PROPOSAL SUMMARY and TRANSMITTAL FORM Proposed School Information Charter School Name: Harlem Village Academy West 2 Charter School Education Corp
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PROPOSAL SUMMARY AND TRANSMITTAL FORM Proposed School Information Charter School Name: Harlem Village Academy West 2 Charter School Education Corp. Name: Harlem Village Academies Education Corp. Status: Existing Education Corporation Proposal Type: Standard New School Proposal School District (or NYC CSD): CSD 5 in New York City Opening Date: 8/10/2019 Proposed Grades and Enrollment Proposed Affiliations (if any) Charter Charter Management Grades Enrollment Year Company (“CMO”): Year 1 K-1 50 CMO Public Contact Info Year 2 K-2 73 (Name, Phone): Year 3 K-3 94 Partner Organization: Harlem Village Academies Network Year 4 K-4 114 Partner Public Contact Info Year 5 K-5 134 (Name, Phone): Lead Applicant Contact Information First Lead Applicant Name: David Zwiebel Applicant is a: Parent Teacher School Administrator District Resident Education Corp./Charter School Organization Name: Harlem Village Academy Applicant Mailing Address: Primary Secondary Email: Phone #: Phone #: Second Lead Applicant Name: Applicant is a: Parent Teacher School Administrator District Resident Education Corp./Charter School Organization Name: Applicant Mailing Address: Primary Secondary Email: Phone #: Phone #: List additional lead applicants in the “Other” section. Not Applicable Additional Applicants Listed in “Other” Media/Public Contact Information (required) Name: Phone #: Email: Lead Applicant Signature Signature: Date: By signing this Proposal Transmittal Form, the Lead Applicant certifies that the information contained in this proposal to establish a charter school pursuant to the New York Charter Schools Act with the State University of New York Board of Trustees is true and accurate to the best of his or her knowledge. SUNY Charter Schools Institute | 41 State St., Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 | (518) 445-4250 | [email protected] PROPOSAL TRANSMITTAL AND SUMMARY FORM 2 OF 5 Program Design MISSION STATEMENT It is the mission of Harlem Village Academy West 2 Charter School for our students to become intellectually sophisticated, wholesome in character, avid readers, fiercely independent thinkers and compassionate individuals who make a meaningful contribution to society. SUNY Charter Schools Institute | 41 State St., Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 | (518) 445-4250 | [email protected] PROPOSAL TRANSMITTAL AND SUMMARY FORM 3 OF 5 KEY DESIGN ELEMENTS A rigorous liberal arts curriculum based on aligned academic standards A longer school day allowing students time to master advanced content knowledge and explore their subject areas in depth. The HVA Elementary School day is from 8am – 4:30pm, with afterschool activities lasting until 5:45pm. Frequent assessment of student progress that drives continual improvement in instructional practice. HVA will have four grading periods per year, which will allow teachers to determine the progress of students towards content and skill mastery. Tutoring and after-school programs for students needing extra attention. HVA provides both academic enrichment and non-academic opportunities for learning after school. HVA partners with various community organizations to provide academic tutors and enrichment specialists to meet student needs and interests. A school culture emphasizing traditional values such as kindness, integrity, and responsibility. The school has a student and family handbook that each family receives at the beginning of the year. These handbooks provide expectations and guidance for behavior while focusing on the aforementioned values. Frequent communication between schools and families. HVA is committed to ensuring that families are engaged in their students’ achievement. Teachers and school support staff communicate regularly with parents and students outside of the school day, often via cell phone or email. School uniforms that promote a culture of respect, scholarship, and community. HVA school uniforms will continue to meet the standards related to culture mentioned above without creating a financial burden on families. Teachers who are masters of—and passionate about—their subject areas. HVA recruits and maintains teachers who have experience in the classroom and a desire to remain in the classroom. