Success Academy Flatbush First School to Post 100% of Scholars Passing Both Math and ELA

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, AUGUST 22, 2019**

Contact: Liz Baker, 646-902-4200 [email protected]

 Brian Whitley, 510-495-5542 Brian.Whitley@successacademies.org

SUCCESS ACADEMY FLATBUSH FIRST SCHOOL TO POST 100% OF SCHOLARS PASSING BOTH MATH AND ELA 

Success Academy Posts 99% Pass Rate on State Math Test and 90% on ELA

NEW YORK, NY — Success Academy Flatbush, a public charter school in Central Brooklyn, made history, with 100% of its testing scholars passing both math and ELA state tests this year. Enrolling 337 students — 98% of them children of color, 82% qualifying for free or reduced price lunch — SA Flatbush opened in 2016 in former warehouse space provided by the Department of Education. About 13% of students have IEPs and 8% are experiencing homelessness. Only two other NYC schools have achieved this feat since 2013 — the highly-selective Special Music School and P.S. 303, a lottery-admission school in Forest Hills, Queens — both with a markedly different student demographic.

"Education equality means everything to me,” said Wintanna Abai, SA Flatbush founding principal and a nine-year veteran of Success. “We live in a country that continues to offer poor quality education to kids who have the capability to change the world. Every morning, I shake my kids' hands, knowing that it is an honor for me to be in the presence of greatness, but also that I am sending them into a building with teachers and a staff who believe they can do anything and deserve everything."

“Principals like Wintanna build warm, engaging communities of parents, teachers, and scholars, and prove that anything is possible,” said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy. “Scaling excellence for students starts with great educators — education is for the kids, but it’s about the adults.”

At 14 Success Academies, 100% of students passed math: SA Bensonhurst, SA Bushwick, SA Cobble Hill, SA Crown Heights, SA Flatbush, SA Fort Greene, SA South Jamaica, SA Upper West, SA Washington Heights, SA Williamsburg, SA Bronx 2 Middle School, SA East Flatbush MS, SA Harlem North Central MS, and SA Lafayette MS.

SA’s “Turnaround Kids”

Most notable this year, Success Academy principals and teachers at every school were able to change the trajectories of students who had previously failed the state test. At the start of the last school year, Success enrolled 132 new students who had failed one or both state tests at their previous schools. Of this group, 96% (127 out of 132) passed at least one state exam and 83% (110 out of 132) passed both tests.

Success Academy is the size of the state’s seventh-largest school district, serving 17,000 students across 45 schools. Of 7,405 students taking exams, 99% passed math, with 86% scoring at the highest level of 4, and 90% passed ELA, with 41% scoring a 4.

This year’s test results demonstrate that children across all demographics — racial and economic, as well as those who have IEPs, are English Language Learners, or are experiencing homelessness — can achieve outstanding academic results. In all subgroups, Success Academy scholars outperformed their peers.

• Scholars with IEPs:

  • 77% passed ELA

  • 95% passed Math

• Scholars in 12:1:1 Classrooms:

  • 46% passed ELA

  • 76% passed Math

• English Language Learners:

  • 86% passed ELA

  • 97% passed Math

• Economically Disadvantaged (eligible for free/reduced-price lunch): 

  • 89% passed ELA

  • 98% passed Math

• Homeless Scholars/Scholars Living in Temporary Housing:

  • 90% passed ELA

  • 98% passed Math

These consistent results come even as the network has expanded, with 9% more test-takers in 2019 than in 2018. Over the past five years, the number of test-takers has more than tripled.

ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS

Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public K-12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 45 schools in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 17,000 students, primarily low-income children of color in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% of students receive free or reduced-price lunch, 94% are children of color, 16% are children with disabilities, and 8% are English language learners. Success Academy schools received more than 17,000 applications for 4,000 open seats this year. For more information about Success Academy, go to Successacademies.org and virtualtour.successacademies.org.

Success Academy Flatbush Principal Wintanna Abai (right).