A new school in the Bronx seeks to hire teachers for the upcoming school year as it prepares to open its door for children. Capital Preparatory Bronx Charter School will begin its academic year in August 2020 with 6th and 7th graders, with the lottery deadline for parents to apply set for April 1st.
“We can design a school that is so acutely aligned to our community’s needs,” said Dr. Steve Perry, explaining how important the institution is. A school of such high stature needs great teachers. Isaiah Brown, the Founding Principal for the Capital Prep, refers to their educators as illuminators stating, “illuminators spark interest in the minds of young persons and therefore inspire them to do great things.”
The school is looking for 10 illuminators and administrators for all subjects. Being bilingual in foreign languages such as Arabic, French, Spanish, and Bengali, is a huge plus. “One of the things we want to communicate is that we want to hire members from our community,” Dr. Perry said.
One of the goals of Capital Prep is to hire a diverse group of people to teach. Current teachers and brand-new teachers are both welcome. The school is also accepting candidates who do not have their certification, as they will be able to become certified while teaching. “There is a very large African community in the Bronx, and it would be disingenuous for us to open a school in a community and not hire from that community,” Dr. Perry said.
In addition to their universal curriculum, Capital Preparatory Bronx Charter School offers other subjects such as advisory, social justice, and a variety of after school programs, after school sports, club meetings, and student government meetings. The school will begin with 6th and 7th grades, with a new grade being added every year until it has full capacity at 12th grade. The main purpose of the advisory program is to foster personalization, strengthening the relationship between each student and their learning environment.
The Social Justice Project (“SJP”) is a performance-based task where students will demonstrate their ability to question, research, lead, act, present, and reflect in order to confront a social injustice in their community. With social justice as a theme, Capital Preparatory Charter School was founded in 2006 in Connecticut by Dr. Steve Perry and Sean Diddy “Combs” and “ is committed to fostering a loving environment where students’ individual needs are met, and expectations are exceeded.”
Mr. Brown expanded saying, “We focus on educating the whole child, academically and social-emotionally. We emphasize having a safe and nurturing environment where students feel loved and naturally want to succeed. We teach social justice and the impacts society historically and presently have made on ‘our’ people, people of color. We educate our students on how they can become agents of change to shift the social injustices that occur on a daily basis. As mentioned earlier we recruit teachers and students who look like us and respect diversity from all walks of life.”
After 14 years of experience, Capital Prep is bringing their commitment to education to the Bronx. Since 2006, 100% of the school’s graduates have been accepted to 4 year colleges. “Ms. Davids and Sheikh Moussa put their name and reputation on the line,” Dr. Perry said. “ Ms. Davids said the next school you will open in New York must be in the Bronx, they ( Bronxites) need it down here.”
Mr. Brown, the founding principal of Capital Prep, was born and raised in the Bronx. “I have experienced the Bronx’s education system,” he said. As a kid, he went to catholic school and witnessed his mother, a school secretary who went through struggles and sacrifices for him to attend that school. “It is important for me to build something in the Bronx that is a foundation or a pillar for young people to grow, and develop; young people who have access to a good education feel that they are able to succeed in life, and go to college,” Mr. Brown said. “We will provide our scholars with academic and career readiness skills in order to become responsible pillars of knowledge and engaged citizens for social justice. We will connect student learning to real world experiences through applied teaching methods such as project based learning.”
One of the particularities of Charter schools in general is that they are not geographically discriminatory, as they accept kids from everywhere, regardless of zone or even borough. “We accept children from all five boroughs,” Dr. Perry said. “It doesn’t matter where you live, the registration is only based on a lottery process.” Capital Preparatory Bronx Charter School is indeed waiting for your child.
The mission of Capital Preparatory Charter Schools is to provide historically disadvantaged students with the college and career readiness skills needed to become responsible and engaged citizens for social justice.
Parents can apply for their children here at https://capitalprepbronx.schoolmint.net/signin
Bazona B. Bado