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GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools
early years
January 29, 2009
For the first time, charter schools will open up to 4-year-olds
The charter school chain that is expanding to 4-year-olds next year.
State law previously restricted charter schools from admitting pre-kindergarten students; they could go only from kindergarten through 12th grade.
But now Eva Moskowitz, founder of the Harlem Success Academy chain of four charter schools, has found a way to open the schools up to pre-kindergarteners. Success Academy recently petitioned the SUNY Board of Trustees to allow “developmental kindergarten,” which is for 4-year-olds — and won.
The change could pave the way for other charter schools to work with children from an earlier age. Charter schools in other cities enroll 4-year-0lds, mixing traditional aspects of early childhood like play time with the rigorous math and reading focus of many charter schools.
Success Academy spokeswoman Jenny Sedlis told me that Harlem Success Academy 2 plans to enroll 4-year-olds next year. They will take “developmental” kindergarten their first year, and then move onto traditional kindergarten. “We are huge supporters of pre-K and early childhood education and we’re interested in looking at innovative ways to bring excellent programs to more at-risk children,” Sedlis wrote in an e-mail.
CORRECTION: Originally this post said the Board of Regents had to approve Harlem Success’s request. It was actually the SUNY Board of Trustees, which authorizes charter schools.
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January 29th, 2009 9:43 pm
This is fantastic.
As a former fourth grade teacher, I worked for a principal (in a Baltimore Catholic School) who made it her business to hold large numbers of students back in kindergarten. She believed that our school was getting to many students who had come to school well behind where they should be in Kindergard. She saw it as giving them a second chance to get on point before the spent the rest of their life behind.
We did not have a single child that wasn’t a fluent reader by grade 3 and most were doing pretty well in grade 2. There was nothing magical about what we did. Our methods were pretty basic.
She just made sure kids didn’t leave kindergarten until they were academically ready. Because so many of our students were not being adequately read to before they came to school, they needed this extra year.
So much better not to have to do this, but just to start a year earlier! Fantastic fantastic …
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