Yalow’s mission is to eliminate the learning
achievement gap for poor students, including special education students and
English language learners, and graduate all students at or above grade level.
Yalow will open in 2015 with 202 students in grades K and 1, growing a grade
each year, reaching 536 students by its 5th year. The Regents cited as
excellent our school’s 11 key design elements: qualified staff focused on
at-risk students; a robust RTI team of 5-11 special education and ESL teachers;
a quality curriculum (Core Knowledge Language Arts, Singapore math, and
inquiry-based science); high-quality collaborators—e.g., the Bronx Arts
Ensemble for art, dance, and music, the Kasparov Chess foundation for chess,
and an Olympic fencing coach to organize a fencing program; meticulous
data-driven instruction, guided by STEP Literacy assessment and NWEA MAP for
math; comprehensive professional development , including a one-month summer
teacher workshop; a team teaching model, pairing an experienced teacher with a
teacher with a LMSW degree in grades K-2; family involvement, beginning with
home visits by teachers before school starts; a strong school culture built on
character and using the disciplined activities of arts, chess, and fencing to
develop the whole child; a low student-teacher ratio,11:1; an extended school
day, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a 2-week longer school year.