ANNUAL REPORT 2023
Determined, creative, and tenacious:
15 years of Prospect Schools
On the 15-year anniversary of Prospect Schools, we reflect on the amazing persistence of our staff, students, faculty and supporters.
FROM OUR CEO
15 years ago a special community took root in Brooklyn. We opened our doors with 100 sixth grade students and an ambitious group of educators eager to create a thriving and intentionally diverse school. And thrive it did: as word got out, families and educators across the borough were drawn to us. That magnetism has enabled us to grow into a network of schools where young Prospectors stay for years to learn, work and grow.
Over the years we’ve nurtured the academic and social development of countless students, celebrating their graduations and life milestones. Even as we’ve expanded from one school to seven, our core hasn’t changed. We still provide one of the few free opportunities in New York City to attend a globally focused International Baccalaureate program with excellent academics in a richly diverse setting. This past year, we achieved some of the highest results on state exams in our history. In the 2022-23 school year, 76% of students were proficient in ELA, 6 percentage points higher than the prior year. In Math, 78% of students were proficient which represented a 20 percentage point increase relative to the prior year.
To me, one of the greatest testaments to the strength of our program is the way people keep coming back to Prospect Schools throughout their lives. Some of the educators who were with us fifteen years ago still teach with us. Some are now leaders within our ranks. Students who learned with us in our early days have returned to work here. Many employees send their children to our schools.
It’s this growth and these relationships that give life to the “many trees” which make up the proud Prospect Schools forest. To honor that strength and mark our 15th year in operation, we’ve chosen the theme of “Together, we grow” as the motto for 2023 and beyond.
In this report we honor the legacy of Prospect Schools, shine a light on the people and partners who embody our story and cast our view forward to the next 15 years of growth and impact.
Warmly,
Tresha Ward
CEO, Prospect Schools
By the Numbers
OUR STUDENTS
identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
qualify for free or reduced-price lunch
have identified special needs
are English language learners
OUR TEAMMATES
identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
are parents of Prospect students [draft]
average years of teaching experience [draft]
15 years of growth
Follow our growth in both schools and enrollment over the last 15 years.
Student Achievement
We are proud to share that on our 2022-23 New York State Test results, we achieved some of the highest overall English Language Arts and Math outcomes in our history.
2022-2023 New York State Test Results
Grades 3-8 English Language Arts
Proficiency 2022-23
Grades 3-8 Math
Proficiency 2022-23
Significant Year Over Year Growth
Our Elementary and Middle Schools made measurable gains year over year!
English Language Arts
Improvement
points growth
Math
Improvement
points growth
IB Diploma Growth
The number of 12th graders that have been awarded the International Baccalaureate Diploma
Graduate Gains
The Class of '23 are raising the bar as they have achieved incredible milestones:
were accepted to college
were accepted to 4 year colleges
Year over Year College Matriculation Success
We are proud of the significant increases in seniors matriculating to a competitive or highly competitive college
The percentage of seniors matriculating to a competitive or highly competitive college
The percentage of Black seniors matriculating to a competitive or highly competitive college
The percentage of Hispanic/Latinx seniors matriculating to a competitive or highly competitive college
As defined by Baroon's selectivity index, available here
How Our Graduates Compare
Percent of Prospect Schools Class of '23 who enrolled in a 2 or 4 year college or university
Percent of New York City Department of Education schools Class of '22 enrolled in a 2 or 4 year university
The four-year graduation rate in August 2022 was 83.7%. Class of 2022 is the most recent available data for NYC. Source: NYC DOE College Readiness 2022 Report.
Colleges Prospectors Are Attending
GRADUATE STORIES
Anisha Bowen
Anisha Bowen started at Windsor Terrace Middle School in the 6th grade and then moved on to Brooklyn Prospect High School. She played volleyball and excelled at building community among her classmates by planning events. Today, she’s in her second semester at the State University of New York in Albany. Allison Balogh, her college counselor at Brooklyn Prospect High School, reflects: “She’s driven. From the beginning, Anisha had a clear sense that she was interested in studying somewhere that would position her well to pursue law school. SUNY Albany was that school for her.”
Liam McEwan
New York native and son of a Guyanese immigrant, Liam McEwan started at Clinton Hill Middle School in the 6th grade. Not only was he an exceptionally bright and academically strong student, but he also volunteered at various school events and he became a natural school leader. Graduating with an International Baccalaureate diploma in 2023, he is now an engineering student at Franklin & Marshall College on a full scholarship from the Posse Foundation. “I love all things college,” Liam said recently.
