- We're now joined by Jen Da Silva.

who's Director of Operations at North Star Academy.

Good to see you, Jen.

- Thank you, thank you for having me.

- This is part of an ongoing series, "Urban Education That Works."

Why does it work?

What are the keys to it and what can we learn from it?

Jen, clarify this for us, North Star Academy is tied to Uncommon Schools, which that's the umbrella?

- Yes, North Star Academy is tied to Uncommon Schools.

We are one out of five regions, there are 54 schools in total, and there are 14 schools in Newark itself.

- And we're doing this programming with the support of the New Jersey Children's Foundation.

- Yes.

- Their website will come up as well.

Let me ask you this, describe what's going on at North Star Academy and what about it makes it "work?"

- I mean, I think one of the amazing things that we've seen out of the last school year is that the results that we are seeing is that North Star Academy is outperforming the state in the NJ slate results that we've seen.

16% in ELA, 11% in our math.

- ELA?

- In English language arts.

- Okay.

- And 11% in math.

And so what we're seeing is that what we're doing in our classrooms is working, and we're really excited coming out of our post-COVID era.

- And North Star Academy is a charter school, to be clear?

- Correct.

- Tell everyone who hears the term charter school, Jen, but may not know exactly what that is.

- Charter schools are public schools.

So our families simply fill out an application in the Newark Common App, and they rank North Star as their number one school, and as soon as we have a placement for them, they come to our school.

So it is a free and public school.

- Do this for us, talk to us about you have "an alumni team" from North Star.

Who are these alums and how are the impacting the students in a positive way?

- The amazing thing that we have is that we have alum that come back to teach in our schools.

And so we have great teachers, not only that come to us every single day, but we have teachers that are coming back that were once our students.

They're coming back to serve in our community as well.

Once they go off to college, they come back to serve.

- So there's a couple of the other things that make, not just your test results better, but also in terms of the students who come through North Star, talk about their prospects in terms of their future in education, meaning college.

To what extent, what's our track record going to college and what kind of colleges are we talking about?

- We have a fantastic college team that work with our students and work with our families and to ensure that they know what we have available, that work with our students to ensure they're not taking on a massive college debt.

We have students who are going off to college with less than $5,000 in debt.

And so they work with our students to ensure that they're getting into the top colleges, that they're not taking on massive amounts of debt, they work with their families to ensure that they're completing the FAFSAs, that they're working on getting these amazing scholarships that are out there, that are available, so they end up going off to college.

And then the amazing thing that North Star also provides, Steve, is that we have an amazing alumni team that work with our students.

So once they're off at college, they're not just like forgotten about.

We have teams on the ground that talk to kids at school, making sure that they're getting along at the colleges that they're going off to, that they're being supported once they're at colleges.

So that way they also have a sense of community once they're off at these colleges.

Sometimes they're in California, they're off in Nevada, they're far away from home, but they still have that sense of community and they're still feeling supported even when they're far away from home.

- Jen, who are your students?

- Our students are amazing kids.

Our students are students that come from maybe low income, Black and Latino students, but they're students that have amazing potential and they're being supported by our amazing teachers.

And it's coming out in the test results that all they need is a little bit of love, and all they need is someone who supports them and who shows that they really can go above and beyond when we have the amazing teachers and the work that goes behind them, and it's coming out in our test results.

- So, Jen, for those critics of charter schools who say, "You know what?

Charter schools," and to disclose, my dad, the late Steve Adubato Sr. started one of the first charter schools in the state of New Jersey, the Robert Treat Academy, where my sister Teresa was later a principal there, and I'm very tied to the Robert Treat Academy.

The argument that I heard then, I still hear now from some is, "Charter school's cherry pick kids."

Meaning they get the, I don't wanna say the best kids, I don't even know what that means, but more motivated parents.

At the Robert Treat Academy there's a lottery, right.

And again you said, as soon as there's space, you don't take every kid, you only take certain kids.

So of course the test scores are higher.

And of course they're performing better, you say.

- Yeah, we've heard those arguments as well.

And that's just not the case.

When a family fills out an application, we have no idea the students that are coming to us.

We have students that are English language learners, we have students that are special education students, and we serve all students, any and all students that come through our doors, we are committed to them.

Not just to their students, but to our families, because that's just the commitment that we make to the city of Newark and to all students that cross our doors and to all of our families.

That's just not true, because once families complete the application, we have no idea who they are when they come through our doors.

- Gimme a few seconds, before we talk about the QuestBridge Scholarship.

I wanna talk about "Urban Education That Works."

That's this series.

What is the role of parents in helping their children succeed in urban schools?

- I mean, it's a deep partnership because we understand that we can't do one without the other.

And so they're entrusting us with their most prized possession, and we spend a large chunk of the day with their students.

And so when our families entrust our students, or their students to us come kindergarten, they know that it's a partnership.

And so they know that they also have their commitment to us and to our teachers and to the leaders until 8:00, 9:00 PM.

They have our cell phone numbers.

They can reach out to us at any time.

And if they have any questions regarding homework, regarding something that's going on in the school community, they simply reach out to us and they can ask us any questions.

It's a partnership, it is an open communication, open lines, and it's that kind of two-way street, that partnership communication that really drives us far and entrusts that communication with our families that really, it just makes it work with our families.

And I think that when our families come to us, they know that we are committed to them, and they know that we are open to them, and that we are here for their students, and that we are here to make it work with them.

- Jen, as we wrap up, gimme 30 seconds on the QuestBridge Scholarship.

What is it?

- Yes, QuestBridge Scholarship is a scholarship that our students are able to apply to.

And once they are applied to, we had seven students this past year that got full ride scholarships to the college of their choice.

And students are going to the University of Chicago, to Amherst, it's for amazing colleges that are fully paid for all four years.

Jen Da Silva, director of Operations at North Star Academy.

Thank you, Jen, all the best.

- Thank you, Steve.

- Go back on vacation.

You're in Portugal, okay.

You don't always have to.

We're glad you joined us, now enjoy yourself.

- Thank you so much.

- I'm Steve Adubato, that's Jen Da Silva from Portugal.

We'll see you right after this.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

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