Educational excellence was the topic for the first Community Conference hosted by the Bronx Charter Schools for Better Learning (BBL), a public K-5 charter school, to celebrate the schools’ 20th anniversary and to honor Black History Month.
District 12 Councilmember Kevin Riley, who joined the event, emphasized the vital importance of high-quality education for Bronx elementary school students. The distinguished panel included urban education leaders, Dr. Arthur Powell, Dr. Sandra Hayes and school leaders, BBL 1 Principal Shubert Jacobs, BBL 2 Principal Anne Clarke-Raysor and Executive Director Dr. Thomas Howard. Panelists and guests engaged in a robust discussion tackling such topics as defining and setting conditions for excellence, nurturing each child’s potential for excellence, engaging and mobilizing the community in the endeavor to provide the best education to our students and creating and implementing strategies that lead to excellent outcomes.
These have been perennial topics since the school’s founding in 2003, when educators and community leaders felt there was a need for the Better Learning pedagogy — the Subordination of Teaching to Learning — which they believed would lead to academic success for each and every student. This unique, learning-centered approach is rooted in the knowledge that every child grows by developing their own understanding. Believing that every child is brilliant and has innate powers to learn, the schools leverage students’ strengths to develop joyful and confident lifelong learners. The focus is on meeting the needs of every student in a high-quality learning environment.
The schools provide robust support to educators, from professional development and coaching to a wide range of resources and tools that equip teachers to be adept and nimble and to welcome mistakes as part of the learning process. BBL educators recognize the potential in each student and strive to help them reach it.
Across our two schools, BBL 1 and BBL 2, our students’ standardized test results have exceeded their peers’ achievements at all other schools throughout the state. This level of achievement is a byproduct of the efficacy of our pedagogy. We resist excessive test-drilling and the pressures that come with it. Yet in 2019, our students, 80% of whom are from low-income families, outperformed the average achievement of students in New York state’s wealthiest districts — proof that the wealth gap can be closed.
Our motto is “Awakening the Learner Within” and to this end we foster a learning culture for 1000 students across two schools, that allows them to explore their innate potential and achieve their academic goals.
BBL Schools are educational leaders advancing equity and access for all children. Our teachers recognize the innate brilliance in our students and, through our distinct pedagogy, inspire joy and confidence in learning — not just for the next lesson or test — but for a lifetime. Serving students of color, primarily, who on average score among the highest across New York state in both math and language arts, Better Learning operates two K-5 schools. To learn more, visit bronxbetterlearning.org.
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