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The Bronx Charter School for Better Learning, for which I was lead applicant and co-founder, is well positioned as we look forward to our 13th year. We have very high state test scores, handily exceeding those of all comparison groups as a whole, including charter schools and other, regular public schools, not only in our resident district and New York City, but throughout New York State. More importantly, we move steadily toward our purpose: to create a school where teaching always serves learning, rather than dominates it. For an inside look, if you have not already viewed it, enjoy our engaging video:
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BBL - Awakening the Learner Within
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We now have a deep bench, with a growing cadre of teachers and assistants who have sufficient - and continuously refined - expertise in our instructional approach. In fact, as we move into the 2015-16 school year, we currently project: * An astonishing teacher retention rate of 98%. * A student retention rate that still exceeds 95%. * A parental satisfaction rating that is at 97%. Those indicators bode well for our future and support the soundness of our Board of Trustees' decision to replicate our program through a second school, BBL2, which will open this coming September near our current campus in the northeast Bronx. Starting just with Kindergarten and growing to 5th grade by one level each year, BBL2 will alleviate, at least partially, the enormous waiting list of families who apply for entry through our open, random lottery system for the 2,300+ children who wish to attend. Still the only realistic way to "scale" the successful application of our approach is through e-learning. Essentially, I have developed applications that reflect the awareness that human learning rests on minimizing reliance on memory, per se, and maximizing the intelligent use of our learning powers. For example: * Visualizing * Abstracting * Recognizing * Interpreting * Seeing patterns, etc. As the project unfolds, Bronx Better Learning's digital applications will become available to all schools and their Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade students, through every common mobile platform and eventually a mobile-enabled website. The e-learning programs will give students everywhere direct access to the singularly successful, non-traditional approach we implement at Bronx Better Learning. Effective as stand-alone, self-guided, self-teaching resources in literacy and mathematics, they become, in the hands of skilled teachers, extraordinary assets to accelerate and extend the learning of standard academic curricula. Substantial initial funding for the project has already been secured. We seek user interface, gaming design and programming expertise to move forward. Suggestions and inquiries are welcome at tswartz@bronxbetterlearning.org, as are additional financial support and marketing talent.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about our exciting new venture.
Most sincerely,
Dr. Ted Swartz BBL Founder
Note: These applications, iSpellBetter and iCountBetterLite, are currently available on the iTunes app store, but both warrant further development.
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