Classes start early at KIPP STAR, the first elementary charter school in Washington Heights. (Photo by Lina Zeldovich)

Breakfast begins at 7:15 at KIPP STAR Elementary, the first elementary charter school in Washington Heights, which opened this fall sharing space with Alexander Humboldt Public School 115. Classes begin at 7:45 and continue until 4p.m. when parents form an orderly queue outside on 177 Street.

During their long day, the 101 kindergarteners — who wear khaki pants and skirts and green shirts with big beige stars,KIPP STAR’s symbol — learn numbers, letters, theater and movement.  They have lunch. They take naps.

Unlike Harlem, home to 22 charter schools, Washington Heights previously had only two, Equity Project and New Heights Academy, both opened within the past five* years to serve middle-schoolers. KIPP, which preps mostly African-American and Latino students from poor neighborhoods for college, operates three schools in Harlem and three in the Bronx, yet had none in Washington Heights until this year.

KIPP STAR was also originally planned for Harlem, but space became available at Alexander Humboldt, says principal Anokhi Saraiya.

“It’s a matter of space,” she says, explaining that the Department of Education finds under-enrolled schools in which to house charters. Alexander Humboldt can accommodate 1000 students, but had fewer than 700. “We don’t decide where we open,” Saraiya says. “DOE provides space and we get it.”

Saraiya, who has two master degrees in education and taught at Public School 8 in Washington Heights for eight years, spent three years preparing for her new role. She taught sixth grade at KIPP College Prep in Harlem for a year to learn the charter’s culture. Then she visited KIPP schools around the country to lay out plans for KIPP STAR. It takes a leader to launch a charter school, she says.

To Saraiya, KIPP’s success lies in a teaching approach that focuses on individual students and their needs.  KIPP teachers, she says, are always aware of  “what students are learning and what they still need to learn.” KIPP assigns two teachers to kindergarten classes so that children can receive small-group instruction when necessary.

Children often work in small groups at KIPP. (Photo by Lina Zeldovich)

Barbara Duran says her son, Daniel Keylap, has adjusted to the long school days. “He’s been in preschool for a long time,” she says.  “It’s good, they do a lot.”

Critics argue that KIPP doesn’t serve enough non-native English speakers or students with special needs. But according to KIPP’s statistics, its seven established New York charters serve 99 percent African-American or Latino students, 1,739 children in all. Approximately 23 percent of KIPP STAR students speak Spanish while learning English, so every class has one Spanish-speaking teacher.

Saraiya says the school also employs a speech pathologist who comes three times a week and an occupational therapist. “About 79 percent of our students receive free lunch,” she adds, meaning that they’re from low-income homes.

KIPP, which stands for Knowledge Is Power Program, is a nationwide network of charter schools started by Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin in Houston and the South Bronx. KIPP doesn’t require admission testing, but administers a lottery when it gets more applications than there are seats. “We had 309 students originally apply for our school prior to our lottery in April, and we accepted 104 students,” Saraiya says. “Everyone who wins the lottery gets in.”

Jacqueline Tabb, a parent who learned about KIPP from her internet research, was pleasantly surprised when her son was accepted and the principal came to meet the family.  “It’s unlike any other school,” she says as she hurries up the stairs to pick up her five-year old.

According to New York City School District 6 data, Washington Heights public schools’ academic proficiency remains low – only about 30 percent of middle school students were proficient in English and 40 percent were proficient in math. However, at Harlem’s KIPP Infinity middle school, students scored an average 53 percent proficiency in English and 85.5 percent proficiency in math, according to the City’s school performance report.

Saraiya says KIPP uses a math teaching method from Singapore, focusing on understanding what numbers mean visually. “We spend a month learning numbers one through five,” Saraiya said. “We look at groups of four or five objects and figure out which group is more than the other or less than the other.”

Drawing is part of the curriculum. (Photo by Lina Zeldovich)

Lenares Rodriguez, who lives on 193 Street, says her daughter loves the school and always talks about what she did in class. “They teach in small groups of, like, 16 kids,” she said, pointing out that KIPP’s classes are named after famous universities to start developing students’ college ambition early. “My daughter is in a Columbia class and her friend John is in an UCLA Class.”

KIPP STAR will eventually host grades kindergarten through four. Also in the works is KIPP Academy, a school for more than a thousand students, kindergarten through grade 12. It took Washington Heights longer than Harlem to establish its charters, but the neighborhood is catching up.

“We’re hoping to make a break this year,” says Steve Ajani, the New York KIPP co-principal and co-founder.

*Correction: The story originally reported that Washington Heights’s two other charter schools opened within the past three years.

As charter schools continue to grow in Harlem, some traditional public schools may be forced to combine classes, cut after-school programs or even shut down, teachers and administrators say.

