidisciplinary college-focused education
, primarily to upper Manhattan's, the South Bronx's, and Brooklyn's young children.
through, depending on the school, fourth-grade
education, with plans to add a grade each year until the group reaches eighth grade
. All the schools are in New York
, N.Y.
, with the schools in Harlem
, El Barrio
, the South Bronx, and Brooklyn
. More are planned for future years.
Future plans include opening 40 schools in total in 10–15 years.
and reading
are taught via the Success for All
methods, oriented to help disadvantaged students, and with reading based on phonics
and more balanced reading for literacy
in second grade and up.
Science
is taught daily, one of the few schools in the nation doing so for the earliest grades. Kindergartners do 135 science experiments.
come from a wider variety of higher-quality colleges
than do teachers typically hired for low-income
-student public schools.
Lead teachers must be certified.
Teachers who work late into an evening to help students are reimbursed for car service home.
is a founder and the Chief Executive Officer
. She earned her Ph.D. in history, was a professor, was the director of the children's literacy
program ReadNet, and taught civics at Prep for Prep
for gifted children
in New York.
She more recently was elected
to the New York City Council
and became chair of its Education Committee. She led hearings that drew public attention to a shortage of science education, teachers' contract problems, overpaying for purchases, and physical plant neglect. "'She could be looked at as a lightning rod or a zealous advocate,' said[New York] Assemblym[ ember]
. . . Keith L.T. Wright
, a Democrat
who represents
Harlem."
In contrast to an earlier contentious public relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg
when she was chairing the City Council's Education Committee and threatening to subpoena
officials, the same Mayor in 2007 praised the Harlem Success Academy for bringing students from behind to ahead of their grades and the Mayor's appointed then-Chancellor running the public schools
, Joel Klein, has appeared at an Academy fundraiser.
Among other leaders, a couple are in Wikipedia. Joel Greenblatt
, a major donor to a public school who developed a model of school accountability to raise performance, with John Petry founded the Network. Gideon Stein
chairs the board of Harlem Success Academy 5 and is a board member of Success Charter Network.
Each school has its own oversight management team and an operations manager to let the principal focus on academics. Dr. Moskowitz is also serving as the principal of HSA 1.
The organization Friends of Gotham Charter School "provides support finances".
Applications are in English and Spanish.
Local preference favors the local school Districts for admissions, which District being dependent on the school being applied to.
Sibling preference is also supported.
Finally, a random lottery
is used to select from qualified applicants. The Lottery
, a 2010 film, was inspired by a 2008 lottery.
Results of the lottery are available.
A waitlist is maintained for applicants who did not make it in the lottery or whose applications were submitted past a deadline. Sometimes, children who made it in the lottery leave or don't go to the school and a space is available, and the waitlist can be consulted for the next potential student.
are tested so that teachers know from day 1 where to focus their teaching. Evaluation is every 8 weeks. Children
are encouraged to be curious and to engage in higher-order thinking
, with chess
, art
, social studies
, music
, and sports
, and to think of themselves as future college graduates. Uniforms
and a student contract are part of the expectations given the children.
Tutoring
for students who are behind and a chance to study with students a year ahead when they have progressed far enough are offered, which lets teachers teach classes with students more often at similar ability levels. Kindergartners may be taught second-grade math. Tests twice a year begin in kindergarten.
The school day and year are longer than in most public noncharter schools, running about 8–9 hours a day and with the school year starting in August. Teachers may help students on Saturdays, if necessary.
Parents and students can call teachers on their cell phones
, which the school supplies to teachers. The principal is also available.
Parents are required to read six books a week to their children
. Some parents also provide political support
countering public schools' opposition to charters. If students are repeatedly late, both the students and their parents must come to school on Saturdays.
"'We never blame children for not learning. If a 5-year-old doesn't do their homework, it's not the 5-year-old's fault. It's the adult's fault.'"
School sizes range from 249 to 530 students per school. Of the students, approximately one in five are receiving special education
services.
, the latter indicating poverty or near-poverty, but whether those disparities are enough to explain the difference in scores is not stated.
