Sep 3, 2008 10:56 AM
Green Dot Public Schools, a successful and labor-friendly charter school operator and educational reform organization based in Los Angeles, officially opened its New York City high school on Sept. 2 with a ribbon cutting ceremony outside the building it shares with Intermediate School 162 at 600 St. Ann’s Avenue and 149th Street in the Hub area of the South Bronx.
The new Green Dot New York Charter School is the firm’s first school started outside of Los Angeles and it is the outgrowth of a partnership between Green Dot and the UFT. It is the first time in the nation that a teacher’s union local has partnered with a charter school management operation to open a new school.
Watch a video of the opening, courtesy of the AFT.
The school, which operated a “bridge” program for students over the summer, opens the academic year with about 120 students in 9th grade and will add a grade each year until it fills grades 9 through 12. Class size will average about 25 students. It shares space with Intermediate School 162, which currently houses 1,000 middle school students in a building with adequate space to accommodate both schools.
Green Dot currently operates 18 public charter high schools in Los Angeles’ highest-need communities that consistently graduate students with high levels of achievement, including six opening this fall as part of its restructuring of Locke High School in the Watts area of South Los Angeles. Its schools have no more than 500 students each and they implement a college preparatory curriculum for all of its students. The firm has produced solid results for its students, graduating 98 percent of its seniors with three quarters of them going on to four-year universities.
“The Green Dot School in the South Bronx represents a new progressive vision for public schools in America,” said Steve Barr, founder and chief executive officer of Green Dot Public Schools. He added, “All schools should be small and autonomous, where every child learns and graduates college-ready. Schools should have the best paid union teachers who believe in our children as much as we do. We believe this type of partnership can create sustainable education reform throughout the country.”
Green Dot Charter School Chairman Jeffrey T. Leeds said, “There’s no secret to running successful schools, but one of the key ingredients is to bring the right people together. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I’m thrilled that Green Dot and the UFT have partnered. Both parties have successfully demonstrated that they can effectively collaborate and will work in unison to support student outcomes and deliver great results.”
“We embraced the idea of a partnership with Green Dot because of its work with students and its respect for teachers and their unions,” said Randi Weingarten, president of both the UFT and the AFT. “Green Dot schools have an outstanding track record of high student achievement, and Green Dot also is an outspoken supporter of teacher professionalism and unionism. Just like the UFT, Green Dot recognizes that a commitment to collaboration and fair pay, treating teachers with respect and giving them a voice in the workplace are all crucial to recruiting and retaining great educators and helping students to excel. It’s a perfect fit.
“And with this partnership with Green Dot, the UFT now supports the operation of three unionized charter schools, including the union’s very own elementary and secondary charter schools in Brooklyn — and that does not include seven other successful charters in New York City where the educators are UFT members,” Weingarten said.
“I’m thrilled that the UFT has partnered with Green Dot to open a charter school in New York City,” said Chancellor Joel Klein. “I applaud the UFT for embracing the commitment to innovation and accountability that has made Green Dot charter schools so successful in raising student achievement.”
Ashish Kapadia, principal of the new school, said, “We’re all really excited about the launch of a college preparatory school in District 7, where students and parents have a new choice in deciding how to attain a high quality education that will lead to professional success.”
Lauren Inzelbuch, a 29-year-old math teacher starting her sixth year as an educator in New York City, said she is looking forward to teaching integrated algebra at the new school.
“I’m excited to be part of such an amazing staff that will help prepare students for college,” Inzelbuch said. “This is such a unique partnership between the UFT and Green Dot, and it makes this a fabulous place to work. I’m sure the students feel lucky to be here, and I know my colleagues feel that way as well.”