Students and staff at CSEE cut the ribbon on new fitness center with Councilwoman Tasha Diaz
The Charter School of Educational Excellence (CSEE) recently inaugurated a new fitness center on Wednesday at its high school.
The 1,500-square-foot fitness center includes dumbbells up to 80 pounds, power lift racks, Smith machines, a treadmill, an elliptical trainer and a spin bike. During the event, school officials emphasized that healthy bodies lead to active minds, helping students excel both in and out of the classroom.
“We have to be very intentional about integrating wellness into our curriculum and making sure that our teachers, our community and our students have the tools and resources necessary to overcome the past four years of dealing with Covid-19,” said Michael DeSimone, the CSEE’s athletic director.
The fitness center has a fully functional classroom where students receive instruction about health sciences, sports medicine, ethics in sports, and strength and conditioning. Wednesday officials from the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) offered lessons on movement concepts and analysis, which included an injury-risk assessment using state-of-the-art movement-monitoring equipment.
“Our focus is on preventing injury. We have an amazing team of athletic trainers, physical therapists and personal trainers, people from all different backgrounds. We’re very much interested in teaching your students about what we do for work…but also sharing that knowledge so that they can stay on the field,” said Jimmy Russomano, assistant director of athlete health at HSS.
A CSEE partner, Dr. Joseph Durney, CEO of STEER for Student Athletes, said that schools cannot decouple physical and mental wellness of a child from their academic excellence.
“We’re trying to get young people to understand that through sports they can leverage skills development that will help them: the ability to communicate, collaborate, think critically, be a creative problem solver, be a leader,” said Durney.
CSEE’s K-12 charter school offers a robust athletics program with 21 sports teams across its middle and high schools, including volleyball, flag football, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, cheerleading, and track across fall, winter, and spring seasons.
The CSEE is now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year. Information sessions begin on December 11 for grades K-7 at 260 Warburton Avenue in Yonkers. Tours of the high school begin on February 19.
For more information call 914-476-5070, X:4 or visit the CSEE’s website.
