Success Academy Receives $25 Million Gift from the Robertson Foundation to Expand System of Top-Tier Public Charter Schools
April 12, 2016
Contact: Dan Bank, (212) 681-1380
HISTORIC FUNDING WILL SPUR SCALING AND INNOVATION
New York, NY ― Success Academy Charter Schools announced a transformative gift of $25 million from the Robertson Foundation to expand its system of public charter schools in New York City, extend the network’s capacity to export its sought-after curriculum and training, and influence national education reform. The gift was announced Monday evening during Success Academy’s tenth anniversary benefit, which also raised $10 million for the city’s most popular public schools.
“I've been an investor for a long time; there's no better investment than the education of all our children,” said Mr. Julian Robertson. “And there's no more innovative educator than Eva Moskowitz. That's why the Robertson Foundation is proud to support her and the wonderful Success Academy.”
The Robertson Foundation, which was established in 1996 by investor Julian H. Robertson and his late wife Josie, has been a strong supporter of Success Academy, previously giving to a major Success initiative — the Success Academy Education Institute, a new virtual academy for sharing curriculum and teacher training.
“Julian Robertson’s philanthropy has been transformative to education and reform, and we are deeply grateful to him and his family for this generous gift, which will help us scale as quickly as we can to 100 high-caliber public schools,” said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy. “This gift will directly benefit tens of thousands of New York City children, and many more across the country in the next decade, as we develop our capacity to share our curriculum and educational practices.
Over the last ten years, Success Academy has become a leader in education reform in New York City and across the country, rapidly opening new schools while consistently delivering top results for students. The network’s 34 public charter schools have outperformed schools in the city and state’s most affluent neighborhoods – ranking in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in reading among all state schools, based on state exams. At the same time, Success has been inundated by requests from educators around the country, as well as international visitors, to learn more about its curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher training.
Admitted by random lottery, the majority of students are from low-income and minority families, many of whom cannot afford to live in areas with better schools. Over the last ten years, Success Academy schools have received more than 110,000 applications. With recent annual wait lists of 17,000 and more families whose children did not win a seat in the lottery, Success has pledged to expanded to 100 schools over the next ten years in order to meet demand.
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ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public pre-K through 12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 34 schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 11,000 students (admitted by random lottery), primarily low-income children of color in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% of students receive free or reduced-price lunch, 95% are children of color, 15% are children with disabilities, and 8.5% are English language learners. Ranked in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in English on 2015 state proficiency tests, Success Academy schools received more than 20,000 applications for 3,200 open seats in this year’s lottery. Two Success Academy schools, Success Academy Harlem 1 and Harlem 3, have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education, the only Harlem schools in the last 25 years to receive this prestigious award.
For more information about Success Academy, go to Successacademies.org and virtualtour.successacademies.org.
On Twitter at: @SuccessCharters
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