In statewide tests of third-graders in 2009 on combined subjects, Harlem Success Academy ranked 32nd out of almost 3500 schools. No student tested beneath basic standards and nearly half the students achieved the highest score (4 on a scale of 1–4). In English alone, no pupil was below standard and nearly a quarter received the top score. In math, no student was substandard and seven in ten got the top score, no school in the state doing better, Harlem Success tying for no. 1. Harlem Success outdid its surrounding district in English by almost 25 percentage points.
–4
) and the noncharter P.S. 149 (serving pre-K
–8
), which share a building, an observer found charter students more attentive, charter teachers required to meet with the principal after hours when that's voluntary on the noncharter side even with extra pay, and charter students outperforming noncharter students. Among third graders, while almost no charter student was below grade level, no noncharter student was above grade level. This is in spite of class size being about one or two more per class in the charter school. HSA 1 spends $18,378 yearly per student, versus an estimated $19,358 for the noncharter side.
The N.Y.C. Department of Education
surveys parents and teachers, and, for 6th grade and higher, students, in every school every year about qualities of the school. Comparisons are possible where response rates are reasonably high. NYC School Survey results are published.
One organization gives HSA its highest rating and says a small sample of parents do, too.
's book, “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools” (2011) described the success of charter schools, using HSA as an example, and profiled teacher Jessica Reid as a model of what could be done without union restrictions. He described how unions, particularly the United Federation of Teachers
and Randi Weingarten
in New York City, protected incompetent teachers, and were opposed to pay-for-performance, and obstructed necessary reforms, a system he previously exposed in The New Yorker
. But by the time Brill came to the end of the book, Reid quit. The long hours and stress of her job, with nightly calls to parents, and constant prodding of students, were affecting her marriage.
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn
, of South Carolina
, cited HSA for "providing high quality education in an area where the children would have otherwise been attending a failing public school", according to the Amsterdam News.
contract
is offered to teachers; this is also true of most charter schools in the city. HSA pays its teachers more than the Department of Education pay scale; however, teachers also have more contractual hours to work. Per contractual hour of work, HSA teachers make less money than traditional public school teachers. Teachers at HSA are also not eligible to become part of the N.Y. state teachers' retirement system, which provides a defined benefits pension
to retirees. However, HSA does offer paid maternity leave, which is not offered by the union to its members although seven out of eight are women.
[ v] ery lttle problem with turnover", stating that 100 percent of the teachers came back to Harlem Success Academy 2 and 97 percent to HSA 3, and that all of the pregnant teachers also came back. An earlier report suggested it may have been significant then. Whether turnover was higher than under other high-expectation employers was not said.
Schools in the Bronx:
School in Brooklyn:
Education in New York City
Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. The city's public school system, the New York City Department of Education, is the largest in the world, and New York is home to some of the most important libraries, universities, and research centers in...
, primarily to upper Manhattan's, the South Bronx's, and Brooklyn's young children.
Growth of schools
The five Harlem Success Academies, the two Bronx Success Academies, the Brooklyn Success Academy, and the Upper West Success Academy (in Manhattan) are a group of charter schools offering kindergartenKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
through, depending on the school, fourth-grade
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
education, with plans to add a grade each year until the group reaches eighth grade
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
. All the schools are in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, N.Y.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, with the schools in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, El Barrio
Spanish Harlem
East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...
, the South Bronx, and Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. More are planned for future years.
History and future
The Success Charter Network began in 2006 with Harlem Success Academy 1 and more schools have been opened since.Future plans include opening 40 schools in total in 10–15 years.
Curriculum
MathMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and reading
Reading (process)
Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
are taught via the Success for All
Success for All
Success for All refers to standards-based Comprehensive School Reform curricula for early childhood through middle school, produced by the nonprofit organization Success for All Foundation ....
methods, oriented to help disadvantaged students, and with reading based on phonics
Phonics
Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations...
and more balanced reading for literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
in second grade and up.
Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
is taught daily, one of the few schools in the nation doing so for the earliest grades. Kindergartners do 135 science experiments.
Teachers
TeachersTeacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
come from a wider variety of higher-quality colleges
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
than do teachers typically hired for low-income
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
-student public schools.
Lead teachers must be certified.
Teachers who work late into an evening to help students are reimbursed for car service home.
