The New York State Education Department announced last week that School 2 has shown “demonstrable improvement” in the 2018-2019 school year. The school showed progress in nearly all performance indicators and will continue to operate with Superintendent John Carmello as the receiver during the 2019-2020 school year.

School 2 was part of the State’s list of “receivership schools.” These schools, closely monitored by the Education Department, are typically granted two years to meet certain performance goals or risk state takeover.

School 2 met the State’s targets in 10 of 11 categories last year, including a reduction in achievement gaps among specific groups of students; graduation rates; student attendance; suspension rates; and parent and family engagement.

Principal Natélegé Turner-Hassell said she attributes this progress to the students themselves as well as internal and external supports such as the Community Schools partners.

“We have a community of learners here at School in that our faculty and staff are learning-oriented who are open to improvement,” said Turner-Hassell. “We also have very loyal families and many people from the outside community that believe in our capacity.”

Moreover, Turner-Hassell said they’ve worked on some instructional strategies that have helped garner improvement. This includes: the creation of a comprehensive multiple measure index to keep track of the data in the same way that they’re measured; the creation of building norms to help children to know what learning environments look like starting from kindergarten on up; and “thinking maps” that allow students to be more thoughtful in their learning process.

“There’s always the constant drive and push to improve, but this news serves as continual motivation and appreciation of the work that is taking place here,” she said.

To learn more about receivership, visit nysed.gov.