Harlem’s first charter school opened in 1999, now 24 charter schools operate in the neighborhood, the majority in School District Five.

As charters have grown in popularity, thousands of parents have placed their children on waiting lists, hoping for luck in the lottery system that determines admission. As a result, public school enrollment has taken a hit. P.S. 30, has lost 115 students over the last four years, over a quarter of its enrollment.

Other schools have experienced similar shrinkage. At Knowledge and Power Prep Academy “our middle school is down from 80 to 60,” says an aide, who insists on anonymity out of fear for her job. “Some teachers have lost their jobs,” she says. “A lot of hours have been cut back.”

When Harlem Success Academy, a charter, moved into Knowledge and Power Prep Academy, “we went from having two floors to operating only on half a floor,” she says. “Harlem Success Academy will add another grade next year, and we will probably get phased out, that’s my opinion.”

At I.S. 195, the Roberto Clemente School, enrollment has fallen by more than a third, from 909 students in 2006 to 580 this year.

“Because of a drop in enrollment, teachers get reassigned, we lose staff,” says Sean Licata, English language arts coach, and seventh grade teacher. “We lose a lot of young teachers to seniority.”

Students at the Roberto Clemente School, I.S. 192, leaving school on Oct. 18. (Photo by Farhod Family)

I.S. 192 has endured cuts in its after-school program and has begun discussions on combining classes, Licata says.

As enrollment numbers drop at a school, so does its revenue. “Money follows the students, not the schools,” says Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Education.

At Hut’s P.S. 30, “We get money per capita, so for every child we lose, we lose money,” she says.

The idea, says Zarin-Rosenfeld is that struggling public schools in Harlem will emulate the charter’s appeal. “The less effective schools know they must raise their game to keep up,” he says.

“The bottom line is, this administration believes every family in New York City deserves quality choices when sending their children to school,” he says. “When parents have options they will no doubt choose the best school for their child, so all public schools are forced to improve the quality of their services or risk losing out.”

With plans afoot to build even more charter schools in Harlem, the future of traditional public schools remains uncertain. “The charter school argument is that public schools have been in Harlem over the last 130 years, and the result has not been fabulous. These schools can’t reform themselves, and charters will circumvent them” says Douglas Ready, assistant professor of education, at Columbia University. “Public schools will always be in Harlem, the question is, how do we support them.”

A woman walks next to a playground and parking lot, which will be eliminated by the proposed extension of West 129th Street. (Photo by Andrew Seaman)

A plan to build a charter school inside the St. Nicholas Houses has triggered heated debate among residents. The proposed Harlem Children’s Zone school will occupy 93,000 square feet of open space between the complex’s 13 buildings in central Harlem.

Opponents fear the building’s long-term effects such as pollution, lack of parking space and higher crime. Proponents say the complex’s own children will benefit from the school, which will also make the community safer.

Community Board 10 will organize a town hall meeting to air opinions about the school, Chairman W. Franc Perry announced at the board’s most recent meeting.

The Children’s Zone has been seeking a site on which to build for several years. “The Housing Authority asked if we would partner with them to build our school at and bring services to one of their housing developments,” says Lauren Scopaz, director of strategic initiatives at the Children’s Zone. “They did an internal study of where in central Harlem we could build the school. St. Nick’s, they decided, had the most space.”

Scopaz adds that the Authority initially approached the Children’s Zone with the idea of using the open space, part of an effort to meet President Obama’s challenge to integrate housing and schools with other social services.

Residents contend, however, that the proposed extension of West 129th Street from Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevards, which will cut through a cul-de-sac in the middle of the complex, will pose unwelcome risks.

“Where are the children going to play?” asks Carolyn Anderson, who has lived in the complex for eight years. “There’s traffic on the street. Where are they going to ride their scooters?”

“All cars will be going through and we have children going around,” agrees Cynthia Barr, a St. Nicholas resident. She says the city and the school could have done a better job of involving residents before making a decision.

According to the project overview from the Children’s Zone, “the new street will facilitate access to the school and open the development to the community.” Its safety features include a one-way westbound street with curb extensions at the intersections and two midblock speed humps, the overview says.

But Barr argues, “There are many vacant lots they could have chosen. They didn’t ask the residents. They held the meetings only after they decided. We don’t want it here.” She admits, however, that because of her work schedule she was unable to attend the community input meetings.

Scopaz responds that residents have had many opportunities to voice their concerns. “Starting from January, we have been at every St. Nicholas Tenant Association meeting,” says Scopaz. “The first big meeting we did for the residents was the beginning of May – it was open to the public – to give information and receive feedback about the project.” She adds that the Children’s Zone also held a meeting on a June Saturday to accommodate workday schedules.