Management
Dr. Eva MoskowitzEva Moskowitz
Eva S. Moskowitz runs Harlem Success Academy and is a former City Councilmember in New York City.- Education, teaching, and family :...
is a founder and the Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
. She earned her Ph.D. in history, was a professor, was the director of the children's literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
program ReadNet, and taught civics at Prep for Prep
Prep for prep
Prep for Prep is a leadership development and gifted education program founded in 1978 by Gary Simons, a public-school teacher in the Bronx. It is targeted toward high achieving students of color in New York State public, charter and parochial schools....
for gifted children
Intellectual giftedness
Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is different from a skill, in that skills are learned or acquired behaviors...
in New York.
She more recently was elected
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
to the New York City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
and became chair of its Education Committee. She led hearings that drew public attention to a shortage of science education, teachers' contract problems, overpaying for purchases, and physical plant neglect. "'She could be looked at as a lightning rod or a zealous advocate,' said
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...
. . . Keith L.T. Wright
Keith L. T. Wright
Keith L. T. Wright is an American politician and a member of the New York State Assembly. He was first elected to the assembly in 1992 and has been reelected ever since. In early 2007, he proposed a bill limiting retail sale of violent video games to individuals below 30 years of age. This...
, a Democrat
New York State Democratic Committee
The New York State Democratic Committee runs the local branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of New York. Its headquarters are in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and it has an office in Albany.-List of chairpersons:...
who represents
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
Harlem."
In contrast to an earlier contentious public relationship with Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
when she was chairing the City Council's Education Committee and threatening to subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
officials, the same Mayor in 2007 praised the Harlem Success Academy for bringing students from behind to ahead of their grades and the Mayor's appointed then-Chancellor running the public schools
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
, Joel Klein, has appeared at an Academy fundraiser.
Among other leaders, a couple are in Wikipedia. Joel Greenblatt
Joel Greenblatt
Joel Greenblatt is a value investor, and adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business...
, a major donor to a public school who developed a model of school accountability to raise performance, with John Petry founded the Network. Gideon Stein
Gideon Stein
Gideon Stein is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and real estate developer. He is the vice chairman of the board of Success Charter Network, the high performing charter management organization in New York City and a founding board member of , formerly Green Dot America, a national school...
chairs the board of Harlem Success Academy 5 and is a board member of Success Charter Network.
Each school has its own oversight management team and an operations manager to let the principal focus on academics. Dr. Moskowitz is also serving as the principal of HSA 1.
The organization Friends of Gotham Charter School "provides support finances".
Admissions
Six applications were received for each opening in Spring 2008 and seven for each seat for the 2009–2010 year. The growth in applications even when counted in proportion to a growing number of schools suggests growth in popularity and good reputation among parents. This could also be explained by the 1.3 million that was spent on advertising during this time.Applications are in English and Spanish.
Local preference favors the local school Districts for admissions, which District being dependent on the school being applied to.
Sibling preference is also supported.
Finally, a random lottery
Gaming mathematics
Gaming mathematics, also referred to as the mathematics of gambling, is a collection of probability applications encountered in games of chance and can be included in applied mathematics...
is used to select from qualified applicants. The Lottery
The Lottery (2010 film)
The Lottery is a 2010 documentary film about the controversy surrounding public and charter schools in the United States, directed by Madeleine Sackler. The film was produced by Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, James Lawler, and Madeleine Sackler...
, a 2010 film, was inspired by a 2008 lottery.
Results of the lottery are available.
A waitlist is maintained for applicants who did not make it in the lottery or whose applications were submitted past a deadline. Sometimes, children who made it in the lottery leave or don't go to the school and a space is available, and the waitlist can be consulted for the next potential student.
Methods
At entry, studentsStudent
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
are tested so that teachers know from day 1 where to focus their teaching. Evaluation is every 8 weeks. Children
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
are encouraged to be curious and to engage in higher-order thinking
Thinking outside the box
Thinking outside the box is to think differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective. This phrase often refers to novel or creative thinking....
, with chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, social studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
, music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and sports
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
, and to think of themselves as future college graduates. Uniforms
School uniform
A school uniform is an outfit—a set of standardized clothes—worn primarily for an educational institution. They are common in primary and secondary schools in various countries . When used, they form the basis of a school's dress code.Traditionally school uniforms have been largely subdued and...
and a student contract are part of the expectations given the children.