Growing Our Team
Leadership Institute
This year under the rallying cry of our Network Priority: Together We Grow, we have implemented new professional learning structures to support the work we are doing in schools and to help align our practices across our network. To begin, we launched the year with our first ever Summer Leadership Institute for all leaders across the network. During this week of intense learning, we worked to build community, stamp our vision of excellence for our schools, norm our lens as leaders, and develop key technical and adaptive leadership skills that leaders then brought back to their campuses. We have followed this experience with monthly Cohort Days for both our Principals and our Directors and Associate Directors where we are continuing the work of our Summer Leadership Institute with a year long scope of professional learning for our leaders.
Principal In Residence
While our primary focus this year is on developing our leaders, we also have several professional development revisions for our teachers. At our New Prospector Retreat in August we asked over 20 different leaders and teachers from our schools to join us in facilitation and support so that we could provide a truly differentiated and tailored experience for our new Prospectors.
15 Years of Stories
Folake Akinola-Pinard
Principal, Downtown Elementary School
Folake Akinola-Pinard is principal of Downtown Elementary School, which celebrated 10 years in 2022-23 and where she started as a founding Kindergarten teacher. She insists that were she not pushed into leadership years ago, she would have “probably stayed a dean [a culture support role] forever.” Prospect Schools’ leaders saw something in Akinola-Pinard, who comes from a family of educators, and coached her into the powerhouse of a leader she is today. And she’s just getting started.
“There's just so much more that I have to learn, and this is definitely a learning environment,” she said of Prospect Schools. “That's where I want to be, period—at a place with people who really care about instruction and education and having high standards.”
Stephanie Marchena
Director of Steam
Matt Ellis
POSITION
AJ Ryan
POSITION
Mari Watson
POSITION
Wes Web
POSITION
FROM STUDENTs TO TEAMMATES
Selwyn “Sully” Robertson
Resident Teacher
Selwyn “Sully” Robertson grew up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. A bright child who excelled at a nearby Catholic School, his parents found Brooklyn Prospect on a whim and excitedly enrolled him after he got a lottery spot in the founding class. Sully thrived in middle school, moving on to Brooklyn Prospect High School and later graduating from St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn. Did he ever think he’d become a resident teacher and Arts Department Head at the same high school he attended? “I had a hunch I’d come back.”
2023 was Sully’s first year managing his own classroom. “I feel great happiness helping my students achieve what they want while ensuring their emotional and mental health is top of mind and that they’re respected as human beings and people, not just seen as students.”
Matthew Grossane-Diez
English learning specialist
Matthew Grossane-Diez grew up in Staten Island, where his educator mother paved the way for his interest in mentoring youngsters: “I always wanted to help people.” On the job hunt after graduating college in 2016, his former principal, Kim Raccio, and classmate—now colleague—Katelyn Santiago encouraged him to apply for the English Language Specialist position at Brooklyn Prospect High School. “I felt like I owed it to the school. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for Brooklyn Prospect because, in Staten Island, things are so segregated based on historical events, from white flight to [the designs of urban planner] Robert Moses. So I’m grateful to Brooklyn Prospect.”
Katelyn Santiago
10th Grade Student Affairs Manager
Katelyn Santiago was among the first class of 100 sixth graders when Brooklyn Prospect opened [IN YEAR]. She returned to Brooklyn Prospect High School as its 10th-grade Student Affairs Manager in the 2022-23 school year.“It’s been so rewarding to develop these relationships with these students and see where they are now versus when they started in September.”
“It’s interesting to see from the other side of the spectrum, where I’m like, ‘Wow, I totally see myself in this kid.”
Demi Peña-Chavez
Resident Teacher, Kindergarten
Demi Peña-Chavez joined Brooklyn Prospect’s second ever 6th-grade class in 2011. She graduated from BPHS in 2017 and took a gap year before studying Communications at SUNY Purchase College. She joined Prospect Schools as a resident teacher in the 2023-24 school year.
“Being in the role of an educator has taught me how important it is for kids to be supported and set up for success in schools. I see how far my students can go when all their needs in a classroom are being met. It's really beautiful to create a classroom environment where kids feel safe to be who they are, where they can learn more about themselves and the world around them. It's taught me really how lucky I've been my entire life to have such great teachers, and seeing the teachers I work with inspires me to be an even better one.”
Deepening OUR
IB Programming
As an open-enrollment, public International Baccalaureate (IB) charter school serving a diverse student body, Prospect Schools’ unique model is grounded in a belief that the IB program prepares our students to be citizens of the world. We are so proud to be an IB school and are taking intentional steps to ensure even more of our students are able to be exposed to the IB program, pass IB courses, and earn the IB Diploma Programme.
