OCTOBER 2011 UPDATE: Emily Gould Rodriguez left her job as principal of Harlem Success 3 to become the director of literacy for Explore Charter Schools. The new principal is Richard Seigler who, at 25-years-old, is one of the youngest principals in the city. The New York Times reports that three Harlem Success teachers followed the former principal and are now working at Explore Charter.

MARCH 2011 REVIEW: Harlem Success Academy 3, modeled after the flagship Harlem Success Academy, combines an intense academic program with strict discipline and mandatory parental involvement. The school day lasts from 7:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Parents are required to read with their children in the evening. If a student arrives late during the week, parents and child must show up together for Saturday school.

The school operates on predictable routines. Children wear orange and blue uniforms and walk in silent lines from class to class, arms at their sides. They respond to teachers' commands in unison: When a teacher calls "Hands on top" to get their attention, the children put their hands on their heads and reply, "That means stop." Children who misbehave are asked to sit apart from their classmates while a timer clocks a two-minute "time-out." But there is also time for fun: Kids thoroughly enjoyed a dance-and-movement class the day we visited.

The teaching methods blend a scripted curriculum-including the phonics-based Success for All reading program in K-2-with more open-ended approaches, such as balanced literacy, daily science experiments, and the TERC math curriculum. The work is fast-paced: first graders learned the difference between "their" and "there" and were studying flashcards with words like "straight." There are two or three field trips a month to places like the green market.

"The teamwork and collaboration is huge," said Principal Emily Gould Rodriquez, 31, who taught at IS 59 in Queens and trained as a principal at the Explore Charter School in Brooklyn. "We have parental involvement and high expectations, and parents are on board with that."

Harlem Success 3 is part of a network of schools founded by former city councilwoman Eva Moskowitz. The school was founded in 2008 with a kindergarten and 1st-grade class and plans to add a grade each year until it serves K-8. The charter school shares a building with PS 375, the Mosaic Preparatory Academy (formerly PS 101, which was closed because of poor performance).

Special Education: The school offers Collaborative Team Teaching, Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS), occupational therapy, and speech therapy.

Admissions: Students are admitted by a lottery held in April, with preference given to those in the district and siblings of current students. The network conducts extensive student recruitment campaigns, including mailing brochures, leaving flyers in building complexes and local businesses, and hosting information sessions at day-care centers. (Clara Hemphill, March 2011)