Rosalyn Yalow Charter School

The School features 11 key design elements: qualified staff focused on at-risk students; a robust response-to-intervention team, consisting of special education and esl teachers overseen by a director of assessment; a quality curriculum, consisting of core knowledge language arts, singapore math, and inquiry-based science; high-quality collaborators, including the bronx arts ensemble for art, dance, and music, and a family support group with in-house personnel and chess and fencing coaches to organize competitive chess and fencing programs; meticulous data-driven instruction, guided by step literacy assessment and nwea map for math; and comprehensive professional development for teachers (40 days) including a one-month summer teacher workshop. We promote a team teaching model, pairing an experienced lead teacher with a teacher with a social worker background in grades k-2; and family involvement, beginning with home visits by teachers prior to the start of School. We are implementing a strong School culture built on character and using the disciplined activities of arts, chess, and fencing to develop the whole child; we have a low student-teacher ratio of 11:1, an extended School day, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and a 2-week longer School year.