Nice to see Arne Duncan in NYC visiting a high-performing charter school:

May 18, 2010 Dear Friends, Yesterday, Uncommon Schools welcomed NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC Chancellor Joel Klein, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to Kings Collegiate Charter School. The visit underscored Kings' outstanding performance as one of the top non-selective public schools in New York State and encouraged legislators to lift the cap on charter schools in the state by June 1st to help increase New York's chances of qualifying for up to $700 million in federal Race to the Top education funding. Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Klein, and Secretary Duncan spent an hour at Kings talking with school leaders and students and learning more about what makes Kings successful. Principal Lauren Harris and Uncommon's New York City Managing Director, Brett Peiser, spoke about the quality and dedication of the amazing staff at Kings, the school's use of data to drive instruction, the extraordinary amount of time Lauren spends observing and providing feedback to teachers, and the critical role of Christie Chow, Director of Operations, in managing all of the operational systems and procedures so that Lauren can focus on instruction. The highlight of the visit was the time that the visitors spent in a 5th grade and a 7th grade classroom. Secretary Duncan and Mayor Bloomberg both spent time sharing advice with the students, asking them about the school, and answering their questions. Highlights included: - Secretary Duncan asking if it was too early to start thinking about college and being met with a resounding "no" from the students; - One student saying she wanted to be mayor someday and asking Mayor Bloomberg how to become mayor; - Our visitors being amazed that our 7th graders stayed intently focused on a lesson about slope even when the guests and media - approximately 50 people - entered the classroom; and  - A student asking Secretary Duncan whether he would tell President Obama about our school.  (He said he would!)   Kings, which opened in the fall of 2007 with 5th grade, is located in the Brownsville/East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and currently serves 203 students in 5th - 7th grades. 100% of its students are Black and Latino and 77% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. 98% of Kings students scored Advanced or Proficient on the New York State mathematics exam last year, and 82% of 6th graders performed at the Advanced level, making Kings the highest-performing, non-selective middle school in the state.

For media coverage of the visit, click here, here, here, here, and here.  This was Secretary Duncan's second visit to an Uncommon school in the past year (click here and here for coverage of the Secretary's visit to North Star Academy in June 2009).    Congratulations to the students, families, teachers, and leaders of Kings Collegiate Charter School on hosting a wonderful visit and on your tremendous hard work and dedication!   Best,   Evan Rudall Chief Executive Officer