At A Small School In Brooklyn, The First Class Prepares to Launch
By Dave Burdick, Elaine He and Lara Moscrip
For Charles Walker, 17, a senior at The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in northwest Brooklyn, studying used to mean taking out a teacher-prepared review sheet while on the subway to school, glancing it over and attempting to memorize it. He said his study habits have improved since his freshman year, but that he’s been making a special effort to do well in his senior year.
“I am changed,” said Walker, during an interview at a McDonald’s restaurant near his school. “I’m working more seriously and I’m getting ready for college.”
At the Urban Assembly School for Law, or SLJ as the school is known, teachers and staff emphasize achievement and college admission from the beginning. Incoming ninth graders are paired with teachers who help guide them toward graduation and college readiness.
Last month, Walker had a “check in,” a session held every six weeks during which he met with four of his teachers and talked about how he can improve his performance in classes like math, global issues and English. Check ins are part of the school’s efforts to make sure students stay on track toward graduation and college readiness.
Walker and the school’s principal, who was 28 when the first class of freshman arrived, started high school together the fall of 2004 with a group of highly committed teachers and staff and a wide range of internship and mentor opportunities in the legal community to offer students. How Walker’s class fares in college admissions will provide the first measure of the school’s effectiveness.
“This is kind of the payoff year,” said Eyal Wallenberg, the head of the math department. “My babies are going to college.”
SLJ shares its building with P.S. 287 at 50 Navy St. and Walker said that it’s not possible to remain anonymous when there are only about 400 students in the school. When he does miss the rare day of school, Principal Elana Karopkin, now 32, is sure to approach him. “Charles, we missed you,” is what she’ll say.
Walker said that Karopkin is not only omniscient when it comes to student attendance. “She knows your grades. She studies them and she knows what you’re doing good or bad in.”
Walker describes the atmosphere at school as pressure-filled, friendly and youthful.
“All the staff seems to be young,” he said. Diana Levy, the school’s program coordinator of what it calls “pre-college” experiences is 22. Nicole Simon, the director of early college awareness programs is 25. Wallenberg is 26. He has been teaching at SLJ since it welcomed its first freshman class, just a year after he graduated from Brandeis University.
SLJ is not a charter school, but New York City eighth graders have to indicate it as their first choice when deciding where they want to attend high school. Karopkin says that most students come from Brooklyn, but students from all five boroughs attend. Many of them come from low-income families and arrive at the school performing below grade level in reading and math. According to the school’s Web site, students who attend a prospective student information session in the fall are given a slight preference in admission.
According to Simon, the school isn’t attempting to attract only high-scoring students. “We’re not just looking for the kids who did the best in middle school. We’re non-selective, so we don’t see grades,” when students apply, Simon said.
The school’s curriculum focuses on developing the reading, writing and critical thinking skills essential to the understanding of law. Students participate in internships during their junior and senior years at government agencies, corporate law firms, academic institutions and nonprofits, according to the school. Even the science classes embrace the themes of law and justice.
“Instead of taking an earth science, as most ninth graders in New York do, [SLJ students] take forensic science,” said Wallenberg. “And they love it. It’s like they’re getting to take ‘CSI’ as their class.”
Walker is in Wallenberg’s math class and is one of many teenagers ready to launch. He and his fellow seniors have already submitted a round of college applications and working on more.
When Walker describes his first choice of colleges, the private Five Towns in Long Island, it’s clear that he links his GPA and SAT scores to his dream of writing and producing films. Five Towns specializes in media, music and the performing arts, which he believes fit nicely with his hobbies of writing scripts and dance.
“I want to become known for something,” Walker said. “I want to give out messages for kids my age, who are from where I’m from. I can’t sing, but I can dance.”
Walker is also applying to two SUNY campuses: Fredonia and Old Westbury. He’s has also put Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica on his list. Mohawk may not be his first choice, but he is intrigued because it also offers a film program.
He said that for now, script writing has taken a backseat to this semester’s crush of school work and college applications.
The last two weeks of November were particularly grueling, he said. He worked to make packets for his teachers, including his resume, personal essays and financial aid forms, so that they would recommend him to his selected colleges. He wrote five essays to the different colleges in which he described his ambition to write, produce and direct films, and how his family’s financial problems have motivated him to seek a college degree.
Walker quit his part-time job at Au Bon Pain at the beginning of November to make sure that he would have enough time to get applications to SUNY off by Nov. 29 and to Five Towns by Nov. 30.
Walker’s last step was his application to SUNY’s Education Opportunity Program, a program that helps New York residents who wouldn’t be eligible for admission under ‘traditional standards’ but who show potential for completing college program, need financial assistance and come from ‘historically disadvantaged backgrounds. With that last step complete, he said he’s hoping to enjoy winter break.
“I’m so done. I’m happy. Now, I hope they’re going to accept me,” Walker said. He and his classmates will have to take their first semester exams before the holidays, but he said he and his friends are feeling less stressed now that a round of college deadlines has passed. Walker said that his family supports his decision to go to college, even if his parents aren’t able to coach him through the application process.
Walker’s father, who emigrated from Ghana, wants him to go away to college to set a good example for his three younger sisters.
“My dad, he knows I’m going. I tell him, ‘Daddy, I’m going to college upstate.’ He wants me to leave, to set an example. My mom, she doesn’t know that much about college, she hasn’t gone. She knows that it’s good to go, but she doesn’t know about EOP [educational opportunity program] or college admissions.”
Walker sounds excited about the chance to take on his dreams, but there’ll be one person he’ll especially miss from Brooklyn. “My grandma. She took care of me my whole life, babysat me, gave me money. I dreamt once that I called home [from school] and that she had died.”
For the most part, Walker is enthusiastic about completing his college applications and moving on with the rest of his senior year. He’s active in the student body and is helping to organize the senior trip. Walker admits that even though the college admission process has many steps and firm deadlines, he’s confident that, with some help, he’ll be able to manage it on his own.
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