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When Jessica Rooney rescinded her law school applications to explore a career in public education, she had no idea she’d be opening one of the first stand-alone charter high schools in Newark.
Rooney, the founder of People’s Preparatory Charter School, comes from a family of educators, but she took a circuitous path before joining in the family tradition.
“I was preparing to enter law school because I wanted to be an agent for social change,” Rooney said. “However, something just didn’t feel right to me. I came to the realization that law is more about intervention after something has occurred and less about preventing the problem.”
Rooney said she realized that to effect meaningful, lasting change, she had to be on the front-lines — as a teacher. Rooney worked at New Design High School in New York, where she taught Spanish and served as chair of the world languages department.
During her fourth year at New Design, she was accepted into the New Leaders for New Schools residency program, where she pursued a track in Urban Education and continued her research on the small school model. During that time, she completed a master ’s degree in educational leadership at City University of New York-Baruch College.
Colleagues suggested she bring the model to Newark, based on the city’s need for stand-alone charter high schools.
Rooney was awarded a three-year federal charter school program start-up grant, one of only 12 such grants awarded nation-wide. She has been working in Newark since July 2010 as a founder in residence at the Newark Charter School Fund in preparation for the opening of People’s Prep this August.
People’s Prep will open with an initial enrollment of 95 ninth-grade students. At full capacity, the school will enroll 380 students with 95 each in grades 9-12.
The school is based on the core values of intellect, empathy and action. Its mission is to serve as “a college-preparatory high school dedicated to ensuring that all students achieve academic excellence, develop strong character, and build a commitment to community advancement.”
The curriculum is based on nationally-studied best practice models and the foundational belief that all students, with the proper education and support, have the ability to perform at high academic levels.
People’s Prep will have a strong academic culture that includes longer school days (8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.) and an extended school year. Students will have double-sessions of English and math for at least two years. Students will also be expected to complete at least one AP-level course prior to graduation.
As the school grows, all students will be expected to commit to 40 hours of com- munity service per year.
“College preparation includes more than just being academically prepared,” Rooney said. “It means being interpersonally, emotionally and socially ready to make an investment in one’s higher education.
Rooney acknowledged that stand-alone public high school work can be especially challenging because four years is often seen as insufficient time to prepare students from varying educational backgrounds for college. But she believes such models are important to help address the inequalities that exist in K-8 education.
“With the right supports and programs, all children can develop the abilities required to succeed in a four-year college,” she said.
