SUCCESS
ACADEMY RECEIVES $25 MILLION GIFT FROM THE
ROBERTSON FOUNDATION TO EXPAND SYSTEM OF TOP-TIER PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS
HISTORIC FUNDING WILL SPUR SCALING AND INNOVATION
New York,
NY ― Success
Academy Charter Schools announced a transformative gift of
$25 million from the Robertson Foundation to expand its
system of public charter schools in New York City, extend
the network’s capacity to export its sought-after curriculum
and training, and influence national education reform. The
gift was announced Monday evening during Success Academy’s
tenth anniversary benefit, which also raised $10 million for
the city’s most popular public schools.
“I've been an investor for a long time;
there's no better investment than the education of all our
children,” said Mr.
Julian Robertson. “And there's no more innovative
educator than Eva Moskowitz. That's why the Robertson
Foundation is proud to support her and the wonderful Success
Academy.”
The Robertson Foundation, which was
established in 1996 by investor Julian H. Robertson and his
late wife Josie, has been a strong supporter of Success
Academy, previously giving to a major Success initiative —
the Success Academy Education Institute, a new virtual
academy for sharing curriculum and teacher training.
“Julian Robertson’s philanthropy has been
transformative to education and reform, and we are deeply
grateful to him and his family for this generous gift, which
will help us scale as quickly as we can to 100 high-caliber
public schools,” said Eva
Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy. “This
gift will directly benefit tens of thousands of New York
City children, and many more across the country in the next
decade, as we develop our capacity to share our curriculum
and educational practices.”
Over the last ten years, Success Academy has
become a leader in education reform in New York City and
across the country, rapidly opening new schools while
consistently delivering top results for students. The
network’s 34 public charter schools have outperformed
schools in the city and state’s most affluent neighborhoods
– ranking in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in reading
among all state schools, based on state exams. At the same
time, Success has been inundated by requests from educators
around the country, as well as international visitors, to
learn more about its curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher
training.
Admitted by random lottery, the majority of
students are from low-income and minority families, many of
whom cannot afford to live in areas with better schools.
Over the last ten years, Success Academy schools have
received more than 110,000 applications. With recent annual
wait lists of 17,000 and more families whose children did
not win a seat in the lottery, Success has pledged to
expanded to 100 schools over the next ten years in order to
meet demand.
ABOUT
SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter
Schools are free public pre-K through 12 schools open to all
children in the state through a random lottery. With 34
schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens,
Success Academy enrolls 11,000 students (admitted by random
lottery), primarily low-income children of color in
disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% of students receive free or
reduced-price lunch, 95% are children of color, 15% are
children with disabilities, and 8.5% are English language
learners. Ranked in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in
English on 2015 state proficiency tests, Success Academy
schools received more than 20,000 applications for 3,200
open seats in this year’s lottery. Two Success Academy
schools, Success Academy Harlem 1 and Harlem 3, have been
honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S.
Department of Education, the only Harlem schools in the last
25 years to receive this prestigious award.
For more information about Success Academy,
go to Successacademies.org and virtualtour.successacademies.org.
On Twitter at: @SuccessCharters