Bronx Community Charter School

Unlike many of the city’s charter schools, Bronx Community Charter is not part of a charter network, does not share space with another school, has an informal atmosphere and emphasizes arts and hands-on experience.

Founded in 2008 and now housed in an airy light-filled building, the school was designed to serve children in the North Bronx who might otherwise not have access to this type of education. "So much of education for poor and working-class kids is to be followers," while Bronx Community strives "to give kids a sense of power," co-director and co-founder Sasha Wilson has said.

To achieve this, the school, according to its website, arranges the day in large blocks of time, so children can do individual and group work. Students write throughout the day and participate in a writing workshops at least three times a week. They also work with a visual arts teacher three times a week and a drama teacher twice a week and participate in a weekly all-school sing. Other hands-on experiences include cooking, working with materials such as paper, scissors and glue, building with blocks and creating plays. Teachers conduct lessons outside the classroom going to places such as the nearby Bronx River. One year all the children spent weeks exploring different aspects of the Bronx Community's Norwood neighborhood, culminating in an exhibition at the school.

There are two or three classrooms, each with two teachers, for each grade. Test scores are somewhat below average, perhaps reflecting Bronx Community Charter's progressive education approach and the school's decision not to emphasize test prep.

Bronx Community charter shares its building with a medical facility. That building, designed to meet Bronx Community's specifications, offers open communal spaces where families, students and teachers interact, a rooftop play area, sun-filled central stairwell and cozy nooks where students can have a bit of quiet time.

ADMISSIONS: Bronx Community selects its student by lottery with priority going  to siblings of current students and District 10 students. (Gail Robinson, from school and DOE reports; May 2020)