Security within the school and the complex has been a concern on both sides of the debate. The Children’s Zone promises 24-hour security within the building, but neighbors worry that the students may bring additional crime. “Kids always fight outside of schools,” Anderson says.

Community Board 10’s land use committee devoted an hour of discussion to the project at its September meeting. Children’s Zone Chief Executive Geoffrey Canada, Housing Authority Chairman Michael Kelly and dozens of local residents turned out for a passionate debate.

Tyrone Ball, vice president of St. Nicholas’ Tenants Association, announced that an architect has been working on an alternative design that does not include extending West 129th Street. Canada offered to look at the plan.

Tenant association president Willie Mae Lewis, a vocal proponent, argued that the school would benefit children living in the complex.

However, some residents object to their children having to participate in a lottery to gain admission.

“Since there are only 33 three-year-old applicants from St. Nicholas this year, they all got in, since the number was less than 100 available slots,” says Scopaz. “We do the lottery early so we can give them access to the early development program for three-and four-year-olds.” She adds, “Due to the demographics at St. Nicholas, we anticipate that every St. Nicholas three-year-old will get into the school in future years.”

State law requires the Children’s Zone and other public charter schools to hold admission lotteries, Scopaz explains. The school will bring additional benefits for the complex, she adds, notably jobs. “We’ll give St. Nicholas residents priority for employment in the new school and construction jobs,” she says.

The school will be built with $60 million from the city government and $40 million from the Children’s Zone, including $20 million from Goldman Sachs Gives, the investment company’s charitable arm. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development must still approve the use of the land for the project, says Scopaz.

Certain parts of the facility – such as the gym, cafeteria, library and computer lab – will be available to the community after school hours, Scopaz says, allowing the building to serve as a community center, as well as a school.

Canada admitted at the land use committee meeting that his organization could have done a better outreach job. He has offered to help accommodate anyone affected by the project, adding, “We’re trying to make this work for everybody.”

The most recent Community Board 10 meeting on October 6 was much more docile, but St. Nicholas residents still turned out.

“Open this process up for scrutiny, bring NYCHA in front of the Board,” urged resident Sandra Thomas.

Parents at P.S. 123, the Mahalia Jackson Academy, have protested sharing space with the Harlem Success Academy since the charter moved into the building last year. (Photo by Sarah Butrymowicz)

When Harlem Success Academy 2 returned for its second year at 301 W 140th St., it added grades – a typical practice for charter schools, Jenny Sadlis, director of Success Charter Network’s external communications, said via email. With a growing student body, though, the school needed more classrooms and moved into some previously used by P.S. 123, with which it shares the building. The action further strained the relationship between the schools and in the surrounding community.

Parents and advocates for P.S. 123, the Mahalia Jackson Academy, have complained that the charter is taking away space without concern for the public school students. William Hargraves, whose niece attends P.S. 123, charged that the Department of Education favors charters over regular public schools.

Harlem Success Academy, whose current enrollment is 361, serves kindergarten through second grade; it eventually plans to expand to eighth grade. P.S. 123 has an enrollment of 630 students this year in pre-kindergarten through seventh grade.

The tensions began when the charter school first moved into the building, but increased this year when P.S. 123 lost its computer room to the charter school, as well as part of its teachers’ lounge and half its library, now devoted to Harlem Success Academy office space, said Hargraves.

P.S. 123 was offered basement rooms to replace some of the space Harlem Success Academy has commandeered, but “there’s no way a kid can learn in that environment,” Hargraves said, describing the basement as “no more than a storage area.” The school squeezed in classes elsewhere in the building.

Space is allocated in all schools across the city based on “a footprint” the Department of Education determines, said spokesperson William Havemann. While the footprint allocates the number of each type of classroom a school should have, based on its enrollment, “it does not determine which particular rooms in a building go to each school,” he said. The school officials decide that themselves.

“A lot of work went into the agreement between P.S. 123 and Harlem Success, and both schools participated in discussions,” said Havemann in a follow-up email.

But Hargraves still feels that the Harlem Success Academy “has the choice of the best rooms.”

The charter school, however, maintains that it has divided space fairly. “We treat all of our roommates with the utmost respect,” Sadlis said.

But Dianne Johnson, president of Community Education Council 5, said the Academy sometimes demonstrates a “disrespectful” attitude toward its public school neighbors. “If we have to be in the same building, then we all need to learn how to get along,” she said.

Parents, teachers and students have held rallies opposing the charter school since last year. At the most recent, held last month before the Academy’s annual parent appreciation event at the Roseland Ballroom, the chants ranged from “The people united will never be defeated” to “Eva Moskowitz must go” – a reference to Harlem Success’s founder. They plan to continue the rallies, Hargraves said at the time, but have not held once since then.

