The New City School Achieves Strong Growth in California State Testing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The New City School Achieves Strong Growth in California State Testing

LONG BEACH, CA – September, 2006 – Despite statewide trends showing that far fewer California schools are meeting their 2006 API Growth targets, The New City School (NCS), a public charter school located in downtown Long Beach, has once again surpassed its school-wide growth target on the California Academic Performance Index (API). For 2005-06, NCS jumped 57 points to 741, closing in on the statewide API performance target of 800. The average API growth statewide for Grades 2-8 was 12 points in 2006, with only about half the schools in California meeting their API targets.

Since the inception of the API in 2001, The New City School has achieved an incredible 283-point API Growth through the academic year 2005-06. In 2005, when its target growth rate was 11 points, NCS achieved a remarkable 100-point Growth. The NCS target growth for 2006 was 6 points, which the school greatly exceeded. Furthermore, NCS student subgroups (who reflect downtown Long Beach’s low-income, primarily Latino community) also surpassed their growth targets by a wide margin, including: Hispanic or Latino (70-point growth vs. a 5-point target), Socioeconomically Disadvantaged (57-point growth), and English Learners (69-point growth).

It is important to note that NCS students are achieving these outstanding academic scores while simultaneously becoming bilingual and bi-literate through an innovative school-wide dual immersion program. According to NCS Co-Director Ted Hamory, “Our strong record of academic achievement is a result of the collective efforts of The New City School family, which includes our students, their parents, our faculty, and the community. This year’s exceptional academic growth once again supports our belief that The New City School is a model for 21st century urban education reform.”

About The New City School
Since opening its doors in downtown Long Beach in 2000, The New City School (NCS) has become a singular example of innovative urban public education at its finest. No other public or private school in California, and perhaps the country, offers The New City School’s exceptional combination of constructivist theory, project-based learning, a school-wide dual immersion (English-Spanish) program, and an emphasis on the arts. In its six years of existence, NCS has attained consistent and at times remarkable growth in its academic achievement, garnered strong community and political support, and become recognized as one of the top charter schools in the country. Now, with its enrollment at capacity and an ever-present waiting list of hopeful students, The New City School is embarking on an ambitious ten-year expansion plan to extend its success and affect system-wide positive change.

Contact The New City School

Ted Hamory, Co-Director
Email: ted@thenewcityschool.org

1230 Pine Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90813
Phone: 562-436-0689
Fax: 562-436-7475
www.thenewcityschool.org