FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 29, 2011

Christopher D. Cerf

Acting Commissioner

New Jersey Department of Education

100 River View Plaza

PO Box 500

Trenton, NJ   08625

Dear Commissioner Cerf:

This letter is being written, again, concerning the application of Tikun Olam Language Charter High School.  This is the fourth attempt to establish this particular school in the New Brunswick area, with three previous applications being denied. The Civic League of Greater New Brunswick, which has operated educational programs for the past 66 years in the city of New Brunswick, is responding to the application of the proposed charter high school.

In a review of this application, the organizers have modified the focus from Highland Park to more emphases on the city of New Brunswick.  This change in the application has increased the League’s concern in the development of this proposed educational program and its impact on the New Brunswick community.

In its March 22, 2010 application, the emphasis was basically on students from Highland Park and Edison.  This most recent application includes the municipalities of New Brunswick and Edison, recruiting students primarily from those communities. As with the previous applications, there has been no communication with this office concerning the charter school.  The Civic League conducts after school programs, serving more than two hundred and fifty (250) New Brunswick students and parents daily, which have been a resource for the proposed school.  It is obvious that the school organizers, from their operational behavior, are not interested in involving community residents and groups in the establishment of their charter school.  This raises the real questions of what will be  the process for including the heavy minority population in the school student body, where will the school be located, since Saint Mary’s facility is not available, and why this persistence to incumbent New Brunswick resources without clear demonstrated need?

As with our last letter to your office concerning this application, it is our opinion that without a well thought out strategy for full transparency on the nature of the school, the recruitment procedures of students and the inclusion of New Brunswick minority students, that this particular charter school be, again, denied approval.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

C. ROY EPPS

C. Roy Epps

President/CEO

CRE/zad

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: November 2, 2011

Contact: C. Roy Epps

732.247.9066 ext. 12
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New Brunswick High School Students Recover Credits through the Accelerator Project

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey

As more and more students were failing classes and losing credits due to poor attendance or even sickness, the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick saw an opportunity to serve the New Brunswick High School community. In the winter of 2009, the Civic League partnered with New Brunswick Board of Education and the AT&T Aspire Program to address the aforementioned issues. Through a $391,910 AT&T Aspire High School grant to be dispersed over a period of four years, the Civic League has been able to address student failures on a small scale by offering services that were not previously available.

The initiative, called “The Accelerator Project,” was designed to reach approximately 400 students who had failed a core class needed to graduate. Initially, students who had failed coursework in Math, English, Science and History were targeted. However, as a growing trend of failing students became obvious, the Civic League decided to take a more proactive and preventative approach and expanded the scope of the program to also offer Intervention services to students who were in danger of failing a core class.

AT&T’s contribution has enabled hundreds of students at New Brunswick High School to gain assistance that they would not have been able to access previously. In addition, approximately 25 students were able to recover lost credits and, thus, were able to be placed in their proper grade, to move towards graduation and even to graduate on time or close to on time.

“As the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick just celebrated its 66^th year of serving the New Brunswick community, it continues to provide services increasing the number of high school students to graduate within the four year period. More specifically, the Accelerator Project expanded approach Intervention services utilizing certified subject teachers, has enable more students to pass needed subjects while increasing the number of New Brunswick High School Students to recover lost credits,” said Janelle Simmons, the Coordinator of High School Services at the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick.