Family Life Academy Charter School II

Family Life Academy Charter II (FLACS II) is s part of a small network of charter schools founded by the Latino Pastoral Action Center. Like its sister schools, FLACS II offers students a lot of individualized attention with two instructors in each classroom.  The school serves students in grades k to 5, most of whom continue on to the FLACS middle school.

Principal Kathy Ortiz is a seasoned educator with over 20 years of experience. She is a founding member of FLACS II, having served as its assistant principal before becoming the school’s leader.

Instruction in all FLACs schools follows a similar model. Reading instruction is a mix of children reading books and other texts together as a class as well as independent selections with a lot of emphasis on fundamentals such as phonics in the younger grades. 

Math instruction is particularly strong and overall the school outperforms the citywide average on state English and math exams, By third grade students are mastering grade-level concepts such as equivalent fractions and commutative properties for addition and multiplication.

The school has a hydroponics garden that teachers use to incorporate hands-on activities into science, math and social studies lessons.

There’s a big emphasis on music at the school. Students learn to play the violin using the Suzuki Method; older students participate in chorus several times a week.  Through a partnership with the Little Kids Rock organization, students also learn to play additional instruments such as the ukulele, guiro, rhythm sticks and the keyboard, according to the school’s website.  

There is limited data on the school’s environment, the kind that most schools make available via parent and teacher responses to the annual NYC School Survey.

ADMISSIONS: Lottery with priority to students residing in District 7. (Laura Zingmond, via DOE data and web reports, July 2020)