Team's Vision
One day, our nation will know Newark, New Jersey, as a city of world-class public education.
Team's Mission
The mission of TEAM Charter Schools is to create a network of schools in Newark, New Jersey, that instill in their students the desire and ability to succeed in college, in order to change the world.
Our Schools
TEAM Charter Schools is a network of four KIPP schools in Newark, NJ: SPARK, TEAM, Rise and Newark Collegiate Academy. Our schools are free, open-enrollment, high-performing college-preparatory public schools preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life.
TEAM currently serves over 1,500 students in grades K-2 and 5-12 and will grow to serve 4,600 students in K-12 in the next decade. We are committed to serving the students who need us: 88% of our students receive free or reduced meals, 98% of our students are African American and 2% of our students are Latino. Both our demographics and academic preparedness of our entering students mirror the district. 83% of all our alumni have gone to college.
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4
schools in Newark, NJ,
serving 1,500 students -
5,000+
students
on our waitlist -
88%
of student body qualify
for free/reduced meals. -
98%
African-American
2% Latino -
82%
proficient in reading
by 8th grade -
32,000
KIPP students
nation-wide
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The Need
Last year, 23% - almost one quarter - of our incoming fifth graders entered TEAM reading at a kindergarten or first grade level and only half read above a third grade level. Today, more than 5,000 students are on the waitlist for our schools for just 300 open seats each year. Their families understand the power of quality education and want better opportunities for their children.
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The Proof
Quadier is like the average TEAM student. When he arrived at TEAM, he was multiple grade levels behind in both reading and math. In one school year, he made 2 years of growth in reading and 2½ years of growth in math. He is not alone. The average student enters TEAM's 5th grade, reading at a 3rd grade level or below. The average student leaves TEAM ahead of the nation.
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The Impact
Students who attend TEAM are ten times more likely to go to college than their peers. The average value of a college degree is more than $450,000 over the course of a lifetime. Imagine if every student was put on a college-bound track from day one and had the compassion to give back to their community. This changes lives and families, and can change the city of Newark.
Six Essential Questions
(Performance 2010-11)
A school with great test scores but high student attrition is not a great KIPP school. It's not a healthy KIPP school. Test scores are like vital signs - they can't by themselves tell you that a school is healthy, but they can tell you it's sick, so we define a school by several measures beyond academics: (Please note: NPS (Newark Public Schools); NJ (New Jersey) Learn more in our 2011 Annual Report »
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98% African-American
2% Latino
(NPS: 56%, 36%, respectively) -
Percentage of student body with special needs
(NPS: 14%) -
Percentage that qualify
for free/reduced meals
(NPS: 88%)
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Student attrition
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Student mobility
(NPS: 20.4%, NJ: 10.7%) -
Attrition = students who left at any time of year, including summer
Mobility = students who left or came into the school between Oct. 15 and the end of the school year
Our middle school students enter on average two to three years behind in reading and one to two years behind in math and close those gaps by eighth grade. 90% of our elementary school students enter on a “Pre-PreK” level. Last spring, 90% of first graders were reading on or above grade level.
While we can't yet say how many of TEAM's students finish college, 83% have matriculated (the oldest class are currently college sophomores). Nationally, 39% of KIPP students graduate college.
| TEAM Schools | Comparable Teacher Attrition |
|---|---|
| Roughly half is | 20%: Schools in low-income areas |
| regretted attrition. | 12.9%: US average |
Our teacher attrition (16%) was slightly higher than in the previous year, but not to a degree that alarms us. Our percentage is low compared to similar charter schools.
TEAM does more with less – sending 83% of our students off to college with a quarter less funding than the school district - and will reach sustainability after opening it's tenth school. Learn More »
Looking Forward
TEAM has the capacity and expertise to not only quadruple the number of students we currently serve over the next ten years, but to also double the college completion rate in the city of Newark. Here are some reasons that put TEAM in the position to make a greater impact.
Why Newark
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Market Share
Newark is big enough to be relevant to the national conversation, but also small enough for just a few schools to have significant scale of impact achieved quickly and without sacrificing quality.
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High Concentration of Good Charters
Three of the highest performing charter networks in the country are in Newark with plans to grow to serve 25-30% of Newark's children in charter schools in the next 10 years. This is critical to having a meaningful impact on city-wide education.
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Political Climate
Newark has a highly engaged and actively pro-charter Governor and newly appointed Commissioner of Education. The Mayor is a national advocate for charters, and the School Board Chair is a former TEAM Board member.
Why TEAM
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Proven Results
83% of alumni our are in college; 90% of juniors passed the state exam in English; and middle schools are outperforming state averages by 7th and 8th grade in one of the highest-performing states in the country. Now with students starting in kindergarten instead of fifth grade or after, our results should only do better and better.
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Great Teachers
TEAM's teachers come with diverse and experienced backgrounds. We recruit our staff like scouts recruit professional athletes - traveling all over the country to find the best.
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Serving the Kids Who Need Us Most
Our staff works tirelessly to reach the students who need us most. As a result, we have a student body with very similar demographics to those of Newark Public Schools (see above).
Featured Press
"This institution has created the beginnings of a revolution... I know in my heart over the next five to seven years in Newark, we're going to hit this powerful tipping point where the majority of our children are not in good schools, are not in great schools, but are in the best schools in the country. And this is one of them." - Mayor Booker
