I have visited the Ark Community Charter School in Troy several times and have always been impressed at how engaged the students are in the work at hand. Equally impressive is the overall environment fostered by a caring faculty, staff, administration and board, coupled with the engagement of local college RPI and Sage students who serve as role models for the children.
The SUNY Board of Trustees, in reviewing the school's charter for possible extension, looked with concern at the results of the standardized testing in two of the last five years.
In particular, the Common Core-related test scores from last year were disappointing, though the Ark was not the only school to experience failing results.
In fact, the manner in which the Common Core was implemented in New York state has been the topic of widespread concern from parents, teachers and administrators statewide. Even Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this year criticized the flawed manner in which the Common Core was managed and called for a better plan for its implementation.
It seems then that evaluating the efficacy of the Ark school based on the results of a flawed state-wide implementation of the Common Core is inappropriate.
However, if that is to be the gauge, one need only look at the results of the testing in the home school of the majority of the Ark's students to know that, should the school's charter not be extended, these children will return to schools that performed even lower on those tests.
The Ark, by design, provides a learning environment that includes proven factors for success: Small class size, longer school days, parental involvement and safe and responsive classrooms. The children who attend are those who would most benefit from such factors as they are primarily from a neighborhood that has had businesses leave, a church that was an anchor closed, buildings abandoned, a high crime rate and low household income.
Through this school, these children receive a message that they can succeed, and are expected to succeed, in their education through high school and beyond, as evidenced by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Sage College students who work with them.
It is my hope that those who are considering the fate of the Ark will allow this school to continue to provide the tools and the drive these children are thriving on so that they can continue to have the opportunity to succeed that they might not otherwise have.
Kathleen M. Jimino is Rensselaer County Executive.