David and Justin from North Star Academy Washington Park High School already know they are headed to University of Chicago and Amherst College with full ride scholarships. These students are recipients of the prestigious QuestBridge Scholarship which provides scholarships through a college match program to attend some of the nation’s most competitive colleges. This year … Continued
You want to see what is possible when educators believe in students and propel them to greatness? Watch this story featuring thirteen Uncommon’s Roxbury Prep High School students who are headed to top colleges in the fall with less than $2,000 in tuition debt. Six of them have earned prestigious national scholarships with full rides … Continued
Six seniors from Roxbury Prep High School are celebrating a remarkable achievement: full four-year scholarships to prestigious colleges such as Princeton, Vassar, and Vanderbilt. For these students, the scholarships like QuestBridge and Posse, not only alleviate the financial burden of college but also signify a profound sense of accomplishment and pride. Roxbury Prep’s principal shared … Continued
Uncommon students, like millions around the country, are feeling the impact of FAFSA delays disrupting college financial aid timelines. Mark Stulberg, the Director of College Counseling at North Star Academy Lincoln Park High School, shares the story of his student Nicholas Onaiwu to urge colleges to extend enrollment deadlines beyond the traditional May 1st deadline. … Continued
North Star Academy in Newark had a record seven graduating seniors who will receive full scholarships through the prestigious QuestBridge National College Match program to attend some of the nation’s most competitive colleges. North Star had the highest number of QuestBridge recipients among all Newark high schools. More than 20,800 students from across the country … Continued
By Juliana Worrell Juliana Worrell, Uncommon Schools’ Chief Schools Officer K-8, advocates for strong literacy instruction using the principles of the science of reading. Read this op-ed as it originally appeared on January 20, 2024 in NJ Star-Ledger. (Subscription may be required.) In his State of the State message, Gov. Phil Murphy called for introducing … Continued
By JANEL ‘JAYCEE’ MILLER Camden Prep is breaking barriers with its new Eye to Eye (E.T.E.) program which brings together neurodiverse middle school students and high school mentors sharing similar unique talents and educational experiences. Initiated this year, E.T.E is focused on overcoming obstacles in the classroom and maximizing each child’s individual potential. The program … Continued
Camden Prep High School celebrated its $50 million brand-new, state-of-the-art facility in Camden, NJ with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Camden Prep’s first graduating class started their senior year with a new gym, cafeteria, and quad, among other facilities. Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen and Uncommon Schools Co-CEOs Julie Jackson and Brett Peiser were on-site to commemorate the … Continued
Nov 2, 2023 At the 50th anniversary of Stanford University’s Structured Liberal Education (SLE) seminar, North Star teacher and Stanford graduate Mike Taubman gave a lecture on “Searching Together for the Common Good” and talked about transposing this course to the high school environment. “The first aspect of SLE’s culture that is powerful for high … Continued
October 23, 2023 | By: Halena Sepulveda at Spectrum News 1 According to the Nation’s Report Card, 33% of fourth-grade students performed at or above proficiency levels in 2022, which was 2% less compared to 2019. “Post-pandemic we’ve really figured out that we need to target exactly what our kids need and our curriculum has … Continued
August 31, 2023 | By: FOX 29 Camden Prep High School is getting ready to graduate its first senior class. Students who started high school on Zoom are now enjoying a brand new building with bright classrooms, a multi-purpose gym, and more. “Just a few days into the new school year, Freshman Ariella McCormick says … Continued
August 31, 2023 | By: NBC10 We promised our founding Camden Prep scholars they would have a new building to start their senior year and we delivered! Camden Prep High School students began the 23-24 school year in a brand new building, equipped with an outdoor quad, cafeteria, multi-purpose gym, and more. Camden Mayor Victor … Continued
Aug 29, 2023, 8:34pm | By: News 12 Staff Uncommon opened the doors of a brand new elementary school in Brooklyn to begin the 23-24 school year. Williamsburg Elementary School (WES) kicked off a new school year by welcoming 300 kindergarten through fourth-grade students. “We have high rigor, but we’re also building students with strong … Continued
Roxbury Prep Missional Hill 5th-grade math teacher, Maggie Hillman is a top-4 finalist for Massachusetts Teacher of the Year! She is the only charter school teacher named as a finalist by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Terra Carr, Regional Superintendent of Instruction, said of Ms. Hillman: “Maggie is an exceptional teacher, and … Continued
WHAM ABC 13 | Fri, May 19th 2023, 7:28 PM EDT Rochester Prep celebrated its Senior Signing Day on May 19 to commemorate students’ college decisions and to cheer them on as they begin their next chapter. 98% of the seniors are graduating and heading to college in the fall. “So often we hear about … Continued
Brittnee Baker |May 1, 2023 Uncommon Schools’ counselors have made it their mission to help students get through and succeed in college. Since 1997, 99% of Uncommon high school graduates have earned acceptance at four-year colleges and universities. In a conversation with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, shares the most important factor behind … Continued