For several years at the High School, nearly all of our 11th and 12th Grade students take IB courses and are exposed to rigorous coursework in English, Math, Humanities, Science, World Languages, and Arts & Athletics. This orientation towards an “IB for All” model has permeated our High School. In the 2023-2024 school year, in an effort to support even more of our students to take and pass the IB exams, we will also be rolling out a new program of financial support so that students and families are not barred from taking the IB exams (which can sometimes earn college credit) due to financial reasons.
Moreover, now that we have launched our third middle school, Sunset Yards Middle School, we are exploring several options to expand the size of our high school to accommodate 8th Graders from all 3 Prospect Schools’ middle school campuses.
Finally, knowing that we want to prepare more of our students to take IB courses and receive the IB Diploma, we are also exploring ways in which we can further align our elementary and middle school programming to create an aligned experience for our students from Kindergarten all the way through to the 12th Grade.
Alumni Support
KIPP Forward Partnership Pilot
We officially kicked off our pilot alumni support program this year! Through partnership with KIPP Forward, we are now providing direct college and career / technical education (CTE) support to a cohort of 35 graduates from the Class of 2023.
College & Career Advising
Our college track alumni have been paired with “near-peer” College Success Advisors that offer guidance for academic planning, financial aid and socio-emotional health. CTE-track alumni have been connected with a Career Advisor who supports them in completing career interest assessments and gaining admission to CTE programs. The response from this pilot cohort has been very positive thus far and we look forward to selecting a second cohort of 30-40 students from the Class of 2024!
Alumni programming
We have also begun establishing internal alumni programming. We now offer weekly drop-in counseling office hours to all alumni. We are also planning 2 alumni-focused community events this year to help keep our graduates connected to Prospect Schools. As we continue to implement programs and resources, we will survey our alumni for feedback and monitor outcomes to ensure we are meeting the needs of our diverse student community.
FINANCIALS
Prospect Schools is a fiscally prudent organization that carefully balances sustainability and high-quality programming for every school we operate.
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School (Schools Only)
Prospect Schools (Network Only)
Fiscal Year 23 Brooklyn Prospect Charter School Income & Expenses (Schools Only)
Fiscal Year 23 Prospect Schools Income & Expenses (Network Only)
Based on unaudited Prospect Schools FY23 income and expenditures
Prospect Schools and Brooklyn Prospect Charter School are independent 501(c)3 nonprofits, linked through a formal institutional partnership
FROM OUR BOARD CHAIRS
Prospect Schools is extraordinarily pleased to celebrate 15 years of preparing diverse students to have a positive impact on society and a lifelong passion for learning. From our first days as a single-site middle school to our present network of seven dynamic schools spanning grades K-12, our model has improved educational outcomes for tens of thousands of students.
In 2023, our students, with the support of faculty, achieved the highest state test scores in our network’s history. The class of 2023 achieved a 98% matriculation rate at 4-year colleges and universities, another record for our network. We are so proud of these milestones and celebrate the dedication of our students, educators and leaders who made them a reality.
We are also clear-eyed about the work that lies ahead for Prospect Schools in 2024 and beyond. Proficiency gaps still persist between racial subgroups in our student body, and it is critical for us to address them by raising outcomes equitably. And to meet community and family demand for our programs, we aim to grow and serve 3,500 students by 2031.
As leaders of the Prospect Schools and Brooklyn Prospect Boards of Trustees, we have great faith in the future of this flourishing community and are excited to have you alongside us for the journey.
Thank you for your support. Together, we grow.
Penny Marzulli
Gravelle Pierre
Board of Trustees
Prospect Schools Board
Penny Marzulli, Chair & Secretary
Stephen Bailey
Eldrige Gilbert
Ahmed Haque
Kate Walker, Treasurer
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School Board
Gravelle Pierre, Chair
Juliet Cullen-Cheung
Sagar Desai, Treasurer
Sara Keenan
Maya Petrocelli, Secretary
Joanne Garce-Rodriguez
Theresa Sanchez
Thank you to our supporters
IN MEMORIAM
On October 26, 2023, the life of Kamari Hughes, a second grader at Downtown Elementary School, was cut short in a crosswalk accident. Kamari’s teachers Kendra Thomas and Melina Garcia described themselves as “the luckiest teachers on this planet” for having had the honor of teaching him. Melina Garcia shared this tribute: “Farewell to a beautiful person who left this world too soon. You were such a powerful life in this world. Your death leaves a glaring space in our hearts, but the memories we have will help fill those spaces.”
