SUCCESS ACADEMY OPENS SCHOOL YEAR WITH NEW HIGH SCHOOL IN BROOKLYN, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN THE BRONX, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL IN HARLEM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Laura Wilker, 332-895-2237
Laura.Wilker@successacademies.
Ann Powell, 646-894-6407
Ann.Powell@successacademies.
SUCCESS ACADEMY OPENS SCHOOL YEAR WITH NEW HIGH SCHOOL IN BROOKLYN, ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN THE BRONX, AND MIDDLE SCHOOL IN HARLEM
New York, NY, August 15, 2022 — Masks were optional, but not the smiles! Fist bumps, hugs, and broad smiles were the order of the day, as Success Academy principals, teachers, and staff welcomed 21,000 students in grades kindergarten through 12 to its 49 schools. Dressed in their distinctive navy, orange, and plaid uniforms, scholars across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan greeted old friends, met new ones, and posed for photos as parents excitedly marked a new milestone in their children’s 13-year educational journey. Elementary and middle schoolers started this week, while SA’s seniors’ first day was August 1, and grades 9-11 started August 8.
New this year: an additional elementary school in the Bronx: SA Bronx 5 Lower and SA Bronx 5 Upper, at 604 E. 139th Street, is a newly renovated space that will serve kindergarten through third graders this year, and expand to fourth grade in 2023-24. SA High School of the Liberal Arts–Brooklyn, the network’s third high school, also opened this year, co-located with SA Bed-Stuy Middle School at 70 Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy. SA Hamilton Heights Middle School, at 461 W. 131st St., will share space with SA Harlem 6 and serve grade five this year and grow to serve grades five through eight.
“The first day of school — it’s my favorite day of the year,” said Success Academy founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz, who greeted parents and scholars at SA Bronx 5. “There’s so much joy, from kids and adults. The teachers are excited, parents and scholars too. There’s a ton of work that goes into getting everything set up and ready, but the joy is amazing!”
Success Academy also launched a new Visual & Performing Arts Program this school year, which partners with some of New York City’s most prestigious arts institutions (including Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, Pratt, Fashion Institute of Technology, Manhattan School of Music Precollege, Mannes Prep at the New School, the International Center of Photography, among others) to offer high school scholars a chance to take their talents to new heights. Two new appointments earlier this year — Peter Dicce as Athletics Director and Joseph Powell as Leader of K-12 Visual and Performing Arts Programming — have led to broader and deeper programming in sports and the arts. After-school clubs for scholars K-12 begin next week in chess, soccer, debate, visual arts, dance, theater, and music.
SA High School of the Liberal Arts–Manhattan, as well as the Harlem and Brooklyn campuses, offer collegiate level academics and an extraordinary college counseling program, with a ratio of 70 students to one counselor. In contrast to the city’s application process, Success Academy was also able to give the vast majority of its families their top choices for middle and high school. Among entering freshmen coming from 15 middle schools across four boroughs, 81% received their first choice of location, and 100% receiving first or second choice, compared with 74% of district school freshmen who received a first through third choice (DOE has not provided data for the percentage of students getting first choice). Among entering middle schoolers, 88% of SA families received their first choice, with 99% getting first or second choice.
ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY
Since its founding in 2006, Success Academy has created the highest-performing public school district in New York state, and a national model of access to excellence for children across all demographics. We currently enroll over 21,000 children in 49 elementary, middle, and high schools. The majority of Success Academy scholars are children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods, admitted through a random public lottery. Our distinctive K-12 approach, designed as a holistic 13-year educational trajectory, leads to student outcomes that outpace even those in affluent suburban schools. To date, 100% of SA’s graduates have been accepted to college, many to highly selective institutions. Most are the first in their families to have the opportunity for higher education. We regularly share our curriculum and methods with educators and school leaders across the country. By scaling excellence and reigniting the civic mission of education, Success Academy is leading a movement to reinvent public education. For more information about Success Academy, go to successacademies.org.
Freshmen started August 8 at SA HSLA-Brooklyn
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