NEWARK, NJ – October 24, 2011 – Thirteen Newark charter schools have signed a groundbreaking agreement to ensure they are upholding the highest principles of transparency and public accountability, serving an unmet need in Newark, striving for educational excellence, and fulfilling their missions to educate all students in the most equitable manner possible.

The Newark Charter School Compact was developed by the Newark Charter School Fund, a three-year- old organization committed to increasing the number of high-quality schools in Newark by improving charter schools, expanding successful schools, and developing promising new schools. Newark currently has 18 charter schools serving about 7,600 students.

Read this story as it originally appeared on The Patch

Five charter schools got the green light Tuesday night to move into Newark - but the approval didn't come without a debate among the city's public schools advisory board members.

Lease agreements were approved for charter schools Great Oaks, People's Prep, North Star Elementary III, North Star Elementary II and TEAM Academy at the advisory board meeting held at Science Park High School. Three board members - Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson, Alturrick Kenney and Marques-Aquil Lewis - consistently voted against the co-location plan, which calls for charter schools to share space within Newark public schools.

Read this editorial as it originally appeared in The Star-Ledger

Both are public schools in Newark. Both need low-cost space for students. One has extra, unused classrooms, while the other has a long waiting list for few available seats.

So it makes perfect sense to co-locate a fast-growing charter school within the half-empty building of a traditional district school. As in any large building full of students, what matters most is management — that school leaders coordinate well.

This article originally ran in a special four-page section produced by the Newark Charter School Fund in Local Talk News.

At North Star Academy Charter School’s Elementary Campuses in Newark, mornings begin with an activity called Community Circle. Students assemble and form a procession to the beat of a djembe drum. Each class marches stoically to the circle, lead by scholars bearing class flags and banners displaying their grade level.

Once the students are seated, the ritual explodes into a “joyous chorus of class fight songs, motivational call and response and academic chants.” School principals dash around the circle asking students not only to answer questions, but to do so “loud and proud.”