A new charter school coming to the South Bronx aims to offer families greater flexibility beyond the traditional school day.
Strive Charter School will open this fall at 604 East 139th Street, welcoming kindergarten through fourth graders, with plans to add fifth grade after the first year. School leaders expect 325 students to start, with enrollment expanding to approximately 500.
The building will be staffed and open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, year-round, with free breakfast, lunch and dinner. Students are not obligated to stay beyond the school day —which runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.— but can opt to stay for a structured free-time experience that incoming principal Rebecca Goodsell described as “like a day camp.”
Though Strive is a new name, the school isn’t entirely from scratch. It was founded by Eric Grannis, a longtime charter school advocate and board member who is married to Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz and serves as Strive’s executive director.
In January, THE CITY and Chalkbeat reported that Strive was created when Moskowitz transferred an existing Success Academy school to her husband — a move that was approved by the charter authorizer, SUNY, but criticized by some state education officials as a maneuver around the state’s strict charter limit, or cap.
SUNY did not respond for request for comment in time for publication.
Strive is taking over a current Success Academy property in a move that “further boosts efficiency,” according to an informational memo.
“We will use their curriculum at minimal ongoing cost and take over the lease on a recently renovated building — keeping startup costs low.”
Thus far, Strive leaders have faced a challenge in conveying the message that those hours outside the school day are optional, not required, Grannis said in an email to the Bronx Times. Even so, he said the school has seen “tremendous” demand thus far.
Strive has received 111 applications, including 56 for kindergarten, which fills up half the kindergarten slots, he said.
“That is very unusual for a brand new charter school in February and far more than we expected at this point.”
Grannis declined to comment on Strive’s connection to Success Academy, saying that Strive will use some of Success Academy’s curriculum but will be an overall “quite different” concept.
Hands-on learning
Goodsell, 29, who lives in the South Bronx, said the school day and additional hours are designed to give students choices and autonomy. They will be able to play, socialize and engage in hobbies, while staying off screens, she told the Bronx Times.
“The school day is the school day, and then after that is fun.”
Goodsell said the school will emphasize “hands-on and exploratory” learning that allows students to “choose a lot of their own academic direction.”
“Those two things together are both unique and something new that I’m really excited about and wanted to be part of that,” she said.
Strive Charter School will be the first principal job for Goodsell, who graduated from Syracuse, started her teaching career with AmeriCorps and most recently served two years as assistant principal of a Success Academy school.
Goodsell said she’s starting to hire staff, which will include three assistant principals, two teachers per classroom and a rotating staff to cover hours outside the school day. Those positions are likely to be filled by local college students studying education, according to Goodsell.
As a new principal at a new institution, she said she hoped to “bring the joy back into schooling.” “I’m really excited to be able to give this to the community and be a part of it.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
