Merit Prep, our middle and high charter school in Newark, NJ was awarded a 5 year charter renewal from the State of New Jersey Department of Education this week that included the opportunity to continue to expand our grade offerings over time from grade 5 through 12. This is the school's first charter renewal since it was founded in 2012 and so marks a huge milestone for us. We took time out today to celebrate our staff and all of their hard work.
Merit Prep was founded in 2012 by Ben Rayer. Ben's audacious vision was to launch a charter school from scratch that would completely innovate how school is done via a defining principle of personalized learning. This bold vision has been stewarded carefully and thoughtfully by an amazing group of 6 Board members who volunteer their time each and every month. This Merit Prep Board of Michael Cosack, Cheryl Arnedt, Rich Gordon, Aubrey Haines, Kristen Sigler and Lisa Miller engaged Matchbook Learning in 2014 to try and fulfill their and Ben's original vision behind this school as the school struggled under the weight and depth of achieving this vision in the midst of deep generational poverty that reflects the community we serve in Newark. Merit Prep received a "probationary" status from the State of New Jersey after its first two years and it remains under probation for another year while we try to build on the school's momentum and success in achieving a different kind of school for a different kind of society but with the same expectations we hold as a nation for every child regardless of income, race or other status.
The school is led by a dynamic leadership team that includes Principal Ron Harvey, Assistant Principal Dannete Miller, Directors of Personalized Learning Laurance Specht and Tiffany McAfee, Director of Culture Jason Lewis, Dean of Students Sean Harris and Special Ed Director Alison Cottrell. I have not even begun to mention our amazing staff of teachers who apply their craft every single day. We're privileged to work alongside these heroes and heroines in this work. We're far from over in our quest to realize this vision of every student reaching their highest potential through a college preparatory school that individualizes their learning to realize their dreams of who they want to be when they grow up.
People often ask me what's the work really like? Honestly, it is as exhilirating as it is frustrating. Either emotion emerges depending on the day, and often both at the same time. The issues behind poor academic performance for minority students of poverty are multi-faceted and multi-dimensional. Creating micro-wins and tethering these wins together to a macro strategy consistently applied in ways that address the holistic social, emotional and intellectual learning needs of our students is a continual repeating lesson of trial, error, failure, success, longevity and sustainability. However, earlier this week, the powers that be (in our case the State of New Jersey's Department of Education) believed that we deserved another chance to see this vision through.
In sports we often talk about teams making a "championship run" which is short hand for the multi-year process it generally takes to assemble a team with the right skills, timing and sense of purpose and sacrifice needed to achieve a common and lofty vision. With this team at Merit Prep, I'll take the State's opportunity to make a "championship run" worthy of the children we serve.
