FREQUENTY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is TEAM?

A: TEAM Charter Schools is a growing network of open-enrollment charter schools in Newark, New Jersey. There are currently three campuses in the TEAM Charter Schools network: TEAM Academy, Rise Academy, and Newark Collegiate Academy.

Q: What grades do you serve?

A: TEAM Academy serves 360 students in grades 5-8 (around 90 students per grade). Rise Academy currently serves 270 students in grades 5-7 and will grow to serve 360 students in grades 5-8 in the fall of 2009. Newark Collegiate Academy serves 150 students in grades 9 and 10 and will grow to serve over 500 students in grades 9-12. TEAM will grow over the next few years to serve more than 2,500 in grades Pre-K – 12 across 5 schools.

Q: What area do you serve?

A: TEAM students come from all areas of Newark. TEAM provides school bus service to ensure that all students are able to attend regardless of their parent’s ability to drive them. TEAM Schools’ primary focus is on serving students from the South, Central and West wards, Newark’s poorest and most educationally underserved areas.

Q: What is KIPP?

A: KIPP is a network of free open-enrollment college-prep public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States. It is a national non-profit organization that selects, trains, and supports outstanding educators to open and run high-performing schools. There are currently 66 KIPP schools in 16 states and Washington, D.C., serving more than 16,000 students. KIPP is a nationally recognized program with outstanding results (see www.kipp.org/presscenter.cfm).

Q: What is a charter school?

A: Charter schools are public schools of choice that operate with freedom from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. The “charter” establishing each school is a performance contract detailing the school’s mission, program, goals, students served, methods of assessment, and ways to measure success. New Jersey charter schools report to the New Jersey Department of Education and are required to produce positive academic results and adhere to the charter contract. The basic concept of charter schools is that they exercise increased autonomy in return for this accountability. They are accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to several groups: the sponsor that grants them, the parents who choose them and the public that funds them.

Q: How are students selected for admission?

A: TEAM students, like all charter school students in New Jersey, are selected by lottery. TEAM does not select or deny admissions on the basis of prior academic or behavioral record, race, creed, class, handicap, or any other factor. As a result, the demographics and academic preparedness of TEAM students closely reflect those of neighborhood schools. TEAM is 96% African American and 4% Hispanic. Over 80% of TEAM students qualify for free and reduced meals. Students attending TEAM Charter Schools enter the school two years below grade level in math and two-three years below grade level in reading on average.

Q: How does the admissions lottery work?

A: Parents and students apply at any time of the year. Student names are held on the waitlist until a predetermined lottery cutoff date. At that time, students are selected at random for admission. There are currently over 1000 students on the waitlist for TEAM Charter Schools.

Q: How are charter schools funded?

A: Like district public schools, charter schools are funded according to enrollment. New Jersey charter schools are funded at 90% of state and district operations funding based on average district per-pupil revenue. District schools are also provided with free facilities. TEAM Charter Schools has to finance facility needs using its baseline per-pupil budget and fundraising.

Q: Why does TEAM need to raise money?

A: TEAM raises philanthropic support to help open new campuses. Once they are fully grown, TEAM Charter Schools are break-even. But as they open and grow, they require operating support to get to scale. TEAM also fundraises to pay the cost of its facilities, which are not covered by public funds. And TEAM fundraises to help pay for the cost of providing busing for our students, many of whom travel from other parts of the city, but for whom the city does not provide school buses.

Q: Do charter schools take money from public schools?

A: Charter schools are public schools. When a child leaves for a charter school the money follows that child. Charter schools are not taking money from public schools, they are providing new educational alternatives within the public school system using public dollars.

Q: How do TEAM students perform compared to other students in Newark, in NJ and nationwide?

A: TEAM students significantly outperformed Newark students on all three sections of the sixth, seventh and eighth grade NJASK state tests this past spring. For more on TEAM’s results click here.

Q: What is TEAM’s impact on the public school system?

A: Every TEAM middle school serves 1% of Newark students, but has the potential to increase the number of Newark students graduating from 4-year colleges by 30%. A network of 10 TEAM Charter Schools would have the potential to more than double the number of Newark students graduating from 4-year colleges.

Q: Your teachers work really hard. What’s the turnover rate?

A: TEAM has one of the lowest turnover rates in the KIPP network, currently under 20%

Q: How can I learn more about TEAM Charter Schools?

A: For more information on TEAM Charter Schools, please contact Development Director, Ben Cope, at 973-705-8326 x1009 or bcope@teamacademy.org or read our annual report.

Q: How can I support TEAM Charter Schools?

A: To support TEAM Charter Schools, please contact Ben Cope at bcope@teamacademy.org or 973-705-8326 x1009 or donate online:

$