Staten Island Community Charter School

Granted its charter by the New York State Regents in 2009, the Staten Island Community Charter School opened in September 2010 with 100 students - 75 in kindergarten and 25 in first grade. The independent public school, which is run by a community-based board of trustees, will expand by one grade per year until it reaches its target capacity serving 450 students in grades k to 8.

The school's organizational structure is based on the Yale School Development Program. SICCS uses the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), also known as the Peaceable School model that incorporates the teaching of social responsibility into all areas of learning.

Collaborations with local organizations such as the Staten Island Museum, the Staten Island Children's Museum, Historic Richmond Town, and the Sandy Ground Historical Society, will supplement classroom instruction. Through a partnership with the Lincoln Center Institute, teachers will get training in arts instruction.

Prior to taking the helm at Staten Island Community, founding principal Pauline Frank was principal of PS 127 in Brooklyn.

Students attend school each day from 8:15 a.m. to 3: 45 p.m. The school year follows the Department of Education calendar, which provides for 180 days of instruction.

For its first two years Staten Island Community will operate out of space in the Trinity Lutheran School, while a permanent site for the school is secured, according to a news report.

Admissions: By lottery. Priority to students in District 31. Check the school's website for more information. (September 2010, information compiled from school's website; updated by Aryn Bloodworth September 2011)