Frequently Asked Questions
TEAM Charter Schools is a growing network of open-enrollment charter schools in Newark, New Jersey. There are currently four campuses in the TEAM Charter Schools network: SPARK Academy, TEAM Academy, Rise Academy, and Newark Collegiate Academy.
SPARK Academy serves K-1 and will grow to serve 600 students in Pre-K - 5. TEAM and Rise Academies each serve grades 5-8. Newark Collegiate Academy serves grades 9-12 and will grow to serve over 500 students. TEAM Charter Schools will grow over the next few years to serve more than 2,500 in grades Pre-K - 12 across 5 schools.
TEAM students come from all areas of Newark. TEAM provides school bus service to ensure that all students are able to attend regardless of their parent's ability to drive them. TEAM Schools' primary focus is on serving students from the South, Central and West wards, Newark's poorest and most educationally underserved areas.
KIPP is a network of free open-enrollment college-prep public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. It is a national non-profit organization that selects, trains, and supports outstanding educators to open and run high-performing schools. There are currently 82 KIPP schools in 19 states and Washington, D.C., serving more than 27,800 students. KIPP is a nationally recognized program with outstanding results (see www.kipp.org).
Charter schools are public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The "charter" establishing each school is a performance contract detailing the school's mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. New Jersey charter schools report to the New Jersey Department of Education and are required to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. The basic concept of charter schools is that they exercise increased autonomy in return for this accountability. They are accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to several groups: the sponsor that grants them, the parents who choose them and the public that funds them.
TEAM students, like all charter school students in New Jersey, are selected by lottery. TEAM does not select or deny admissions on the basis of prior academic or behavioral record, race, creed, class, handicap, or any other factor. As a result, the demographics and academic preparedness of TEAM students closely reflect those of neighborhood schools. TEAM is 95% African American and 5% Hispanic. 85% of TEAM students qualify for free and reduced meals and 14% of students are with special needs. Half of students join us in fifth grade reading on a 3rd grade level or below.
Parents and students apply at any time of the year. Student names are held on the waitlist until a predetermined lottery cutoff date. At that time, students are selected at random for admission. There are currently over 3,500 students on the waitlist for TEAM Charter Schools.
Like district public schools, charter schools are funded according to enrollment. New Jersey charter schools are funded at 90% of state and district operations funding based on average district per-pupil revenue. District schools are also provided with free facilities. TEAM Charter Schools has to finance facility needs using its baseline per-pupil budget and fundraising.
TEAM raises philanthropic support to help open new campuses. Once they are fully grown, TEAM Charter Schools are break-even. But as they open and grow, they require operating support to get to scale. TEAM also fundraises to pay the cost of its facilities, which are not covered by public funds. And TEAM fundraises to help pay for the cost of providing busing for our students, many of whom travel from other parts of the city, but for whom the city does not provide school buses.
Charter schools are public schools. When a child leaves for a charter school the money follows that child. Charter schools are not taking money from public schools, they are providing new educational alternatives within the public school system using public dollars.
