Read this article as it originally appeared in Newark Patch

An estimated 180 students and their families attended a charter school fair Saturday, where attendees could learn about a sampling of charter and magnet school experiences offered by the city.

Students were able to select from among academies offering training in the trades to one school that follows a rigorous college preparatory track, vowing to get each of its pupils accepted into an institution of higher learning.

“Charter schools are a new option that gives parents choice,” said Mashea Ashton, the CEO of the nonprofit Newark Charter School Fund. “They offer unique themes, unique models. They give parents the chance to engage in the leadership of the school.”

Read this article as it originally appeared in Newark Patch

Graduating eighth graders at Robert Treat Academy Charter School in Newark received a record $6 million in scholarship offers to attend private boarding and day schools in the fall.

The scholarship offers this year exceeded the average $4 million a year that previous classes have received since the first class graduated in 2005, said Theresa Adubato, the principal of Robert Treat.

Read this article as it originally appeared in Newark Patch

The Newark Charter School Fund is hosting a first-ever Charter High School Fair for Newark students who want to learn more about their high school choices.

The fair is open to all Newark students and parents, particularly seventh- and eighth-graders looking to learn more about their high school options. In addition, some Newark charters have spots available for students who will be sophomores in the 2012-13 school year.

Read this article as it originally appeared in Local Talk News

When Jessica Rooney was looking for space for People's Preparatory Charter School in Newark, she knew a brand new building was out of the question.

Charter schools do not receive facilities funding to build new schools and raising the millions of dollars needed to construct a new school building was just not possible.

But several times a week, the Latin Grammy Award winning artist comes to a classroom in Newark at the Robert Treat Academy to teach music composition to a small group of students in an afterschool enrichment program.

Read this article as it originally appeared on Newark Patch

Construction officially began today on Teachers Village, a development combining housing, retail and school facilities that is being touted as a major component of downtown revitalization.

Read this article as it originally appeared in The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — Elected officials, real estate developers and international investors will gather in the heart of downtown Newark today to break ground on the city’s most ambitious project since the Prudential Center, one Mayor Cory Booker says will transform the entire downtown.

Read this article as it originally appeared on Local Talk News

Newark officials broke ground on Teachers Village, a mixed-use development in downtown Newark that will create three new charter schools, a daycare center, more than 200 moderately-priced rental apartments for Newark teachers, and more than 20 on-street retail establishments which will include restaurants, medical offices and local and national stores.

Read this story as it originally appeared in The Christian Science Monitor

Jennifer Pellegrine's turning point came when she discovered the importance of giving students multiple chances to master skills, rather than simply letting them slide by with barely passing grades.

Call it a lesson in perseverance – on her part and theirs.

“G-o-v-e-r-n-m-e-n-t” spells winner for Ismat Agwedicham, a fourth-grader at New Horizons Community Charter School who spelled the word correctly to win her school's spelling bee this month.

Students in the Newark school for grades K to 5 had been studying their dictionaries for almost two months to prepare for the contest.

This article originally appeared on Local Talk News

Two more charter schools could open in Newark next year, providing more than 760 additional classroom seats for children seeking an alternative to struggling city schools.

The state Department of Education on January 20 announced the approval of eight charter schools for the 2012-13 school year from among a pool of 42 applicants. The schools must clear one last hurdle, a “readiness review” before it is allowed to open in September.

View this article as it originally appeared on ABC7 and watch the video

NEWARK (WABC) -- Nicole Berne's first job as a college graduate is as a member of the tutor corps at Great Oaks Charter School in Newark.

"We're always there to help out with anything; whether it's a personal problem, whether it's an academic problem, we're there to provide whatever the students need," Berne said.

Jared Taillefer is the school's executive director. He says he enlisted the help of recent college graduates because many of them need help.

Read this Jay Matthews' column as it originally appeared in The Washington Post.

The Pacific Collegiate School in Santa Cruz, Calif., is a public charter school. It must hold a random lottery when it has more applicants than vacancies. It is not supposed to be selective.

Yet somehow its average SAT score has risen to the top tenth of one percent among all public schools nationally. Less than ten percent of its students are low-income, compared to 40 percent in its city. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that the school is allowed to ask (not require, its principal emphasizes) that every family donate $3,000 and 40 hours of volunteer time a year.

Read this article as it originally appeared on Patch.com

Charter schools in Newark can be part of a new self-governing agreement that will ensure high quality education, transparency and accountability for each institution that signs on, according to officials from the Newark Charter School Fund, which has doled out money to schools and created the document.

Under the new agreement or "compact," charter schools pledge to serve the widest range of students in the city whether they need ESL classes or special education services, eliminate obstacles to applying to schools, release clear and correct information on the schools and the application process, post data on students on the schools’ websites such as how many kids qualify for free school lunches and information on college matriculation rates, and collaborate with the school district, according to the compact.

Read this article as it originally appeared on njspotlight.com

What it is: The Newark Charter School Fund, a philanthropic and advocacy organization created to help the city's charter schools, has forged a contract with charter leaders in Newark that pledges full transparency and accessibility.

What it means: The compact -- meant for all charters to sign -- is more symbolic than legally binding, but speaks to a serious issue. It aims to address frequent concerns that charter schools are not following the spirit, let alone the letter, of state law, which requires them to be open and accessible to all students, especially those with special needs. Whether it quiets the critics is probably doubtful, but yet to be seen.