Tutoring
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
for students who are behind and a chance to study with students a year ahead when they have progressed far enough are offered, which lets teachers teach classes with students more often at similar ability levels. Kindergartners may be taught second-grade math. Tests twice a year begin in kindergarten.
The school day and year are longer than in most public noncharter schools, running about 8–9 hours a day and with the school year starting in August. Teachers may help students on Saturdays, if necessary.
Parents and students can call teachers on their cell phones
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
, which the school supplies to teachers. The principal is also available.
Parents are required to read six books a week to their children
Family literacy
Family literacy is a method of education. Relatively new, family literacy is currently being put into practice in the United States and in South Africa.- Overview :...
. Some parents also provide political support
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
countering public schools' opposition to charters. If students are repeatedly late, both the students and their parents must come to school on Saturdays.
"'We never blame children for not learning. If a 5-year-old doesn't do their homework, it's not the 5-year-old's fault. It's the adult's fault.'"
School sizes range from 249 to 530 students per school. Of the students, approximately one in five are receiving special education
Special Education in the United States
Special education programs in the United States were made mandatory in 1975 when the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities...
services.
Results
For the end of the 2008–2009 school year, 95% of third-graders passed state English exams, whereas in nearby public schools only 56% of students passed, although a sixth of the public school students are non-English-speaking on arrival and percentage-wise a seventh more than HSA's are eligible for free school lunchesNational School Lunch Act
The Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act is a United States federal law signed by President Harry S. Truman in 1946. The act created the National School Lunch Program , a program to provide low-cost or free school lunch meals to qualified students through subsidies to schools...
, the latter indicating poverty or near-poverty, but whether those disparities are enough to explain the difference in scores is not stated.
In statewide tests of third-graders in 2009 on combined subjects, Harlem Success Academy ranked 32nd out of almost 3500 schools. No student tested beneath basic standards and nearly half the students achieved the highest score (4 on a scale of 1–4). In English alone, no pupil was below standard and nearly a quarter received the top score. In math, no student was substandard and seven in ten got the top score, no school in the state doing better, Harlem Success tying for no. 1. Harlem Success outdid its surrounding district in English by almost 25 percentage points.
Evaluations
In a comparison of HSA 1 (serving KKindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
–4
Fourth grade
Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 9 or 10 years old, depending on their birthday. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth grade...
) and the noncharter P.S. 149 (serving pre-K
Pre-Kindergarten
Pre-kindergarten refers to the first formal academic classroom-based learning environment that a child customarily attends in the United States. It begins between the ages of 3-5 depending on the length of the program...
–8
Eighth grade
Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. Students are usually 13 - 14 years old. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...
), which share a building, an observer found charter students more attentive, charter teachers required to meet with the principal after hours when that's voluntary on the noncharter side even with extra pay, and charter students outperforming noncharter students. Among third graders, while almost no charter student was below grade level, no noncharter student was above grade level. This is in spite of class size being about one or two more per class in the charter school. HSA 1 spends $18,378 yearly per student, versus an estimated $19,358 for the noncharter side.
The N.Y.C. Department of Education
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
surveys parents and teachers, and, for 6th grade and higher, students, in every school every year about qualities of the school. Comparisons are possible where response rates are reasonably high. NYC School Survey results are published.
One organization gives HSA its highest rating and says a small sample of parents do, too.
Criticism
Steven BrillSteven Brill (law writer)
Steven Brill is the founder of CourtTV and American Lawyer magazine. He also founded the failed Verified Identity Pass, Inc., the New York-based company that operated the Clear airport security fast-pass. The service abruptly shut down June 23, 2009, without any notice to the company's 260,000...
's book, “Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools” (2011) described the success of charter schools, using HSA as an example, and profiled teacher Jessica Reid as a model of what could be done without union restrictions. He described how unions, particularly the United Federation of Teachers
United Federation of Teachers
The United Federation of Teachers is the labor union that represents most educators in New York City public schools. , there were about 118,000 in-service educators and 17,000 paraprofessionals in the union, as well as about 54,000 retired members...
and Randi Weingarten
Randi Weingarten
'Randi Weingarten is an American labor leader, attorney, and educator, the current president of the American Federation of Teachers , a member of the AFL-CIO, and former president of the United Federation of Teachers. New York magazine called her one of the most influential people in education in...
in New York City, protected incompetent teachers, and were opposed to pay-for-performance, and obstructed necessary reforms, a system he previously exposed in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. But by the time Brill came to the end of the book, Reid quit. The long hours and stress of her job, with nightly calls to parents, and constant prodding of students, were affecting her marriage.
