School\u2019s in session \u2014 nearly around the clock.<\/p>\n
A new charter school in the South Bronx will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, all year \u2014 an apparent first for the state and possibly the country.<\/p>\n
The K-5 school Strive, which is set to welcome its first students in the fall, will fulfill a crucial need for struggling working parents, backers said.<\/p>\n
The site of the new Strive charter school in the South Bronx, which will operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, all year long when it opens in the fall. Google Map<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to address a critical part of affordability for parents, which is child care,\u2019\u2019 Strive founder Eric Grannis told The Post.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchools educate children, but they also enable parents to work \u2014 but they do a very bad job of it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Strive will provide mandatory instruction from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with optional hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
Its instructional program \u2014 modeled after the academics at Success Academy<\/a> \u2014 will operate for 200 days, with enrichment, intervention and extracurricular activities available for students during non-class time. There will also be extended learning opportunities on weekends and in the summer.<\/p>\n In another relief for parents, Strive \u2014 which will mainly be taxpayer-funded through the government \u2014 will serve free breakfast, lunch and dinner every day it\u2019s open.<\/p>\n Strive founder Eric Grannis told The Post the K-5 charter school aims to help families who struggle with child care affordability.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a one-stop shop,\u201d said Grannis, the husband of Success Academy<\/a> Charter network CEO Eva Moskowitz. \u201cWe\u2019re open 50 weeks per year, seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n The school will operate on an $8 million budget its first year, handling 325 students. It raised $825,000 in private donations to help cover its startup costs.<\/p>\n The new charter \u2014 which will eventually educate 544 students \u2014 was able to open because it landed one of the state\u2019s coveted limited operating licenses from Moskowitz\u2019s organization. <\/p>\n Success Academy transferred its license from its Success Academy 5 Lower Elementary in the Bronx to Strive at 604 E. 139th St.<\/p>\n Grannis said Strive will help lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani <\/a>address one of his key campaign promises: child care affordability.<\/p>\n The Brooklyn Charter School<\/a>, located in the heart of Bed-Stuy, is already open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. but only Monday through Friday and not during the summer.<\/p>\n Rebecca Goodsell is the principal of Strive charter school. Obtained by the NY Post<\/p>\n Extended-day schools have been talked about for decades. The late Mayor David Dinkins <\/a>provided \u201cBeacon Schools\u201d funding to encourage extended time at schools, considering them safe havens for kids.<\/p>\n Grannis noted that most schools are closed for the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes no sense. People\u2019s jobs don\u2019t close for the summer. And school lets out at about 3:30. Few jobs end by 3:30,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Strive said one of its key components is flexibility.<\/p>\n On regular school days, parents will have a two-hour window to drop off their kids (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and a two-and-a-half-hour window to pick up their children (4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.).<\/p>\n The school\u2019s staffing plan provides for lead teachers to work on a consistent 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. schedule, with teaching assistants and other staffers put on staggered schedules to oversee the optional extended hours.<\/p>\n Strive will recruit current college students pursuing teaching degrees to provide in-person teaching experience and training, allowing it to offer its extended hours in a cost-effective manner, according to the plan it submitted to its state regulator, the SUNY Charter School Institute.<\/p>\n Charter schools are privately managed, publicly funded alternative schools that typically operate with a long school day and often outperform neighboring traditional public or district schools<\/a> on state English and math exams.<\/p>\n Students at the 59-school Success Academy charter network are among the highest performers in the city and state.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Many of the charter schools have staffers who don\u2019t belong to unions, unlike traditional public schools.<\/p>\n \u201cStrive is a good program. It exactly addresses the issue that is front and center \u2014 affordability,\u201d said Joseph Belluck, chairman of SUNY\u2019s charter school committee.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what charter schools should be doing. It\u2019s important to see if this kind of offering makes a difference. If it works, it\u2019s something other schools can consider adopting.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposed extended-day and -year school is not without controversy.<\/p>\n