Coney Island Preparatory Plans Progressing

Coney Island will welcome a new charter school in August 2009. The visionary Middlebury College and Princeton University graduate, Jacob Mnookin, and his colleagues have been hard at work to start the new school – Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School. In his latest blog post, Mr. Mnookin says,

There is good news to share! On September 8, 2008, Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School was recommended for approval by the New York City Department of Education (DOE). While this is not final approval—our application will now be sent to the New York State Education Department for further review—it is an exciting next-step in the process.

Read more about South Brooklyn’s first planned charter school after the jump.

During our conversation, Mr. Mnookin explained that as a HS teacher working in Newark, New Jersey, he saw a lot of the frustrations and challenges that the students faced as inner-city learners. He felt the calling to open a charter school in an area where there is a great need and found that Coney Island was ripe for some innovation in education. He pointed out that while there are charter schools around other areas of New York City, they are mainly concentrated in Harlem, the South Bronx, and Central Brooklyn. Coney Island was the area in South Brooklyn that seemed to speak to him as the place where he needed to bring his vision.

Many of you who are going to be at tonight’s Town Hall Meeting on Education might like to ask Senator Marty Golden about this latest planned addition to the South Brooklyn family of schools. Although the school does not yet have a building, they do have an internet site. According to the information on the site, there are no admission requirements and it will be open to any New York City grade-level child, but preference will be given to students from Community School District  21 (covering Gravesend, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and Midwood). Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, and Manhattan Beach students from District 22 may be able to get one of the 81 soon-to-be much coveted seats in the brand new charter school. Mr. Mnookin’s staff will be setting up a lottery system for students looking to join the first fifth grade class.

Stay informed about the school’s planning progress and application procedures by checking out their website for updates. Even better would be for us to find out how we can help in making this charter school a great success.

I would just like to say to the Coney Island Prep’s leaders: If you’re having too difficult a time finding an appropriate building for your school in Coney Island, I’m sure that Sheepshead Bay can find a spot for you, at least temporarily. Hmm, The Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School Overlooking the Bay – has a nice ring to it.

For more information:
Jacob Mnookin, Lead Founder and Executive Director
Coney Island Preparatory Charter School Website
Phone: (718) 208-3102
Contact by E-mail