Company Profile

Company Description:

Manhattan Charter School (MCS) is a high performing charter school located on the Lower East Side in New York City that is committed to providing every child with the tools and support necessary for success. Operating as a 501c3 nonprofit organization, MCS has been consistently high-achieving since its founding in 2005. Manhattan Charter School 2, a replication of MCS, is expanding on the work already being done at MCS and believes that by working together more students will achieve high academic levels. MCS2 opened in August 2012 and is located a few blocks away from MCS.

Manhattan Charter School has 270 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. MCS2 currently has 180 students in kindergarten through third grade, and will grow by one grade each year to reach the same size and make-up as MCS. There are no more than 24 students in an MCS class because we believe much of our success is due to our small school size, and intimate school culture and learning environment. Each school's principal greets every student by name, every morning, and knows every family. In addition, every teacher knows every child. This intimate environment creates a community of collaboration, communication and accountability for both students and teachers.

MCS focuses on providing a rigorous curriculum of core subjects to help students achieve high academic levels. Though MCS adheres to New York State Learning Standards, its teachers have flexibility when developing their curriculums. Likewise, MCS is committed to offering a well-rounded education program to all students, which it believes helps students develop critical thinking processes, problem solving abilities and supports their learning in the core subject areas. All students receive music instruction each and every day. Other enrichment programs include French, Art, and Physical Education, and hands on experiments in science studies.

Additionally, students explore the historic Lower East Side neighborhood as part of their humanities studies. The Lower East Side is a centrally located, and culturally diverse, neighborhood in Manhattan. Long a fixture of the immigrant experience in New York City, many ethnic groups have resided here over the years as they worked to build a new life for themselves and their families in America. Through walking tours of the neighborhood, students learn about the Lower East Side's evolution from an area of commercial success and tenement living to the vibrant neighborhood it is today.

The majority of MCS students are minority, live in the neighborhood, and qualify for free lunch. Through its work MCS is demonstrating that all children, regardless of race or economic status, can succeed when given equal access to quality education. The schools pride themselves on delivering rigorous, standards-driven instruction and fostering a culture of high expectations, while maintaining a strong sense of camaraderie amongst students and teachers.