New York City Schools Chancellor Lauds Uncommon Schools’ Excellence Girls Charter School

NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina visited Excellence Girls Charter School Elementary Academy Friday morning to meet with school leadership and teachers about math instruction and teacher coaching as the school year is kicked off.

Excellence Girls is one of 22 public charter schools in Brooklyn managed by Uncommon Schools, the largest charter school organization in Brooklyn, serving nearly 7,500 students.

“It was such a pleasure to visit Excellence Girls and spend time in classrooms, where I saw passionate teachers and eager students,” said Chancellor Farina. “Anything is possible for students and educators in a new school year, and it was wonderful to see learning in action.”

Uncommon Schools and the NYC Department of Education have been partnering for several years, sharing best practices in instruction, visiting each other’s schools and collaborating on successful co-location strategies.

The instructional best-practices partnership is concentrated in District 23, one of the highest poverty areas in the city. There, teachers and principals from both Uncommon Schools and NYC district schools meet regularly to collaborate on ways to increase student achievement, particularly in the area of literacy.

“I look forward to building on the partnerships with Uncommon in District 23 and beyond, because when we share best practices and work together to strengthen school communities, students are the real winners,” Farina said.

“We are so grateful that the Chancellor came to visit our teachers and students today,” said Nikki Bowen, principal of Excellence Girls.

“The Chancellor’s passion for a high-quality education for all of NYC’s children was evident,” said Bowen, who grew up in Brooklyn and came back to teach here and ultimately become a principal. “We are fortunate to have her leadership and commitment to our city’s schoolchildren.”

Nearly 100 percent of Excellence Girls’ students are black or Latina and the vast majority qualify for free or reduced price lunch. About 30 percent of the students receive at-risk learning intervention services or individualized education plan services.

Demonstrating the strength of the teaching staff, Excellence Girls scholars outperform most of the state in academics. The 4th graders ranked in the top 3 percent of schools in the state in math, with 90 percent scoring “advanced” or “proficient,” while the 3rd and 4th graders outperformed 96 percent of schools in the state in English Language Arts.

Councilwoman Darlene Mealy also visited the school with the Chancellor and said she saw “phenomenal learning.” She said she was especially excited about the school’s mission to give girls confidence as they grow into strong young women, or “fierce females,” as the school calls them.

The demographic makeup of Excellence Girls’ teaching staff reflects the commitment that Uncommon Schools has made to ensure students have teachers from diverse backgrounds. Nearly 60 percent of Excellence Girls’ teachers are teachers of color, more than three times the national average.

With 22 public charter schools in Brooklyn, Uncommon Schools’ students can attend from Kindergarten through 12th grade. One hundred percent of Uncommon NYC’s 12th graders have been accepted to a four-year college or university. The college-completion rate of Uncommon Schools is more than four times the completion rate of low-income students nationally. A Stanford University study found that students who spend two years at an Uncommon School effectively wipe out the effects of poverty on their education.

Uncommon Schools’ mission is to build and manage great urban public schools that prepare low-income students to enter, succeed in, and graduate from college.