By TAPinto Newark Staff Report | Last Updated April 20, 2023 Corey Madison, a senior at North Star Academy, is making his voice heard. Saying he believed that his school and other public charter schools were being treated unfairly, Madison testified before the New Jersey state assembly budget committee. Check out his testimony here: Read … Continued
By Neill Borowski | March 21, 2023 Camden Prep student Maurquay Moody turned $200 in seed funding into Philadelphia’s top prize for young entrepreneurs. Moody learned about starting his own business through Camden Prep’s High School 2.0 program. Camden Prep engaged Dan LaSalle, who runs a non-profit organization called Niche Clinic, which teaches high school … Continued
March 9, 2023 / Accelerate Institute News In 2018, Uncommon Schools’ Jody Jones won the prestigious Ryan Award for her transformational leadership as Principal at North Star Academy, where she helped lead students to meet or surpass in-state testing expectations compared to other New Jersey school districts. Five years later, Jones, now Uncommon’s Senior Director of School … Continued
By Paula White | Feb. 18, 2023 The fact is that quality literacy instruction is the linchpin variable for our children’s learning. For 2023, let’s give it the focus and boost it deserves. Read more on NJ.com
By Amanda Lee Myers|Feb. 15, 2023 Boy after boy walks up to a mirror. Some are confident, some seem shy, and many grin as they do a simple act of self-love: Looking in the mirror and saying what they like most about themselves. “One thing I love about myself is I have the ability to … Continued
By Art Worrell | Feb 13. 2023 In this op-ed by Art Worrell, director of history instruction at Uncommon Schools, Worrell says history is messy. But by embracing that messiness, we come to understand our world and what it means to be human. Read more on NJ.com
By Tocarra Hughes | Feb. 10, 2023 Four students from Rochester Prep will attend Notre Dame, Colgate University, the University of Chicago, and Boston University on a full, four-year academic scholarship through the QuestBridge National College Match. The Rochester Prep students were selected from among more than 17,900 applicants for the scholarship. Read more on … Continued
By Dashawn Sheffield | Feb. 7, 2023 North Star Academy student Dashawn Sheffield knows that he can be a force for good — even though his dream career, which carries negative stereotypes — surprises people. Read more at Chalkbeat
In December, the Roxbury Prep’s Parent Partners for Advocacy brought together roughly 50 volunteers from the community to assemble and distribute food baskets to more than 160 school families. Read this story as it originally appeared on January 31, 2023 in Boston Business Journal (Subscription may be required.) The parent partners at Roxbury Prep, a … Continued
Students at Uncommon Newark are taking menstrual equity into their own hands. New Jersey schools are not required to provide female sanitary products, but a student-led club at North Star is fighting to make them available. The club started almost two years ago when students managed to get a company to donate hygiene product dispensers … Continued
By Seth Daniel, News Editor | October 20, 2022 | Dorchester News After spending a year in a training program and four years teaching History, Frankline Mardi was appointed Principal at Roxbury Prep Dorchester. Her love for teaching points back to when she was a student and she helped tutor her mother, who spent most … Continued
January 13, 2023 • Giovanni Albanese | GovTech Uncommon Schools received a $4 million Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Thanks to the EIR grant, Uncommon can launch a new coding program at five of its nine high schools to promote careers in STEM by embedding coding lessons in … Continued
Shradha Patel | Dec 21, 2022 For college students considering the profession, there’s no substitute for hands-on experience. And for administrators looking to find dedicated new talent, it’s more important than ever that they proactively offer opportunities for college students to get a feel for teaching. This commitment to engaging would-be teachers has been a … Continued
December 10, 2022 | SNY When Coach Flaherty at Leadership Prep Canarsie Middle Academy (LPCMA) heard that Chick-fil-a was partnering with SNY SportsNite to give away over $12000 in grant funding to youth basketball leagues, he knew he had to apply for his school. Flaherty won $2,500 for his basketball team, supplying LPCMA with sports … Continued
By Brett Peiser In this New York Daily News Op-Ed, Uncommon Schools’ co-CEO Brett Peiser acknowledges how hard the past two-and-a-half years have been on teachers, but he also knows that students and families need teachers now more than ever. Read this story as it originally appeared on October 17, 2022 in New York Daily … Continued
Uncommon Co-CEOs Brett Peiser and Julie Jackson have been named to Politics NY’s list of 2022 Power Players in Education. Before becoming Co-CEO of Uncommon Schools, Peiser served as managing director of Uncommon Schools NYC. Peiser is the founder and former principal, and executive director of Boston Collegiate Charter School, and a former History teacher. … Continued
BROOKLYN, NY — “Welcome to Little Morehouse!” Principal Quinterrence Bell cheered as a big travel bus pulled up in front of Excellence Boys Charter School on Patchen Avenue and the 50 Morehouse Men inside started streaming out to the sidewalk. The Morehouse students had been on the bus for over 14 hours, having left Atlanta Thursday … Continued
