PROSE (Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence)
Founded 13 years ago, the PROSE program includes close to 300 schools across the city.
The PROSE program enables schools that have committed to growing effective schoolwide leadership, collaboration and trust to implement innovative practices. This additional flexibility allows a school’s staff, administrators and community to change how decisions are made, how students and teachers are programmed and many other regulations.
The standard for acceptance is high, but if your school is a place where the full community has a voice in solving challenges, you should apply.
See the PROSE brochure
The application to join in the 2027-28 school year is coming this winter.
If you would like to discuss PROSE with a representative before then, please schedule an appointment with us.
PROSE stands for Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence. It is a program predicated on the UFT's core belief that schools work best when all members of the community feel respected and the word "collaboration" is not just a cliché.
PROSE is about school-level innovations. It offers schools the ability to alter some of the most basic parameters by which they function, including daily schedules/programs, the school calendar, and how decisions are made at the school level. Each innovation follows the process below:
The key to a successful PROSE application is to propose initiatives that are driven by teachers and leaders working in a fully collaborative community focused on excellence for students. Schools have to develop an initial plan with their school community and School Leadership Team. Then the union and the DOE work together as a panel to vet proposals. Ultimately, the panel only accepts plans from schools that have both a proven record of collaboration and the potential to have a real impact on student achievement. Finally, accepted plans have to win the approval of at least 65% of UFT members at the school who vote on the proposal.
PROSE Plus
Is your school interested in joining PROSE Plus?
Learn more
In honor of PROSE’s 10th anniversary, the UFT created a “memory book” that celebrates a decade of innovation and collaboration in the 217 PROSE schools.
Download A Decade of PROSE
Our 10th Anniversary Memory Book looks back on the last 10 years of PROSE success stories.