Two LES Schools Show Improvement, City Says

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Two Lower East Side schools have improved their performance and test scores enough to move up into a new city program for improving schools, the city announced on Monday.

The Roberto Clemente grade school and the Orchard Collegiate Academy, a high school, were both designated as "Rise" schools this week after successfully improving their performance.

The city announced the new program on Monday, after disclosing that 21 schools in the city would shut down or merged. Both Roberto Clemente and Orchard Collegiate Academy were designated as Renewal schools by the city three years ago, meaning that the institutions were among a number of struggling city schools that the city officials prioritized for improvement.

The city's Department of Education has named 21 city public schools as "Rise Schools," signaling improvement for these schools across a number of different metrics. All 21 of the schools were previously designated as "Renewal Schools," marking them the city's top priority for improvement.

“Rise schools are the Renewal schools that have been graduated and promoted,” schools chancellor Carmen Fariña told Chalkbeat. “They will be moving into a different sphere.”

As part of the new program, which will transition at the end of this school year, Roberto Clemente and Orchard Collegiate showed improved graduation rates, better state test scores and better attendance rates, among other metrics. In total, 21 schools were designated as "Rise Schools" by the city.

"All Rise Schools met at least 67% of their benchmarks, are not on the State’s Priority list, and have demonstrated a sustainable school improvement structure that will allow them to build on their progress with fewer Renewal School resources," according to the Department of Education.

In addition, as part of the Rise program, the schools will get increased programming, like new computer science instruction and more Advanced Placement courses for the high schools. All Rise elementary schools, which includes Roberto Clemente, will also be assigned a designated reading couch, the city said.

Robert Clemente, located in the East Village at 333 E. Fourth St., serves about 200 students, nearly all of them low-income, according to city data from last year. Nearly 170 student are enrolled in the Orchard Collegiate Academy, which is located at 220 Henry St.

"We’re not yet where we want to be. But we really are a school on the rise," said Miles Doyle, the principal of Orchard Collegiate Academy, at a press conference on Monday, according to Chalkbeat. "I welcome this new designation as a Rise school."

Image credit: Shutterstock