Educational Model

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him. - Maya Angelou

Quality education, especially early education, is the key to breaking trends of poverty and crime prevalent in East New York and Brownsville. East New York Prep provides children and families with an alternative to the traditional public school education, one that creates a pathway to success—one child at a time.

Doors to higher education and lifelong excellence can only be opened with a solid educational foundation to build upon and the character and values to make good decisions. East New York Prep prepares its students for long-term success by putting the following core principles to work:
 

MASTERFUL TEACHING

Masterful teaching is the hallmark of a great school. Therefore, East New York Prep recruits, retains and rewards only the most qualified and passionate teachers. We provide meaningful observations, feedback, and professional development that give teachers the tools to reach their most struggling student. Teachers also have opportunities to visit other top-performing schools to examine best practices. Our teachers provide results, driven instruction where students are tested in the core academic subjects every 6-8 weeks throughout the school year. Test results are used as an immediate feedback loop to aid in providing the instructional content necessary to ensure that students advance in each area of study.

 

UNRELENTING FOCUS ON LITERACY

A deficit in early literacy skills is one of the chief causes of later academic failure. 38% of employers find high school graduates deficient in reading comprehension, while the ability to communicate effectively in writing tops the list of applied skills found lacking in high school and college graduates alike. Moreover, 20% of workers read and write at a lower skill level than their job requires.

At East New York Prep, our literacy curriculum is the bedrock on which all other learning is built. We work to instill an early love of reading and literature that will serve our students for their entire lives. We dedicate time to teaching, reading and writing through both phonics and comprehension strategies, fostering fluency through extensive practice.
 

PARENT & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Our open-door policy, focus on individual students and families, and full lineup of family events allow parents to become active contributors to their children’s education. Professionals and community leaders are invited into the classroom to engage students in career discussions and occupational goal setting, highlighting the skills these professionals routinely use.

STRICT, CHARACTER DEVELOPING, COLLEGE-BOUND CULTURE

If students do not feel safe, they cannot concentrate, and therefore will not learn. To ensure student safety, we enforce a clear Code of Conduct. Parents are expected to sign a behavioral covenant, which will cover matters such as attendance, uniform dress code, work expectations, and consequences/rewards for student behavior. Students found in violation of the covenant will serve detention in our THINK-tank.

We maintain a high-performing, achievement-oriented culture of excellence where students are immersed in our shared school community THINK values.

 

	Academic Value	Behavioral Expectation
T	Tolerance	Take Notes
H	Hark-Work	Hands Raised
I	Integrity	Inquire
N	No Excuses	Nod
K	Knowledge	Keep Eye Contact

To reinforce these virtuous character values, we will offer a THINK class and small student Advisories. In individualized Advisories, teachers will form close relationships with students, explore the school’s virtues, take students’ career goals seriously, and foster a family feel. The strong relationships we build with our students and their families will inspire our stakeholders and support our ability to monitor students even after they have moved on to high school.

With our stated commitment to preparing students to excel academically and socially at demanding college preparatory schools and then at top-tier colleges, each classroom is named after Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s). Each year, starting as early as kindergarten, all students take an annual college tour. By the time our students head off to high school, they will have visited nearly a dozen colleges.

Teachers and school leaders have created high-impact visual cues to remind students on a daily basis about the value of academic achievement. Our Wall of Fame, which features photos of notable African-Americans and Hispanic leaders, students, faculty and staff, provides yet another incentive to aspire and achieve in high school, college and beyond.


 

RIGOROUS CURRICULUM WITH REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS

Our curriculum, founded on three beliefs, provides a strong foundation of core subjects and builds student confidence through sequential learning. First, we believe that to be rigorous, a standards-based program must be designed as ambitious yet realistic for each grade. Second, we believe that students’ understanding deepens with extended and varied exposure to ideas and concepts over time. Third, we believe that students must be engaged, active participants in the broadening of their knowledge and the development of their skills.

Therefore, our curriculum: (1) is research- and standards-based, designed to introduce students to content and skills on an accelerated pace (i.e., both meeting and exceeding New York State performance standards), and with proven success in urban settings; (2) exposes students to subjects over multiple years, gradually progressing from simple to more complicated content and skills; (3) is comprehensive and coherent, including opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skills to interdisciplinary tasks aimed at connecting learned content and skills to their real-world uses.

We believe that all students can achieve at high levels if they are fueled by a passion and curiosity for new discoveries. Our community-building projects allow students to learn how they can solve real world problems. Students must understand both the interrelatedness of the core academic subjects and these subjects’ connections to their lives. Our extended school day provides teachers with the opportunity to weave interdisciplinary projects in architecture, business and law into the ongoing curriculum.


View a sample daily schedule of classes.