Morriah Young, a middle school performing arts teacher at Camden Prep, competed on Season 43 of Survivor. Young states that she spent her formative years watching Survivor with her late mother, who only recently passed away. She said that the entire reason she is participating in this season is to “commemorate and honor her.” Young explained … Continued
Celebrating the success of “Abbott Elementary,” a wildly popular television sitcom centered on an optimistic Philadelphia school teacher, Chalkbeat asked readers to nominate teachers who are their real-life versions of “Mrs. Howard” — teachers who continuously demonstrated dedication and caring during the pandemic. North Star’s WPHS Samuel Bendinelli was nominated by one of his former … Continued
Millions of students have not caught up academically after remote learning, and Uncommon Schools is making up for that. Fairmount Elementary Principal, Tameka Royal, uses pep rallies to increase enthusiasm for learning with her students. “Always stand up and always speak out. There is no substitute for in-person learning,” says Royal. The school is utilizing … Continued
This summer, rising college seniors from across the country came to Roxbury Prep for a five-week fellowship that offered hands-on classroom and instructional experience. Similar to previous years’ cohorts, most of them headed back to their final year in college with a job offer in hand to come back and teach at Roxbury Prep when … Continued
By Eddie Washington There are very few things common about Julie Jackson. For starters, she is the first Black Co-Chief Executive Officer for Uncommon Schools in its 25-year history. Jackson has been in education for nearly 30 years. Her experience started in the classroom as a Teach For America core member in 1994. Since then, … Continued
By Molly Chandler | Posted on June 28, 2022 Between her junior and senior years at DePauw University in Indiana in 2014, Estrella De La Torre spent the summer at an elementary school in Brownsville as a Summer Teaching Fellow. At the time, De La Torre had no interest in becoming a teacher, but a fellow … Continued
by Lauren Bennett • June 2, 2022 | Mission Hill Gazette Mission Hill resident Wahaaj Farah is gearing up to attend Boston University in the fall, after graduating from Roxbury Prep on June 1. Farah was an active participant in Roxbury Prep’s High School 2.0 program during his high school years, where he took part in Quiz Bowl … Continued
BY MOLLY CHANDLER |Posted Wed, Jun 1, 2022 Nearly 450 students from Uncommon Schools’ four high schools in Brooklyn announced their plans to attend college or other programs before an audience of teachers, underclassmen, and their families during uplifting celebrations last week. The Senior Signing Day celebrations are similar to ceremonies where student-athletes announce what Division … Continued
By TAPINTO NEWARK |Published May 31, 2022 at 6:43 PM Growing up in Newark’s South Ward, Devia’N Parker Rogers had a lot of pets – dogs, turtles, fish. “I was always really excited to be around animals,” Parker Rogers said. “I was really shy around other people socially and kind of introverted, so I really … Continued
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — It’s a big day for graduating seniors at one of Boston’s charter schools. On Senior Signing Day Thursday, Roxbury Prep students let their teachers and classmates know their plans after graduation. Students cheered at the Reggie Lewis Center as many seniors unveiled college T-shirts to the crowd, announcing their pick. Stanaelle Celestin held … Continued
We are thrilled to announce that Uncommon has been awarded a highly competitive $4 million Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The EIR grants support “local efforts to develop, implement, and take to scale entrepreneurial and evidence-based projects that have the potential to improve academic achievement for underserved students.” … Continued
Juliana Worrell, Chief Schools Officer K-8 and co-author of Great Habits, Great Readers, was a recent guest on the Karen Hunter Show to discuss how teaching phonics can close literacy gaps, and how schools and school leaders can close learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to the full interview: The Karen Hunter Show … Continued
Juliana Worrell, Chief Schools Officer K-8 and co-author of Great Habits, Great Readers, recently appeared on Black News Channel (BNC) to discuss reading education and why phonics-based instruction is crucial. According to Worrell, “When we think about what are the best practices, we have to get back to the neuroscience, we have to get back … Continued
Juliana Worrell, Chief Schools Officer K-8, recently contributed to The 74 Million and responded to NYC Public Schools Chancellor David Banks’ recent comments on reading education. To build a foundation for developing strong readers, Worrell shared three important recommendations: Basing reading instruction on the science Providing teachers support and training Equipping students with complex and … Continued
By Erin Richards, Emily Bloch, Gary Stern, and Christine Fernando Uncommon Schools’ assistant superintendent, Paul Powell, and dean of curriculum and instruction, Alexandria Timoll, are quoted in this in-depth article. The story also spotlights Leadership Prep Canarsie in Brooklyn. Read this story as it originally appeared on December 7, 2021 in USA Today. (Subscription … Continued
Uncommon Schools believes that every child deserves an outstanding education, and we are committed to working beyond the walls of our schools to achieve that goal. President Julie Jackson and CEO Brett Peiser recently contributed an opinion piece to New York Daily News outlining their top five recommendations to Mayor-Elect Eric Adams, who has pledged … Continued