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ACADEMIC PROGRAM The core pillars of the HVA academic program include: Progressive Pedagogy: HVA is deeply committed to the ideals and rich tradition of progressive education, which was conceived to promote an equitable and democratic society. The longer school day allows students time to reflect and fall in love with learning. In addition, this model allows HVA to provide college-planning services, diagnostic assessments, after school and summer tutoring, and expert teaching. Deeper Learning: HVA’s approach to instruction centers on the value of deeper learning. In math, for example, students spend most of their time working through problems, constructing various solutions, evaluating the strengths and drawbacks of different methods, and discussing their thinking with the class. In science, students are doing scientific work, from designing experiments, developing reliable methods to answer questions, and gathering evidence to analyzing data and building models that help explain phenomena. In history, students must discern which sources are valid and which are biased, then make sense of conflicting accounts of events – and understand why they matter. In all disciplines students grapple with demanding text, cite evidence, and build arguments that hold up to scrutiny. Inquiry-based Curriculum: HVA’s approach to curriculum is based on inquiry leading to deep understanding. The curriculum is a coherent system of units of study designed around intriguing essential questions and challenging tasks. Students are immersed in reading, writing, academic discourse, and work that requires and inspires them to learn knowledge and skills in the context of meaningful, complex questions. Through this approach to curriculum, students develop the habits of mind necessary for producing the authentic work of the discipline. Authentic Assessment: Evidence of effective teaching can be found in the quality of work that students produce SUNY Charter Schools Institute | 41 State St., Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 | (518) 445-4250 | [email protected] PROPOSAL TRANSMITTAL AND SUMMARY FORM 4 OF 5 and in the level of thinking students convey through their speaking and writing. An authentic assessment reveals the depth and complexity of student learning. Some of our methods of authentic assessment from kindergarten through high school at HVA include conferring, in which a teacher sits beside a student, observes him or her working, and asks purposeful questions to determine the degree and depth of the student’s understanding; portfolio, in which students articulate and demonstrate their learning through a portfolio of written work that demonstrates evidence of academic advancement; and Seminar, in which students closely read great works of literature and important documents, analyze their significance, and provide evidence-based, reasonable answers to large, open-ended questions. Kaizen has been a hallmark of Harlem Village Academy from our inception. We discovered kaizen in Peter Ducker’s Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Kaizen is the Japanese concept of continuous, daily, incremental improvement of programs and processes by every single person in the organization. This does not work in a bureaucratic, top-down organization that is reluctant to empower its people with real responsibility. We are constantly striving to improve every program, every system, every single thing we do at our school. Teachers meet in July of each year to discuss possible improvements to the school program and to make plans for the coming year. We will make continuous changes and improvements to the school program through kaizen. School Management MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE HVA West 2 will be led a Principal who is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school along with an Operations Director who handles non-academic matters. The Principal reports to the Chief Operation Office (CEO) of Village Academies Network (VAN) and is supported by four VAN teams: Educational Leadership, Recruitment, Finance and Development. ROLE OF CMO OR PARTNER(S) HVA West 2 will operate in partnership with Village Academies Network (VAN), which will provide support in a range of areas, including assistance with teacher recruiting, enrichment, curriculum, standards and assessment development, principal and teacher training, fundraising, marketing, and financial and operational support. The school principal will report to the VAN CEO who in turn reports to the school's Board of Trustees. School Facility Plans The founders of HVA West 2 have identified a suitable facility located in close proximity to our HVA West Elementary School. This will allow the proposed HVA West 2 to take advantage of shared resources from HVA West and also the HVA Network, which are both located a short distance away. The proposed facility is currently used by another charter school and will be available for the 2019-20 school year as the current tenant will be moving to its own facility. The proposed space is already fitted out as a school and would require little investment prior to start up. This space currently holds 240 students. The founders have already had several meetings with the landlord, and are actively involved in continuing negotiations. We have also met with the New York City Department of Education Facilities Planning Group within the last six months to discuss