Uncommon Ocean Hill Middle School

Ocean Hill Collegiate, which serves grades five through eight, is part of Uncommon Schools, a large charter network that aims to get its largely low-income black and Latino students into college and give them the skills to succeed there.

The school says that many of its students arrive reading below grade level, and so it focuses on this. Like other Uncommon schools, Ocean Hill Collegiate offers double periods of English and math every day. The school day is long, with after-school tutoring and homework, and the school year begins in August. Struggling students must attend classes for four hours on Saturday. The school also stresses what it describes as “a structured academic environment,” and sets high standards for student behavior.

Standardized test scores, particularly in math, are above average for the city and considerably higher than at most schools in the area. Teachers have a high opinion of principal Hannah Solomon and the school in general, and the turnover rate is well below that for other Uncommon schools.

The Uncommon network started with middle schools and has expanded to include elementary and high schools, aiming for students to be in the network for grades k through 12. Graduates of Ocean Hill Collegiate can attend Uncommon Preparatory Charter High School, which opened in 2014 on the South Shore campus in Canarsie.

ADMISSIONS: Lottery for grade 5. The school fills any vacancies in grades 6 through 8 from its waitlist. Applications are available from the Uncommon website. (Gail Robinson, DOE statistics and web reports, May 2018)