"ALBANY -- Years of academic improvement may not be enough to save the New Covenant Charter School."
Despite rapidly rising test scores, the school has not met all the academic terms of its last-ditch reprieve, according to a preliminary report from the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute. That could result in the institute recommending to the SUNY Board of Trustees that the school be closed when they vote next month.
School officials this week pointed to a marked improvement in student scores on the state's standardized English and math exams since Victory Schools Inc. took over the troubled institution in 2006. Much has changed at New Covenant since then, with an increased enrollment and a stability in leadership that has been elusive in a difficult 10-year history, which has seen the school on the brink of closure a number of times. In fact, the business card for Principal Jecrois Jean-Baptiste, who has a reputation for turning around troubled schools and moved here to do the same for New Covenant, now reads "The Miracle on Lark Street."
"This is a school where great things can still happen, especially in a neighborhood that is used to things closing," Jean-Baptiste said.
But it remains to be seen if his hard work will be enough to convince the institute or the SUNY trustees who, on Jan. 15, will vote on whether New Covenant deserves yet another chance. SUNY's Charter School Institute has been hailed as a success by Washington because of its tendency to close troubled schools.
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