For Hargraves, the issue goes beyond the competition with the Harlem Success Academy. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his administration have abandoned public schools and favor charter schools, charged Hargraves, who at the rally led chants of “Bloomberg lies while public schools die.”

Mabel Moody Washington, however, has two grandchildren in the Harlem Success Academy, primarily because it provided a better education than regular public schools, she said; she is unapologetic about that choice.

She sees the Harlem Success Academy as helping disadvantaged communities catch up to the more privileged. “For centuries, our children have lagged behind. Now they’re not,” she said. “You leave there with the academic skills you need to succeed.”

The charter was ranked number 32 out of 3,500 schools in the city, according to its website. One hundred percent of its third graders passed last year’s math exam. At all four Harlem Success schools, 95 percent of third graders passed the English Language Arts exam.

P.S. 123 is rated a successful school too. It received an A from the Department of Education last year, and a B each of the prior two years. But although 77 percent of its third graders passed the math exam, just 39 percent passed the English Language Arts exam.

While Johnson said she doesn’t oppose charter schools and thinks that parents deserve educational choices, she feels that regular public schools deserve more respect. “It’s like you’re picking, your children are better than my children,” she said. “It’s starting to cause a whole lot of controversy from neighbor to neighbor.”

Johnson said she has contacted Moscowitz about forming a committee, with representatives from both schools, to work together, but Moscowitz has not yet replied.

“We are not aware of any such request,” Sedlis said.

But Johnson said she planned to try again. “The only thing I can do is keep reaching out,” she said. “It’s up to her to respond.”

The school, which opened in September, pays its teachers base salaries of $125,000 or more a year. “If you want talent you’ve got to pay for it,” said Zeke Vanderhoek, founder and principal, who spent months on a nationwide search for some of the country’s top educators. “If you believe, as I do, that compensating people is worth it, then you’ve got to do it.”

Average annual base salaries for New York City teachers (Source: National Center for Education Statistics)

Located in a one-time mansion at 549 Audubon Avenue in a largely low-income, Dominican neighborhood, the school pays teachers more than twice the national average, according to payscale.com. Teachers will also be able to earn bonuses of up to $25,000 next year, based on school-wide performance.

To pay top dollar, Vanderhoek, a 32-year-old Yale graduate, has economized elsewhere: the Equity Project has large classes of 30, and teachers take on more administrative duties. The New York City Education Department’s most recent report puts the city’s average class size at 25.

“In an ideal world, we would have smaller class sizes and great teachers,” argued Vanderhoek. “But there is a finite amount of dollars to go around and you’ve got to decide whether you will have two teachers for 30 kids and pay them half or pay one teacher double.”

However, Luis Huerta, a professor at Columbia University Teachers College who researches charter schools, disagrees with Vanderhoek’s strategy. “It’s a very rational and limited approach,” he argued. “It focuses on one indicator, squeezes everything you can out of it.”

Huerta adds that higher pay won’t compensate for the additional responsibilities teachers will shoulder.  At the Equity Project, teachers teach longer hours than the average city teacher: the school day runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an after school program 3 days a week.  They can be fired at will and have no retirement benefits. “Teachers do not want to be burdened with administrative duties,” Huerta said. “This is a counter-productive approach toward educational success.”

But Vanderhoek says with adequate support, teachers will not feel overworked. “When I taught 6th grade I taught four different subjects. Here, we make sure that every teacher is responsible for one subject across different grade levels,” he said. “We also try to build into teachers’ schedules time to do that extra administrative work.”

Huerta doubts the school’s experiment will succeed in the long run. “This is an experiment, a very, very costly one, one that is simply not sustainable,” he said. “It’s not realistic, especially when we know through research that you can get more bang for your buck if you motivate teachers through intrinsic rewards, such as support from the administration, from families, and from communities.”

In a novel approach to budgeting, the school allocates all public money to its higher salaries, and relies on grants, fundraising, and private donations for its facility, located on a quiet side street off 193rd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.

Judith LeFevre, who teaches science, told the New York Times that the school was “an experiment of sorts, in which I’m one of the subjects.” Education policymakers nationwide will closely watch the school to see whether this Wall Street model of higher pay will yield educational results.

“So far so good,” was Vanderhoek’s assessment last week.  “It’s a startup operation and we’re going to go through growing pains.”

Outside the gates of the Equity Project Charter School, the scene is much like any other New York City school on a Monday morning.  Students enter in groups for their breakfast. “I think it’s great,” said one mother. “My kids love it, and as long as I’m not paying for the teachers out of my own pocket, then I don’t really see the problem.”