City Schools and UFT Announce 2014-2015 PROSE Schools

NEW YORK – Chancellor Carmen Fariña and UFT President Michael Mulgrew today announced the schools selected to participate in the Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence (PROSE) program for the 2014 – 15 school year. The PROSE program was established as part of the new contract between the UFT and the DOE to allow schools to implement innovative plans that fall outside of the Chancellor’s Regulations or UFT contract. All 62 schools voted to implement innovative plans as part of the PROSE program for the 2014 – 2015 school year.

 

Staff members of these schools created a range of plans, including staggering the school day to meet student needs, changing contractually required student-to-teacher ratios to allow for a combination of small group learning and larger lecture-style classes, and using portfolios of instructional strategies to help rate teachers. In close collaboration with their teachers, school leaders in PROSE schools will drive continuous innovation as they look to change some of the basic rules and regulations under which they have historically operated.

 

"Real change happens when educators are empowered to develop the best, tailored strategies to help their students succeed," said Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina. "At dozens of schools across the city, these educators have come forward with new, innovative practices that can serve as a guide for all of our school communities and brighten the classroom experience for every child."

            

“I’m proud of the New York City public school system and all the schools that took part in the PROSE program,” said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew. “Innovations like this will move education forward not just in New York, but around the country. Teachers, principals, parents, and the entire school community working together will truly advance education.”

 

“We are opening up dozens of schools to innovation. We want to empower school communities to work together and come up with new ways to reach students,” said First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris. “The teachers’ contract we secured this spring wasn’t just about respecting our educators, it was about transforming education in this city.”

 

Chancellor Fariña, UFT President Mulgrew and First Deputy Mayor Shorris launched PROSE by inviting all public schools to submit a letter of intent indicating their interest in applying.  Following the May 1 contract deal, 107 schools submitted proposals to be part of the program. All proposals were reviewed by a joint panel comprised of representatives from the DOE and UFT. Proposals were voted on by UFT staff in those schools, and proposals receiving 65% or more votes were approved. Ultimately, 62 were approved. 

 

The Department’s academic support teams will continue to work with these schools closely in the coming weeks to ensure that the proposals can be implemented successfully in a short time frame. Ensuring high quality learning environments is always the priority, and the Department will support these schools to make sure that any changes benefit teachers and students, and comply with all relevant State regulations. 

 

Among the approved plans:

 

Community Health Academy of the Heights serves grades 6-12 and provides a wide range of social services for their students and families and voted to create a schedule to match the developmental and practical needs of individual students. The staff also voted to explore innovative food sourcing options for their students, including purchasing from local and sustainable vendors.

 

“Community Health Academy of the Heights is excited to be a part of the PROSE initiative as it creates space for us to think outside of the box, try something new, something innovative, and ideas we have read about from colleagues throughout the US or internationally. The PROSE model gives us a chance, in a thoughtful way, to experiment with alternatives.  We are excited to see the result of our new initiatives,” said Principal of Community Health Academy of the Heights, Mark House.

 

This middle school serving high-need students in Brooklyn voted to provide more individualized attention, particularly for its at-risk students, by changing student-to-teacher ratios to create a balance of small group instruction with large lecture classes.

 

“We are excited about this opportunity to create a learning environment which is flexible and which considers the best for our students and teachers. We anticipate a powerfully productive PROSE experience,” said Principal of the School of Integrated Learning, Monique Campbell.

 

At this school for recently arrived immigrant students who are first-time learners of English, the staff is aspiring to make adjustments to the teacher evaluation system by developing a teacher portfolio that includes peer visits, formal observations, and professional development experiences—in essence a performance-based assessment system for teachers that mirrors the school’s innovative performance-based assessments for students.

 

“We are happy to be a member of the PROSE program and believe that it will allow us to support our teachers in their efforts to innovate and hone their craft, thus providing additional opportunities and benefits to our students,” said Pamela Taranto, Principal of Brooklyn International High School.

Brooklyn Democracy Academy

Brooklyn International High School

Brooklyn New School

Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies                              

East Brooklyn Community High School

Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders          

Gotham Professional Arts Academy

Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School

Lyons Community School

Mark Twain Intermediate                                                         

Olympus Academy High School 

P.S. 188 - The Michael E. Berdy School

The International HS at Prospect Heights                                                                       

The School of Integrated Learning

 

Bronx Arena High School                                                        

Bronx Collaborative High School                                             

Bronx Community High School                                               

Bronx High School for Law and Community Service               

Bronx Lab School

Bronx Park Middle School                                                       

Bronx Writing Academy

  Community School for Social Justice 

Comprehensive Model School Project

East Bronx Academy for the Future                                         

English Language Learners and International Support Preparatory Academy             

Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School                                 

KAPPA International High School                                            

Pan American International High School at Monroe                 

The Bronx Compass High School                                             

The Highbridge Green School                                                  

 

Academy for Software Engineering                                          

Beacon School

Castle Bridge School                                                                

Central Park East II                                                                   

City as School High School

Community Health Academy of the Heights (CHAH)                                    

East Side Community School

Essex Street Academy

Frank McCourt High School                                                   

Harvest Collegiate                                                                                          

Humanities Preparatory Academy                                            

Innovation Diploma Plus HS

Institute for Collaborative Education

Manhattan International High School                                       

NYC iSchool                                                                            

PS 353 The Neighborhood School

Satellite Academy High School

The Earth School                                                                                                        

The Ella Baker School

The Facing History School

The James Baldwin School                                                       

Urban Academy Laboratory High School                                 

Vanguard High School

West Side Collaborative Middle School                                             

 

Academy for Careers in Television and Film                           

International High School                                                         

Middle College High School at LaGuardia Community College         

North Queens Community High School

PS71 Forest Elementary                                                                     

The Flushing International High School                                    

The International High School for Health Sciences

Voyages Preparatory South Queens