Spotlight On: The Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice

I have a confession to make. When it comes to public schools, I’m an excellence-aholic. I could spend hours (days even!) researching excellent public schools that thrive in underserved communities, trying to identify what they are doing right, and writing about my findings. As President Obama mentioned in his recent speech, there is much work to be done nationwide in our ongoing effort to reform public schools, and I think it’s important to learn as much as we can from schools that are succeeding in bridging the achievement gap.

I have recently blogged about KIPP , the Ron Clark Academy, and Marva Collins’ Westside Preparatory School . Here’s my latest discovery: The Urban Assembly School for Law & Justice (SLJ).

SLJ is one of the 200 small schools created under NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to overhaul his city’s schools. Founded in 2004 under the leadership of its original Principal Elana Karopkin, the school originally occupied six classrooms in Brooklyn’s Public School 287. It now serves 400 students in 9th-12th grade and has moved to a new building in downtown Brooklyn.

Here are the Top 5 things that impress me about this school:

1. Its record of success. Despite the fact that it is an unscreened public high school, and that most of its students are below grade level when they enter, 93 percent of its first class graduated on time and headed off to college.

2. The school has a law-themed curriculum. The idea behind it is that the study of law and social justice is fascinating for students, and enables them to develop strong analytical, communication, reading and writing skills which can then be applied to the study of any subject, and prepares them to excel in college. (SLJ is not the first school to adopt this philosophy, and was actually developed in conjunction with The Bronx School for Law, Government, and Justice which opened in 1997 in the South Bronx, and boasts a 95 percent graduation rate with 90 percent of its graduates going on to college.)

3. A culture of high expectations prevails. President Obama talked about changing the culture of our public education system from one that condones low standards to one that “races to the top.” This is a common theme that runs through all the successful schools I’ve come across, including this one. You can tell just by perusing examples of some of their 9th grade group projects that this is an academically rigorous school where students engage in interesting, creative, meaningful, and challenging work. Excellence is clearly expected here. There just doesn’t seem to be room for the boredom, disengagement, lack of effort, and general “seat-warming” that often plagues many of our public high schools. From the moment they start, these kids know that they are all expected to graduate and attend college, and that every teacher in the school will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

4. Enrichment opportunities abound. In addition to their law-related competitive activities (a moot court team, a mock trial team, a model UN delegation, and a debate team), the kids have 26 afterschool activites to choose from, and spend summers in internships and pre-college programs. Another common theme underlying successful schools – the traditional 6 hour school day and academic calendar isn’t long enough to get the job done. (Just ask our wise President – he mentioned this point in his recent speech.) Of course, it helps that SLJ has some pretty powerful partners who not only provide unique mentoring and internship opportunities but also additional funding to enrich students’ educational opportunities.

5. Assessment is complex and individualized. For example, teachers are required to participate in “kid talk” in which they take turns talking about individual students who are struggling in one or more areas so that colleagues can offer solutions and advice. It seems like most everything about the school is individualized and tailored to the particular needs and interests of individual students – one of the benefits of having a small school. Makes it almost impossible for kids to slip through the cracks.

My hope is that someday public high schools like SLJ will not be seen as unique little islands of excellence floating amidst a sea of mediocrity, but that similar levels of achievement will be expected as the norm for American schools.

takepart in supporting SLJ. For more information about the school, read its 2008 NYC Department of Education School Quality Review , and check out its School Progress Report for 2007-08 on the NYC Department of Education website.

(Photo: kennymatic’s flickr photostream/ Creative Commons)