Friday Is The Fall, 2016 Application Deadline At Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School

Do you know any 10 or 11-year-olds with a green thumb?

The Fall, 2016 application deadline for the Brooklyn Urban Garden Charter School (BUGS) is this Friday — April 1st.

Current 5th and 6th grade families can apply now to the Windsor Terrace middle school, which occupies space in the former Bishop Ford High School building at 500 19th Street.

In February, BUGS received the Green Flag Award — national recognition for their environmental efforts from the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) Eco-School USA program.

The award, which is the “highest distinction possible in the program,” is given to schools who show “exceptional leadership with sustainability” by integrating green principles throughout the school and curriculum. The award came with a $4,000 grant from the NYC Department of Education Office of Sustainability, an NWF partner.

BUGS opened in the fall of 2013, with its first 6th grade class, and will be graduating its first 8th grade class in June.

In a feature on BUGS last year, we wrote that:

[Since opening in 2013,] the sustainability-focused, community-based charter school has adapted to the needs of its students while staying true to its mission: “to provide a hands-on, interdisciplinary education to young adolescents of all abilities and backgrounds, with a focus on real-world problem solving and the exploration of environmental sustainability.”………….

For Craig Raphael, parent to a 12-year-old BUGS student, it’s been such a positive experience that he’s hoping to send his younger son to the school, as well.

“From talking to parents of 7th graders, I think the first trimester last year, it had some growing pains as it was getting its footing, but now has a strong positive culture and community,” he tells us, also pointing toward his honest review shared on Inside Schools. “I suspect next year, after it has a list of high schools where graduates are accepted to, it will become a star.”