Special needs students
Ms. Moskowitz says HSA does not skim and does serve high-needs students, including offering capabilities for special needs and non-English speakers. In HSA, 18 percent were special education students and 12 percent were English language learners (ELL) (it was unclear from the context whether the percentages referred to the school in which she was being interviewed or to all of the HSA schools) and, when interviewed, she expected that the new school in the Bronx would host mostly ELL students. However, according to State data, students with limited English ability ranged from 2 to 4 percent of the student enrollments in the year 2009–2010 (latest available data) at HSA (2%), HSA2 (3%), HSA3 (4%), and HSA4 (4%). P.S. 208, a public noncharter school located two blocks from HSA1, has 12% of its students classified as Limited English Proficiency. Eva Moskowitz said that HSA has students who are living in domestic violence shelters, "'lots'" who are homeless, and children of parents who are incarcerated. Three fourths of the students qualify for low-cost or free lunch and breakfasts are provided.Special access to City education officials
Eva Moskowitz had "special" access to schools then-Chancellor Joel Klein, according to columnist Juan Gonzalez of the N.Y. Daily News. Through a Freedom of Information lawsuit, Gonzalez reported 125 emails between the two.Competition for public school space
Many charter schools in New York City are given space within existing public school buildings. This practice is known as collocaton. Competition for space is controversial.U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn
Jim Clyburn
James Enos "Jim" Clyburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, cited HSA for "providing high quality education in an area where the children would have otherwise been attending a failing public school", according to the Amsterdam News.
Private funding
Additional funding from businesses and other private donors is not offered on a large scale to most public schools. HSA receives less funding per student than zoned schools do, but differences are more than offset by private donations.Compensation, work conditions, and nonunion
No unionLabor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers and police...
contract
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
is offered to teachers; this is also true of most charter schools in the city. HSA pays its teachers more than the Department of Education pay scale; however, teachers also have more contractual hours to work. Per contractual hour of work, HSA teachers make less money than traditional public school teachers. Teachers at HSA are also not eligible to become part of the N.Y. state teachers' retirement system, which provides a defined benefits pension
Defined benefit pension plan
In economics, a defined benefit pension plan is a major type of pension plan in which an employer promises a specified monthly benefit on retirement that is predetermined by a formula based on the employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, rather than depending on investment returns...
to retirees. However, HSA does offer paid maternity leave, which is not offered by the union to its members although seven out of eight are women.
Staff turnover
Staff turnover may have dropped. Asked about it, Eva Moskowitz said there's "Money spent on advertising
Harlem Success Academy has spent significantly more money on marketing than district public noncharter schools generally can. "In effect, Harlem Success CEO and former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz shelled out more than $1,100 per child between 2007 and 2009 to fill the first 900 seats in her schools."Locations
Schools in Manhattan:- HSA 1 (in District 3): 34 W. 118 St.
- HSA 2 (in District 5): 144 E 128th St. (for 2010–2011 school year)
- HSA 3 (in District 4): 141 E. 111 St.
- HSA 4 (in District 3): 240 W. 113 St.
- HSA 5 (in District 5): 301 W. 140 St. (address is for HSA 2 in 2009–2010 school year)
- UWS (in District 3): 145 W. 84 St.
Schools in the Bronx:
- Bronx Success Academy 1 (BSA 1) (in District 7): 510 E. 141st St.
- Bronx Success Academy 2 (BSA 2) (in District 8): 968 Cauldwell Av.
School in Brooklyn:
- Brooklyn Success Academy 1 (in District 14): 70 Tompkins Av.
External links
- HarlemSuccess.org official website
- HarlemSuccessLottery.org official lottery website for lottery results and waitlist information
- Upper West Success Academy official website
- SuccessCharters.org official website
- SuccessCharterNetwork.org official website
- Jobs and internships
- New York City Department of Education:
- Find a School (scroll down)
- NYC School Survey (follow links for study and school desired)