New Charter High School Rising at 1480 Atlantic
A new charter high school is nearing completion at 1480 Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights. The 1,600-seat school, a joint venture between Achievement First and Uncommon Schools and funded in part by the Robin Hood Foundation, was designed by Robert A.M. Stern and Gensler. The facility will include six fully-equipped science labs, a 4,000-square-foot library…
A new charter high school is nearing completion at 1480 Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights. The 1,600-seat school, a joint venture between Achievement First and Uncommon Schools and funded in part by the Robin Hood Foundation, was designed by Robert A.M. Stern and Gensler. The facility will include six fully-equipped science labs, a 4,000-square-foot library and two gyms and is scheduled to open in time for the 2010-11 academic year. Fantastic news! GMAP P*Shark DOB
oh, that’s good to hear about the robin hood foundation MM!
and i agree with you in a sense about the idea of perception and new facilities
*rob*
I’m just glad that someone is putting active, put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is attention to Crown Heights North and Bed Stuy.(school is on the border, so I would imagine would also draw Bed Stuy students)I know one of the people on the new board, and trust me, if she has anything to say about it, these kids will get a good edumacation.
Besides, sometimes half the battle is perception. This is a brand new school, with fantastic new facilities, built not for the students of yesterday, but the kids of today, with full knowledge of the problems and challenges of today. One of the biggest gripes about CHN is that the public schools suck. Hopefully this school will start to reverse that.
Of course, I wish regular public schools could improve for all, but I’ll still take this as a start in the right direction. BTW, rob, the Robin Hood Fund has been around for a while, started by young,(at the time) successful financial and corporate types who thought they should give back, and get their peers and corporations to do the same. They’ve done some great work over the last 15 or so years.
i dont think teachers should have to compete when it comes to their salary based on performance. of course the greatest of the greatest teachers WILL tap into some young minds, but they are not baby sitters, they are not there to teach morals and values of civilized society, and they are not prison wardens. althought there are exceptions, if you come from a crappy home environment, even the best teaching in the world might not yield the results. (at least for kids over the age of 13 or so). they are much easier to teach at a younger age before life has hardened them.
you couldnt pay me an eight figure salary to teach in a nyc public middle or high school.
*rob*
Also, competition always yields a better product. What would Apple be without Micorsoft…
I do like that some Charter Schools are not subject to Teacher Union bureaucracy and puts the money into rewarding teachers for their hard work (at least in theory).
Investment managers are paid based on performance. What’s a more important investment than the young mind.
I always wondered about that too.. please dont jump on me for saying this, but most of the time it appears charter schools do nothing more than make the kids wear uniforms. which maybe is a good thing? i dont know, sorry if my perception of charter schools might be a little off. but best of luck to this one!! charter schools are usually often smaller tho right?
*rob*
I really wish they would put this much effort into reforming existing schools, especially since there is no reliable data supporting the idea that charter schools are better. There are a few that do very well, but most do not.
the Robinhood Foundation!? wasn’t robinhood a thief who stole from rich to give to the poor? charterized!
*rob*
I’ve been watching it rise for the last year. I hope to see plenty of college bound kids bounce out of here. It’s huge, not the prettiest thing in the world, but I welcome it.