Charter School seeks to expand
By Dan Murphy
Students at the Charter School for Educational Excellence, CSEE, in Yonkers have begun to interact with their teachers online, and begin the process of home learning, something that all students will have to transition to as the City of Yonkers, New York State, and the entire United States begins to stay at home for two weeks or longer.
CSEE Superintendent Cindy Lopez praised both the staff and the students for making the transition so quickly and smoothly.
In the Yonkers Public Schools, because of the Executive Orders increasing restrictions on people leaving their homes, requests for instructional materials will be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service.
Applications for Transportation to Non-Public Schools and Alternate School Bus Transportation for the next school year are being accepted by email. Parents/Guardians need to download the forms from https://www.yonkerspublicschools.org/formscentral.
Scan both the form and the required supporting documents, then email to to either LLASSI@YonkersPublicSchools.org or MBROADIE@YonkersPublicSchools.org. **The deadline, set by the State of New York, remains April 1, 2020.**
Grab and Go Breakfast & Lunch Available Monday – Friday from 8:30AM to 11:30AM at These School Buildings Only:
Eugenio Maria de Hostos MicroSociety School, 75 Morris Street
Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, 135 Locust Hill Avenue
Roosevelt High School-Early College Studies, H.S., 631 Tuckahoe Road
Scholastic Academy, for Academic Excellence, 77 Park Hill Avenue
School 5, 118 Lockwood Avenue
School 13, 195 McLean Avenue
Thomas Cornell Academy, 15 St. Marys Street
Yonkers Middle High School, 150 Rockland Avenue
The CSEE has also submitted another application to create a second charter school for grades K-8. The new school application was submitted by founders of the Charter School of Educational Excellence (CSEE), which educates approximately 850 students in grades K-9 and will grow to K-12 in the next three years.
Upon completion of the high school campus, CSEE will be serving approximately 1,150 students. CSEE is located at 260 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York. The current Charter High School in Yonkers is serving 9th grade students and is in its first school year.
CSEE 2, as the new school would be called, would replicate the current school in academics, school culture of rigorous standards and mutual respect, extra-curricular programs, longer school day, athletics, partnerships with the NFL, and more. It would be located in privately financed facilities. If approved, CSEE 2 would open in Fall 2021 with 168 students in grades K-1, grow to K-5 by the end of its first 5-year charter and, if renewed, eventually grow to a full K-12 school.
“The need for this new school is clear,” said CSEE Board Chair Eduardo LaGuerre. “Demand is high as we have 500 children on our waiting list, including many who have siblings in our school. Openings are rare because students and families love the academics and school culture. And our students and educators are knocking it out of the park academically.”
“A new school would be tremendous news to the hundreds of children on our waiting list and the many more who will be moving into Yonkers in the coming years as the city’s expansion continues and new housing is built,” Mr. LaGuerre said. “CSEE 2 will also help relieve worsening overcrowding in the Yonkers school district. Both Mayor Spano and Schools Superintendent Quezada have acknowledged the need for more school space as Yonkers school buildings are operating far beyond their capacity.”
Advocates for new school construction in the Yonkers Public Schools, based on the Cities renassaince but also based on the increased development of residential properties across the city, are an indication that more classroom spaces are needed for Yonkers children and students.
“Our leaders are doing the right things to drive investment, growth and opportunity in our city. More than 6,500 new housing units are in development right now and our new school is needed to meet not only the existing demand for our school but also to meet that growing need and avoid an overcrowding cataclysm on the city school system,” Mr. LaGuerre said. “A new CSEE 2 would serve not only our children and families with a great public education but also our city, which needs school space for the current and future population.”
The CSEE 2 application to SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute contains evidence of significant public outreach and support, including petitions with more than 400 signatures, plus letters of support in both English and Spanish, support letters from local elected officials and numerous other stakeholders. Earlier this year, hundreds of parents expressed their desire for the new school at a public meeting, in both English and Spanish.
“My son came in as a pigeon and now he’s an eagle,” one mom said. Several other parents expressed their sadness that there wasn’t enough room at CSEE for both their children. Charter schools are tuition-free public schools.
