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Posted on Posted on: | Updated: · by Michael Lesczinski
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2026 Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School Renewal Recommendation Report

Districts: Manhattan CSD 5

Key Information

Executive Summary

Capital Prep Harlem is a charter school under the education corporation Capital Prep Charter Schools NY (“Capital Prep Schools NY”), which contracts with the charter management organization (“CMO”) Capital Preparatory Schools, Inc. (“the network”), for academic, operational, and talent development support. Capital Prep Schools NY is authorized to operate two additional schools: Capital Preparatory Bronx Charter School (“Capital Prep Bronx”) and Capital Preparatory Charter School New Rochelle (“Capital Prep New Rochelle”), which is slated to open in 2026-27. Capital Prep Schools NY maintains a mission to prepare historically underserved students for college through a social justice focused program.

At the time of its last renewal, the SUNY Trustees required Capital Prep Harlem to meet a set of academic conditions to remain eligible to apply for renewal in 2025-26. The school satisfied those conditions and demonstrated improved consistency in achievement over the current charter term. Notably, the school posted high absolute, comparative, and growth results in English language arts (“ELA”). Capital Prep Harlem also sustains mission-aligned strengths including consistent implementation of its social justice key design element and a 100% college acceptance rate for graduating seniors.

While the school has increased its performance and consistency of outcomes in ELA, instructional leaders continue to work toward sustained improvements in mathematics. Network and school leaders identify improving instructional rigor in math as a priority, and note the opportunity to draw on the effective practices in place at the education corporation’s other operating school, Capital Preparatory Bronx Charter School (“Capital Prep Bronx”), which has demonstrated a consistent track record of meeting or coming close to meeting its Accountability Plan goals in mathematics. In alignment with its mission, the school enrolls students at all grade
levels including students who enter over-age, under-credited, or significantly below grade level. The school is still developing its academic and behavioral systems across content areas to meet the needs of a population entering with varied baseline academic skills.

The school continues to focus on rebuilding enrollment and strengthening its instructional program. Under the current principal, Capital Prep Harlem has stabilized school culture, strengthened instructional routines, and improved staff member and student climate. Leaders implement changes to increase coaching consistency, deepen data use, and strengthen curriculum execution. As these efforts are recent, the school has not yet produced a consistent record evidence of impact as measured by state exams, and continued close monitoring of its academic results is warranted.

Findings and Information

Is the school an academic success?

Capital Prep Harlem demonstrates academic success in ELA, college matriculation, and graduation. The school sustains a 100% college acceptance rate and demonstrates high college matriculation rates that exceed the Accountability Plan target. Both students who enroll in the 9th grade and enter the school later in their high school career exceed credit accumulation expectations indicating meaningful academic support once students enroll. The school’s equity-driven, open-enrollment model allows students to enter at all grade levels. For instance, at least 20% of students entering 10th and 11th grade in recent years were new to the school. Although the school posts uneven results on New York State mathematics exams and results below expectations on Regents exams, it demonstrates key strengths in areas central to its college preparatory mission. Given the school’s record of mathematics performance, it requires conditions to ensure that the program delivers higher quantitative results in a future term. Notably, the network and education corporation leadership have demonstrated capacity to implement effective mathematics instruction as evidenced by Capital Prep Bronx’s consistent record of meeting or coming close to meeting its Accountability Plan goals.

  • Capital Prep Harlem demonstrates academic success in the following ways:
    Capital Prep Harlem met its ELA Accountability Plan goal over the term posting proficiency rates at least 12 points above the district in the three most recent years of the Accountability Period. The school also demonstrates strong mean growth percentiles in each year with available data.
  • In mathematics, Capital Prep Harlem increased the proportion of its students scoring at or above proficient on a 3rd – 8th grade state mathematics exam by 35 percentage points from 2021-22 through 2024-25. Although the school’s mean growth percentiles were under the target in the years with available data, the school includes measures related to NWEA MAP growth in its Accountability Plan. Notably in 2024-25, the school posted a median conditional growth percentile in mathematics that exceeded the target by 17 percentile points.
  • At the high school level, the school posted laudable graduation results in 2024-25 when 85% of its 2021 Cohort graduated after four years. This level of performance exceeded the absolute target by 10 percentage points and the most recently available district results by 15 percentage points. Although the school’s four year graduation rate was below the Accountability Plan target in the beginning of the term, the school’s fifth year graduation rate came close to or surpassed the 85% absolute target established in its Accountability Plan in the majority of years.
Is the school an effective, viable organization?

Capital Prep Schools NY is an effective and viable organization that continues to strengthen its oversight practices in response to facility and school culture challenges throughout the charter term. The board focused its attention to the distinct needs of its schools and has deepened its monitoring with a focused goal of continuing to improve Capital Prep Harlem’s academic program. At Capital Prep Harlem, leadership has stabilized staff member culture and student culture, contributing to stronger organizational conditions for instructional improvement.

