Icahn students are dispelling the myth
Every fall, thousands of
8th grade students take exams
and compete for specialized
high schools, private day
high schools, private boarding
schools, and parochial
high schools. The seats available
at these highly sought
after schools are coveted and
unfortunately, though thousands
of very bright and motivated
students try out only a
handful are accepted, and an
even smaller number receive
scholarships where appropriate.
Now couple that statistic
of thousands applying and
add a minority population and
the percentage of acceptances
dwindles to single-digit percentages
of students being accepted.
At the six Bronx Icahn
Charter Schools that have an
8th grade graduating class,
100% of the graduating class
has been accepted into at least
one of the categories of special
High Schools.
This anomaly of the Icahn
Charter School students getting
into these transformative
high schools does not just happen.
The process of acceptance
to a specialized high school at
an Icahn Charter School begins
in Kindergarten. Superintendent,
Jeff Litt begins by
telling parents at kindergarten
orientation: “If you do not
want your child working towards
going to a specialized
high school, you are placing
your child in the wrong school.
Our curriculum is rigorous,
our social and academic demands
are many, and we are
focused on what is our mission:
To get every child into
the best high schools (public
and private) and eventually
the best colleges. So why put
them and yourself through
this process if this is not your
goal for your child?”
Of course, no one leaves
because this is every parent’s
goal and at an Icahn school a
plan and commitment is in
place to have it happen for every
one of the Icahn students.
Beyond orientation, the students
are participating in
programs such as Prep-for-
Prep, Summer on the Hill, the
Dream-SHSI Program, Breakthrough
New York, and an inhouse
Icahn Prep Program.
The Icahn Charter Schools
plan for getting students into
specialized high schools begins
with the kindergarten
orientation and continues
through the grades with particular
emphasis beginning
in 3rd grade and moving
through to the 8th grade with
student and parent involvement
in supplemental enrichment
prep sessions during
weeknights, Saturdays, and
summers, on-site, off-site and
all over the Bronx. The highly
qualifi ed Icahn team, madeup
of principals, guidance
counselors, staff developers,
collaborating programs, and
the Icahn teachers, have dedicated
a great deal of time, effort,
knowledge and support
to a child and his/her parents
by the 8th grade on this initiative.
The results of these efforts
speak for themselves.
The Icahn Charter School
metwork has good reason to
celebrate the excellence of its
staff, students, parents, and
school community.
Principal Lawford Cunningham
(Icahn 1), principal
Brenda Carrasquillo (Icahn
2), principal Marcia Glattstein
(Icahn 3), principal Michelle
Allen (Icahn 4), principal Danielle
Masi (Icahn 5), and principal
Jason Cartagena (Icahn
6), coupled with their staff and
collaborators, are dispelling
the myth that minority students
BRONX TIMES R 68 EPORTER, MAY 10-16, 2019 BTR
coming from low-income
areas are not able to achieve
acceptance into the very elite,
highly competitive schools
throughout our country.
Student Icahnites have
gained acceptance to an elite
array of High Schools: Aquinas
High School, Bronx High
School of Science, Brooklyn
Tech, Brooklyn Latin High
School, Stuyvesant High
School, LaGuardia Performing
Arts High School, Cathedral
High School, Fordham
Prep, Xavier High School,
Preston High School, and
boarding schools such as The
Church Farm School (Pennsylvania),
Groton School (Massachusetts),
Menaul School (New
Mexico), Fox Croft (Virginia),
to name a few. The 191 graduates
received 331 acceptances
to very highly competitive
high schools otherwise categorized
as Specialized, Parochial,
Private, and Boarding
High Schools.
Not only did Icahnites get
into highly selective schools,
they are receiving scholarship
monies to attend these prestigious
institutions. The 8th
grade graduates have earned
$258,950 in scholarship funds
for the fi rst year, and that
amount may be multiplied -
to cover their costs through
graduation.
The principal of Icahn
Charter School 1 was able to
share the story behind two
of his students that were accepted
to fantastic schools and
what this means to them and
their family. Abrahim Saho,
a student at Icahn 1, was accepted
to Bronx Science. Abrahim
believes that his participation
over the summer with
the DREAM program coupled
with, in his own words “I felt
as if I had been prepared to
Abraham Saho and Janice Darkwah. Photo courtesy of the Icahn Charter School
compete for a top high school
based on the education I received
at Icahn. I hope that
the Icahn Charter Schools can
continue this way of teaching
for future generations so that
many other families can be as
happy as mine were when they
received the news.”
Janice Darkwah, also an
Icahn 1 student was accepted
to the Groton School, in Massachusetts.
She stated, “My acceptance
to the Groton School
has made me forever grateful
to Icahn Charter School 1 for
the education, guidance, and
experiences I received there.
Over the past nine years, I
was surrounded by the type
of support and strength from
family and staff that gave me
the power to accomplish what
I never thought I would be
able to do. The Groton School
has been a top choice of mine
for high school as far back as
when I was in the 4th grade.
Icahn has helped me to think
ahead, focus, and to never
stop believing. I focused, I believed,
and on March 9th, 2019,
I was accepted into the Groton
School.”
The Icahn Charter School
network of schools has held
its lottery, and the results are
in, turning many anxious parents
unfortunately into disappointed
parents. For the vast
majority of parents applying
to get their child a seat at
one of these schools has only
yielded them a slot on the wait
list. The Icahn network of
schools received 21,868 applications
for admission to one
of the Icahn Charter Schools
where there were only 148
available seats in total for
the school year 2019 -20. It has
been said, “That it is harder to
get into an Icahn school than
Harvard”.
BY AL D’ANGELO
I would like to publicly
thank the men and women of
the Morris Park Community
Association for all their hard
work in fi ghting the city’s plan
to narrow Morris Park Avenue.
Every business owner
and homeowner owes Councilman
Mark Gjonaj a debt of
gratitude. It was because of
our efforts that he joined the
fi ght and we are extremely
grateful for his loyalty and
dedication to the Morris Park
community.
The Association has always
been at the forefront of
the fi ght to keep Morris Park
one of the safest communities
in the city. Members volunteer
their time patrolling
the streets, going to meetings,
meeting with elected offi cials,
sitting on hospital boards and
our local community board
while others relax at home. We
are quick to respond to any issue
that affects our neighbors
by going out to assess the situation,
then getting in touch
with the proper agency to
solve the problem; when necessary,
calling a Town Hall
meeting to bring the community
together to protect our
neighborhood.
Our active civilian patrol,
one of the few in the city,
works with the NYPD and is a
crime deterrent. The association
runs the Bronx Columbus
Day Parade, the second largest
in New York state. Our senior
center is at capacity and
members enjoy the companionship
of neighbors many of
which have lived here most of
their lives.
We fought for a Morris Park
Library, a K through 8 school,
a Veterans’ Memorial at Peace
Plaza on Williamsbridge and
Pelham Parkway.
We have fought against ‘hot
sheet’ motels, group homes
and homeless shelters`. We are
not opposed to these facilities
if they serve our residence but
oppose any shelter or group
home that services people
from other communities.
We have meetings every
two weeks where we discuss
concerns and hear from the
police and representatives of
our elected offi cials. I felt that
on the heels of the court’s decision
to delay the road dieting
of Morris Park, it was appropriate
to let the community
know it didn’t happen by accident
and that the Association
is a formidable force in this
community.
Next time someone asks,
“What does the Association
do for me?” you show them a
copy of this article. Remember,
Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m.,
we will be holding memorial
celebration at Peace Plaza to
honor and those who paid the
ultimate price for our freedom.
Please give 45 minutes
of your time to honor these
fallen heroes.