Challenge Charter School - A Decade of Service to the Rockaways
Challenge Preparatory Charter School
is a well-recognized and trusted source
of high-quality education in Far Rockaway,
serving over 700 students in grades
Kindergarten through 8th Grade. The
school is community focused and highly
dedicated to the lives of its scholars and
their families. These days, Founder and
CEO Rev. Dr. Les Mullings is leading
the school with an uncompromised
vision and energized mission as the
school prepares for its next chapter.
The Past
For many years, Dr. Mullings had
watched generations of families in the
area suffer from lack of quality education,
basic health care, affordable housing,
job opportunities and economic
development. The statistics of highschool
dropout rates and lack of job
options had left many families fractured
and in poverty. He knew that offering a
choice for quality education was a longterm
solution to begin to address those
deep needs.
In 2004, Dr. Mullings aided by a few
dedicated local supporters and advisors
including Senior Advisor Dr. Michael
R. Estep, formed a development team
to begin the long, arduous process of
applying for the charter school. Six
years later, the dream became a reality,
and the school opened in August 2010
offering Kindergarten and 1st Grade in
co-located public school space at Goldie
Maple Academy.
In 2011, the school leased and retrofitted
the building at 710 Hartman Lane
for grades K-5. On a clear mid-April
morning, Mullings stood on the steps
for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Fellow
community leaders and local officials
including (now) Councilman Donovan
Richards joined the celebration. Spring
Break had just ended, and Challenge
Prep was in its own building for the
first time.
Six months later on October 29, Hurricane
Sandy hit New York City as the
deadliest storm in the area in 100 years,
devastating the Rockaways. The School’s
first floor was completely flooded with
seawater rising up to six inches on the
second floor. The building and its contents
suffered nearly a million dollars
of damage.
Amidst intermittent power, massive
street flooding, and few initial resources,
Dr. Mullings and the staff quickly
worked to sanitize the building, opening
it back up after only 14 days. But beyond
the school walls, the families of Challenge
Charter’s scholars and the citizens
of Far Rockaway needed much more.
As a community leader and local
pastor, Mullings recognized the serious
need for immediate recovery efforts.
He started an organized response called
Project Sandy with two distribution sites,
one being at the school and the other at
his church at 1414 Central Avenue.
In early November, the church
became an official NY State FEMA Disaster
Recovery Center, and along with
the school site, Project Sandy served
78,000 hot meals and distributed 6.8M
worth of supplies, clothes, toys, coats
and more through February 2013. Support
came from state, local, and national
entities and officials including Governor
Andrew Cuomo, many New York
professional sports teams, the National
Guard, and over 3000 volunteers from
New York Cares.
A few weeks later Thanksgiving
came. With many people still displaced
from homes destroyed, Challenge Charter
transformed its gym at Hartman
Lane. It was easy to see the impact made
as families gathered together around
tables, enjoying all the fixings of the
grand holiday feast. Through the devastation
of a storm, the community was
convinced of the school’s care and commitment
to Far Rockaway.
The Present
In June, when the last scholar walked
across the stage and received a certificate
of completion from 6-8 Principal
Mavgar Mondesir-Gordon at the 8th
Grade Graduation ceremony, Dr. Mullings
stood by with Board Chair Frederica
Jeffries and Senator James Sanders,
both long-term supporters of the
school. The 2018-19 school year ended
with Challenge Charter Middle School
scholars achieving 100% high school
placement in the first round.
Challenge Charter School’s educational
philosophy is aimed at promoting
high levels of academic achievement
and tailoring instruction to ensure that
the academic needs of all students are
met. The School has an extended learning
day and extended year (190 days per
year). Technology is infused from early
grades forward with scholars having
access to Chromebooks and learning
valuable skills like coding.
Challenge Charter’s founders believe
that good instruction recognizes the
interrelation of content knowledge and
higher order thinking and that, accordingly,
good instruction should reflect a
balanced approach to learning. Thus,
Challenge Prep employs a balance of
teacher-centered and student-centered
instruction, with both direct instruction
and project-based instruction incorporating
hands-on and student led activities
and small student grouping and regrouping
and in grades 6-12, blended learning
and flipped classroom instruction.
The demand for high-quality education
choices in District 27 is clear.
Beginning with its inception, each
spring Challenge Charter School hosts
an annual Lottery to fill the empty seats
CHALLENGE PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL Special Advertising Section