The education corporation has successfully navigated pressures associated with declining enrollment and financial strain related to the Harlem facility by renegotiating the lease to present a more feasible financial outlook in a future term, if renewed. The board and leadership team continue to align resources and operational decisions to the mission of preparing historically disadvantaged students for postsecondary success and civic engagement.

The organization’s commitment to its key design elements is evident in the school’s implementation of social justice as a core instructional theme, exemplified by the senior social justice project, a year long research and defense experience modeled on a collegiate thesis. The school’s sustained record of 100% college acceptance for five consecutive years further illustrates the organization’s effectiveness in advancing its mission. For the graduating class of 2024-25, all Capital Prep Harlem graduates earned acceptance to four year institutions and collectively secured more than $1.1 million in scholarships and grants, averaging six acceptances per student.

Is the school fiscally sound?

Capital Prep Schools NY is fiscally adequate based on the Institute’s review of the renewal documentation. The network’s finance team meets with the board monthly to present an enrollment report and discuss financial results. The education corporation has experienced some fiscal pressure due to enrollment changes. The education corporation seeks to adjust its chartered enrollment targets to better align with current enrollment levels. The revised targets are more realistic and achievable and represent appropriate realignment given the historical patterns. The education corporation must continue to closely monitor enrollment trends to ensure proactive planning that supports the long term fiscal health of the school and education corporation. The 2024-25 annual financial audit did not present any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses. The education corporation maintains a separate bank account with the established amounts for dissolution
as required by the charter agreement.

Capital Prep Schools NY demonstrated adequate financial performance during the current charter term reporting net assets of $5 million and 2.7 months of cash on hand as of the 2024-25 school year. The education corporation has provided financial support to Capital Prep Harlem, which is operating with approximately 28% of its chartered enrollment. To offset this, the education corporation has taken meaningful corrective steps to realign its operations with current conditions.

A significant positive development is the successful renegotiation of the school’s lease, resulting in a substantial reduction in its facility footprint and a decrease in lease obligations by approximately half. This significant reduction in long-term liabilities will ease the financial strain at Capital Prep Harlem and support the education corporation’s ability to operate sustainably over the next charter term.

If the SUNY Trustees renew the school, are the education corporation’s plans for the school reasonable, feasible, and achievable?

Capital Prep Schools NY presents plans that are reasonable, feasible, and achievable for Capital Prep Harlem’s future charter term, if renewed. The education corporation demonstrates a clear understanding of Capital Prep Harlem’s needs and has strengthened organizational stability under the current principal, improving both staff and student culture. Over the next charter term, the school will leverage the strengthened stability and culture to consistently implement planned improvements. The plans build on established systems for curriculum, instruction, and data use. Network roles, including curriculum and content directors, provide a foundation for strengthening instructional support. Leaders intend to deepen assessment-driven planning, refine curriculum implementation, particularly in mathematics, and expand professional development to address gaps in rigor and differentiation. These priorities reflect an accurate assessment of current academic challenges.

To strengthen its long-term financial outlook, the education corporation has proactively adjusted its chartered enrollment projections to more realistic and achievable levels for the next charter term. These revised enrollment targets, paired with reductions in fixed costs, position the school to stabilize operations over time. Although declining enrollment and facility costs pose risks, the education corporation has identified strategies to mitigate them, including expanded community outreach, diversified partnerships, and targeted recruitment efforts. Its track record of navigating financial and operational pressures suggests the organization can execute these plans effectively. With continued focus on enrollment stabilization and instructional improvement, the plans are achievable for the next charter term. With more attainable enrollment targets, a substantial lease reduction, and continued financial oversight, Capital Prep Schools NY is better positioned to strengthen its fiscal stability.

The Institute’s finance team will also closely monitor Capital Prep Harlem’s progress toward meeting its revised enrollment targets and will continue regular communication with the CFO to support ongoing efforts to stabilize fiscal operations.

Capital Prep Schools NY currently leases a private facility to house Capital Prep Harlem and will continue to occupy this facility through the next charter term.

Recommendation: Full-Term Renewal with Conditions

The SUNY Charter Schools Institute (the “Institute”) recommends the SUNY Trustees’ Charter Schools Committee approve the Application for Charter Renewal of Capital Preparatory Harlem Charter School (“Capital Prep Harlem”) for a period of five years with authority to provide instruction to students in 6th – 12th grade in such configuration as set forth in its Application for Charter Renewal subject to a set of conditions listed below with a projected total enrollment of 222 students. The Institute makes this recommendation as Capital Prep Harlem meets the requirements for renewal set forth in the Policies for Renewal of Not-For-Profit Charter School Education Corporations and Charter Schools Authorized by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (the “SUNY Renewal Policies”).

Conditions

Capital Prep Harlem must meet or exceed the targets set forth in the majority of the Accountability Plan measures for 3rd – 8th grade under its mathematics goal in at least three of five years of the upcoming Accountability Period. The Institute and the education corporation will work together to codify the conditions in the school’s Accountability Plan before the end of the first year of the Accountability Period.