Category: Newark

History teacher Scott Kern says AI tools are transforming how students write and think about history.  

Keeping Newark Warm: Essex County Chapter of The Links and North Star Academy Distribute Thousands of Winter Gloves!

Congratulations to Karim Ahmad of North Star Downtown Middle School, who captured first place in the 28th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Competition!  

North Star Academy parents learning English celebrated graduation, honoring a powerful journey of resilience, growth, and new beginnings.

North Star Academy seniors, joined by their families and underclassmen, proudly announce their college choices. The Class of 2025 has earned an impressive $9.8 million in full scholarships and grants to top colleges. The excitement evident as seniors danced up to the stage, jumped up and down and shouted in the microphone the names of … Continued

At North Star Academy’s Washington Park High School, seniors in Michael Taubman’s class are diving into how AI could shape their future careers. Through The Summit, a 10-week AI course developed with Stanford University, students explore career pathways while gaining firsthand experience with emerging technologies. Taubman’s goal: to equip students with agency over AI, empowering … Continued

Ahead of Newark’s school board election, 150 North Star Academy students registered to vote, the first time 16- and 17-year-olds can participate. Senior Jibola Omotoyinbo described her new right to vote as a feeling of “adulthood and freedom.” The three winning candidates will join the nine-member board responsible for policies affecting 36,000 students across 64 … Continued

Stanford Digital Education debuted a new project at North Star Academy’s Washington Park High School: a 10-week AI curriculum combining Stanford and Google lesson plans. About 90 students participated in the program, led by Mike Taubman. He emphasized that a key objective of the SDE lessons is to draw students’ attention to the difficult issues … Continued

Eleven North Star Academy seniors have secured full-ride scholarships to prestigious institutions! These students were selected through the QuestBridge National College Match, a highly competitive program connecting high-achieving, low-income students with top colleges. Chosen from a pool of more than 25,500 applicants, they are among just 2,627 finalists nationwide. To read the full story visit … Continued

At North Star Academy’s Liberty Elementary, a student-led newscast on Zoom airs schoolwide, spotlighting diverse cultures and identities. Leading the initiative, third-grade teacher Nia Freeman empowers her students to explore and celebrate difference through delivering the news. “Everyone should have a chance to see their reflection and feel represented,” Freeman said, “while also looking outward … Continued

North Star Academy enrolled 90% of its 2024 graduates in two- or four-year colleges, earning over $5 million in grants and scholarships. Its college counseling model includes early family meetings, weekly seminars, strong Early Decision advising, and alumni support to ensure students persist “to and through” college. North Star’s college completion rate is more than … Continued

Our wonderful 4th graders from North Star Academy -Liberty Elementary School show off their broadcast news skills in their weekly news show! Our teacher, Nia Freeman, helps her students prepare their newscast and covers topics such as Latinx Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Black History Month, and sometimes even the weather! Read more about this … Continued

Fifty-four percent of North Star Academy’s third graders met grade-level expectations in reading, more than double the district average. How does North Star achieve this high degree of literacy among an at-risk population and sustain it? Julia Worrell, North Star’s K-12 Chief Academic Officer, credits the success to a highly energized, well-prepared team of teachers … Continued

Uncommon Schools’ North Star Academy Washington Park High School award-winning debate team shared their insights with NBC New York on how the presidential candidates performed in the debate! Take a minute to watch and listen to what our future leaders have to say! Read more about this story on NBC New York. 

Families joined us to learn more about our Kindergarten programs at North Star Academy West Side Elementary School! At North Star Academy your child will receive the personalized support they need to succeed from the moment they step foot into our schools. Our principal Keila Fernandez explains how in the article linked below. Read the … Continued

By Jessie Gómez Teachers like Lina Zapata at North Star Academy Washington Park High School are why students thrive at Uncommon Schools. She decided to become the teacher that she needed as a child and support every student on their path to college and beyond. Read the full article at Chalkbeat. 

For North Star Academy Washington Park High School students David and Justin the hard work has paid off!  They are both headed to top colleges like University of Chicago and Amherst College with a full scholarship come fall. They both credit their perseverance through high school, and the support they received from the North Star … Continued

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

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

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

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 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 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 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

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

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

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

As if the pandemic itself wasn’t challenging enough, twins Joan and Judith Jatto just moved to Newark from Nigeria in 2018 and enrolled at North Star Academy Lincoln Park High School as 11th graders. Despite the challenges, however, the twins have thrived—from starting an Afro beat dance club at school to going to Colgate and … Continued

There are no limits to the creative ways we celebrate our students’ successes. In Newark, NJ, more than 200 seniors graduated from North Star Academy Washington Park and Lincoln Park high schools. While we couldn’t hold a traditional graduation ceremony, staff, families, and students got together to celebrate how they could: a drive-through graduation. As … Continued

Whether schools will start the new year remotely or in person is on everyone’s minds. In Newark, NJ, the city’s largest charter school networks, including North Star Academy, are planning to start remotely. In-person learning will resume only when it’s been deemed safe to do so. According to Chalkbeat Newark, it’s unclear whether Gov. Murphy … Continued

Tameka Royal, a Principal at Uncommon Schools North Star Academy, participated in a national discussion about what school will look like for the 2020-2021 school year. It’s a hot topic among educators as they look to balance the health risks of COVID-19 exposure with the challenges of remote learning. As reported by TapintoNewark, Royal joined … Continued