Legacy College Preparatory Charter School: A Pathway to College and Career Opportunities
Legacy College Preparatory Charter School, an independent public school open to all New York City students, offers an alternative educational option for students in the Bronx. Serving grades six through twelve at its middle school and high school facilities, Legacy is dedicated to preparing students for college-level study and the career opportunities that a college education provides.
Why Choose Legacy College Prep?
Charter schools like Legacy offer distinct approaches to education, discipline, and sometimes provide extended school days and years. Enrollment in Legacy requires participation in a lottery separate from the Department of Education's (DOE) enrollment process. As a charter school, Legacy prioritizes children residing in its school district.
Core Beliefs and the Culture of PRIDE
Instruction at Legacy is grounded in three core beliefs:
- Rigorous instruction prepares students for an academic journey leading to college graduation.
- Values-based character development prepares students for school and life.
- Ambitious goals drive college readiness and professional aspirations.
Legacy faculty and students embrace a culture of PRIDE, an acronym representing:
- Professionalism: Demonstrated through good judgment, conduct, punctuality, and meticulousness.
- Respect: For all community members through kindness, empathy, support, and rigor.
- Integrity: Manifested in honesty, self-discipline, self-control, and tolerance of difference.
- Determination: To enthusiastically and energetically make the effort required to succeed.
- Engagement: By being focused, present, and active in all academic and extracurricular activities.
Instruction and Support
Highly effective and committed teachers employ the latest pedagogic approaches, including frequent purposeful data analysis, to drive instruction and engage students’ guardians in their education. Mission-aligned activities, trips, clubs, and community service opportunities supplement the curriculum. Students receive further support through one-on-one meetings with their advisor. After-school tutoring and Saturday Academy provide additional safety nets for students requiring additional instruction.
Read also: Legacy Early College: An In-Depth Look
Student Demographics
Legacy College Prep is a minority-majority school with a significant Latinx population. Black students constitute approximately one-third of the student body.
- 64% Hispanic
- 34% Black
- 2% Multiple/Other
- 10% of students are English Language Learners
- 16% of students have Individualized Education Plans
- 70% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch
School Initiatives: Addressing Learning Gaps
A primary focus is continuing to close learning gaps that were created during the COVID-19 pandemic, as significant learning loss was observed in both ELA and Math. Building on past successes, Legacy is committed to providing more interventions in reading and math to scholars who are three or more grade levels behind.
Residency Site Location and Partnership with NYU Steinhardt
Legacy College Prep High School serves as a residency site location for aspiring teachers.
The details of the residency program include:
- A 30-credit master of arts in teaching in Secondary Education (Grades 7-12).
- Online meetings with NYU Steinhardt faculty and peers twice per week in the evening for course work (~15 hours/week).
- ~40 hours/week in classroom residency at partner location.
- Tuition subsidy and stipend or wage from partner school.
Full-day cost details during residency year: As a teacher resident, individuals teach and learn in their content area, working alongside another teacher and gaining responsibility throughout the year. They may also be asked to substitute teach later in the year as well as support intervention work.
Read also: Community and conservation at Legacy Park
Health Insurance: Aetna Health Coverage
Start Date: August (in person)
After residency year: Job After Graduation: Teacher (Full-Time)
Estimated Starting Salary with Master’s Degree: $68,500
The figures above are estimates provided by our partners for informational and planning purposes only.
Read also: Modern Learning Solutions
Ednovate Network and USC Partnership
Legacy College Prep (formerly known as USC College Prep, Santa Ana Campus) is part of the Ednovate network of high-performing, free, public charter schools. Legacy College Prep prepares each of its graduates to use their college degrees and careers to make positive multigenerational change. The high school personalizes learning through technology, focuses on self-awareness, agency, purpose and builds college-ready mindsets to ensure all of the students are ready to go to and graduate from the best colleges in the country. Fundamental to the model is building a safe and welcoming school culture with high expectations while fostering student autonomy.
Legacy College Prep, which benefits from Ednovate’s partnership with USC, exists to interrupt the systemic inequities that continue to oppress individuals from low-socioeconomic communities. They build authentic relationships with students to provide them with an environment that fosters hope, love, agency, and a sense of belonging. They push students to uncover and fulfill their purpose because they see them as agents of social change, co-creators of knowledge, innovators, and problem solvers. They are committed to developing students to be critical-thinkers who question, make meaning, and who see these skills as powerful tools that can be used to dismantle cycles of historical oppressions.
tags: #legacy #college #prep #charter #school
