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TAPinto: North Star Academy Class of 2021 Celebrates Graduation

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Brooklyn Patch: Uncommon Leadership Charter HS Grads Headed to College

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Uncommon Leadership Charter High School in Brooklyn, NY is celebrating its first graduating class this year, and nearly every student is headed to a four-year college in the fall. Aspirations vary from pediatrician to Supreme Court justice—a testament to our students’ dreams and desires to make an impact in the world, as well as the … Continued

TAPinto Newark: Students Celebrate College Acceptances After a Year of Uncertainty

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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

NYT Op-Ed: When I Applied to College, I Didn’t Want to ‘Sell My Pain’

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The personal statement is an opportunity for high school students to “sell” themselves to the college admissions officer for admission. In most cases, there’s a template to follow, one which Elijah, an Uncommon Charter High School senior, recognized as troublesome. “Every time I wrote, and then discarded and then redrafted, I didn’t feel good. It … Continued

Newsweek Op-Ed: Focus on Making Our Schools Better

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As educators prepare for the upcoming school year, they may be tempted to figure out how to address the learning loss brought on by the pandemic. Understandably, they might look for simplified curriculum as a way to ease students back into learning. This is the wrong focus, writes Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and Stephen Chiger in a … Continued

TAPinto Camden Opinion: How I Found a School I Love

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Brooklyn Patch: Educators March in Solidarity with Asian Americans

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Minority Reporter Op-Ed: Rochester Prep Meeting My Childrens’ Needs

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Chalkbeat: Newark Classrooms Reopen

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TAPinto Camden: Camden Prep Partners With CAMcare Health Corp. for Vaccines

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Thanks to a partnership with CAMcare Health Corp., Camden Prep teachers and staff were able to return for hybrid instruction on March 15 with peace of mind. Camden Prep is also following CDC guidelines, and has consulted with medical and public health experts to develop health and safety protocols. “It’s important to have our students … Continued

USA Today Op-Ed: Now is the time to overhaul teacher training

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At a time when districts and teachers are in contentious battles over whether it is safe to have in-person class, Uncommon CEO writes in a USA TODAY op-ed piece that we need a unifying plan that recognizes the toll the pandemic has taken on students as well as educators. Now is the right time to … Continued

North Star Academy Recognized in Stanford University’s 2021 CREDO Study

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Bloomberg: Uncommon Students Remain a Priority Beyond HS Graduation

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Week of March 29: Tiered Focus Monitoring Review of Roxbury Prep

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During the week of March 29, 2021 the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Roxbury Prep Charter School. The Office of Public School Monitoring visits each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special … Continued

Uncommon Sense: An Instructional Blog for Educators by Educators

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Uncommon Schools has a history of collaborating with local school districts and sharing resources through in-person professional development trainings, online workshops, and multiple best-selling books. Why? Because we believe that every child deserves a great education. Why a Blog? The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to rethink our traditional sharing avenues, but being confined to … Continued

Teach Like A Champion’s Timely New Guide to Online Teaching and Learning

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How is your child’s online classroom? According to Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews, the “gold standard” is outlined in a new book, Teaching in the Online Classroom: Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal, by Doug Lemov and the Teach Like a Champion team. While the focus of the new book is about online … Continued

Camden Prep HS Students Dive Into STEM With Robotics

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Camden Prep High School just opened this school year with its founding freshman class and they’re not slowing down. A new Robotics elective, led by robotics engineer Dr. Cortney Bolden, is giving students an opportunity to take a deeper dive into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics from computer science and geometry to electronics … Continued

Update On Our DEI Commitments

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Lea la carta en español | Lire la lettre en Français | اقرأ الرسالة باللغة العربية | Li lèt la an kreyòl ayisyen Dear Uncommon Schools Community, As the year draws to a close, we wanted to update our entire Uncommon community on the diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments we made as part of our … Continued

Washington Post: Students Learn from People Who Love Them

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Kings County Politics: Uncommon Hosts Halloween Voter Info Event

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Kings County Politics: 10,000 Uncommon Schools Students Throughout Brooklyn blaze path for blended learning

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Juliana Worrell Selected for Broad Center’s Inaugural Cohort of Public Education Leadership Fellows

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Shradha Patel Named to Boston Business Journal’s Power 50 for 2020

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Rochester Beacon: Alumna Returns to Alma Mater to Teach

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Uncommon Schools in Visionaries Documentary on PBS

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For the last quarter of a century, Visionaries has been producing documentaries for public television, highlighting nonprofit organizations around the world that are making a positive impact on their respective communities. Uncommon Schools is proud to be featured this season in this Visionaries documentary airing on PBS, and to be able to share the voices … Continued

Bellwether Education Report: Uncommon’s Responses to COVID-19

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The Final Round: Brett Peiser on How Uncommon is Adapting to Hybrid Learning

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Charter School Growth Fund: How Teachers Quickly Respond to Student Work

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Uncommon Partners with Citi’s e for education Campaign for 6th Year

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TapInto Newark: An Alumnus Returns to His Alma Mater to Teach

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Roxbury Prep Alumna Returns to Boston Roots as Summer Teaching Fellow

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“I had great teachers growing up. I want to be that type of role model for other students,” says Ariana Gomes, about her experiences at Roxbury Prep Mission Hill. Gomes is currently senior at the University of Miami but this summer, she returned to Boston as a Summer Teaching Fellow and gave back to her … Continued

Fordham Institute Report: Lessons from Leading Charter Networks Transitioning to Remote Learning

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Forbes: Uncommon U-Turn Should Help Consign No Excuses Schools To History

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According to Forbes, Uncommon’s changes in some of its practices “should help consign the ‘no-excuses’ culture to history.” In a letter to the community, Uncommon Schools announced changes to some practices around behavior management, including stopping the use of SLANT. These changes are part of a larger move towards focusing on student learning and engagement … Continued

WHYY: Educators Try to Solve Problem That Keeps Changing During Pandemic

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TapInto Camden: Camden Schools Receive Grants to Help With Covid-19

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Seck Barry on Camden Prep’s Remote Learning During the Pandemic

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Our DEI Commitments for 2020-21 and Beyond

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Lea la carta en español | Lire la lettre en Français | اقرأ الرسالة باللغة العربية | Li lèt la an kreyòl ayisyen Dear Uncommon Schools Community, This year has been a time of great reflection. As we continue to prepare for a safe and strong launch to the new school year, we remain steadfast … Continued

TapInto Newark: Newark Charters Release Standards for Reopening Schools

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Kings County Politics: Summer Teaching Fellowship Trains Future Brooklyn Teachers

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North Star Academy Seniors Celebrate with Drive-Thru Graduation

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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

North Star Academy, Newark Charters Plan for Remote Start to School Year

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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

New Principal, New High School in Camden

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This fall, veteran educator Syrena Burnam will be in the exciting position of welcoming the founding 9th grade class to Camden Prep High School, and building a school community for decades to come. Burnam has spent the last eight years at North Star Academy, first as an AP Biology teacher, then as Department Chair, and … Continued

North Star Principal Joins Panel Discussion on School Reopening

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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

Cannon Design: Uncommon HS Students Learn How to Make Wellness Relevant in Virtual Exercise

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Uncommon High School Students Conduct Research on Microplastics

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High school students from Uncommon Charter High School and Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School conducted research on microplastics in local waterways. As part of Uncommon’s High School 2.0 programming, the students interned at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory (Columbia University) with Dr. Joaquim Goes, to explore just how pervasive microplastics are in the environment. From … Continued

Boston Business Journal: Long Wait to Build New School Leaves Questions

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The 74: Researchers Find Top Results for Newark, Boston, Pittsburgh

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A Letter to the Uncommon Community

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Dear Uncommon Schools Community, A few weeks ago, after we chose to close Uncommon Schools for a day to allow our community to process in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, I wrote an essay about how our charter school network was founded to battle racism and advance social justice. Since writing that … Continued

Opinion: If Black Lives Matter, City Would Hold Hearing for Roxbury Prep

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Boston Globe Editorial: Roxbury Prep’s Future Offers Chance for Healing

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