Second Annual Renewal Recognition Ceremony
SUNY College of Optometry, May 6, 2008

Six Public Charter Schools Honored for Receiving SUNY’s Highest Level of Renewal: A Full-Term, Five-Year Renewal Without Conditions

On Tuesday, May 6th, the State University of New York Board of Trustees’ Committee on Charter Schools, along with the SUNY Charter Schools Institute, honored six SUNY authorized charter schools for achieving the highest level of renewal the Trustees can bestow: a full-term, five-year renewal without conditions. The ceremony was held at the SUNY College of Optometry following the Committee’s regularly scheduled meeting.

Click here for Press Release.

Quick Links to Event Photos of Honored Schools:

- Bronx Charter School for Better Learning (Bronx)

- Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School (Brooklyn)

- Family Life Academy Charter School (Manhattan)

- Harlem Village Academy Charter School (Manhattan)

- King Center Charter School (Buffalo)

- KIPP S.T.A.R. College Prep Charter School (Manhattan)

All photos by Joseph Potrock.  To download, right-click with your mouse on <Download> and select 'Save Target As.'

Bronx Charter School for Better Learning currently serves 286 students in the 1st - 5th grades. The school will add a Kindergarten next year. Over its initial charter term, the Bronx Charter School for Better Learning has consistently outperformed its local district and similar schools state-wide.

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Brooklyn Excelsior Charter School currently serves 692 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. The school has outperformed other schools located in its school district and was previously named by the State Education Department as a “high performing/gap closing” school for its performance through 2006.

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Family Life Academy Charter School, located in the Bronx (New York), currently serves 290 students in Kindergarten through 5th grades.  Family Life Academy far outperformed the local school district and performed better than predicted in comparison to similar schools statewide. Of note, the Family Life Academy Charter School has the highest percentage of students who qualify for free lunch (95%) of any SUNY authorized charter school.  Further, the school enrolls significantly more students who are English Language Learners than the Community School District in which it resides (41.7% vs. 23.2% for 2006-07).

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Harlem Village Academy Charter School, located in Manhattan, currently serves 233 students in 5th through 9th grades. Harlem Village Academy has outperformed the local school district and the city on the New York State Testing Program assessments in English language arts and mathematics. In addition, 90 percent of all the 8th graders at the school passed the Regents Mathematics A examination.

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King Center Charter School (“King Center”), located in Buffalo, New York, currently serves 105 students in Kindergarten through the 4th grades. King Center has posted strong results on the New York State assessments in English language arts and mathematics, meeting its Accountability Plan goals in both of these subjects.

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KIPP S.T.A.R. College Prep Charter School, located in Manhattan, currently serves 270 students in 5th through 8th grade. During the renewal charter period, KIPP STAR far outperformed other schools in the local school district and has performed much higher than predicted in comparison to schools state-wide with similar family income levels.

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The First Annual Renewal Recognition Ceremony was held on May 23, 2007 at the SUNY College of Optometry. The following nine schools were honored:

- Bronx Preparatory Charter School;

- Carl C. Icahn Charter School;

- Child Development Center of the Hamptons;

- Community Partnership Charter School;

- Harbor Science and Arts Charter School;

- Our World Neighborhood Charter School;

- Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem;

- South Buffalo Charter School;

- Tapestry Charter School

To view information and photos from last year's events, please click here.