Bronx Charter School for Excellence 5

Founded in 2019, Bronx Charter School for Excellence 5 offers a longer school day, firm discipline and two teachers in most classrooms. The school opened with kindergarten and 1st grade and will expand one grade per year until it becomes a full K-8 school.

Modeled on the high-performing flagship school in Parkchester, Bronx 5 is housed in a former parochial school building on Bathgate Avenue in Tremont. 

In the early grades, lessons feature projects and hands-on science experiments. Students study writing for about one hour a day and reading for two. Network CEO Charlene Reid has been quoted in news interviews saying most kindergartners in her flagship school are reading by November. 

Teachers use math programs based on the rigorous Singapore Math approach; Eureka Math in grades K-4 and Math in Focus in grades 5-8, according to the SUNY charter renewal report. In this approach, students study mathematical concepts using a three-step process: concrete, pictorial and abstract. In other words, a young child would progress from counting real objects, to using pictures and numbers on paper, to solving problems in her head. 

There are currently a total of five Bronx schools in this growing network, in addition to one in Connecticut. [photo from the network's Facebook page]

ADMISSIONS: Admission is by a lottery that takes place in April. See the website for more information.  (Lydie Raschka, web reports, May 2020)