Spring Creek Community School

Spring Creek Community School is a new 6-12 school, entering our third year. At SCCS, students enjoy hands-on, project-based curricula that challenges them to question, discuss, and explore how their learning is connected to the real world. The arts and technology are integrated into their daily instruction, and literacy, logic, and problem-solving are emphasized across the curriculum. Students are programmed for additional periods in Math and Literacy to support student success in these key areas, and in addition to Enrichment Electives (including Filmmaking, Hip-Hop Culture, Lego Robotics, Technology & Coding, Creative Writing, Drama, Professional Voice-Over Recording, and Weightlifting), we have school-based partnerships with multiple arts, community, and academic organizations, giving students hands-on access to performing, film, and visual arts throughout the school day. After-school and Lunchtime Club offerings include Step, Beatmaking/Recording Studio, Drama, Odyssey of the Mind, Track, CHAMPS, and more. In our first two years, SCCS students displayed their artwork in Brooklyn galleries, performed on Broadway stages, interviewed community stakeholders for social justice documentaries, and developed pen-pal relationships with students in Australia and England!

Spring Creek Community School is a brand-new facility with an auditorium, state-of-the-art science and computer labs, an art room, several music rooms, a portable recording studio, and multiple cafeterias and gymnasiums. All classrooms are equipped with Smartboards, Document Cameras, and multiple computers, so students are developing 21st-Century technology skills in every class, every day. Our school culture emphasizes public and lifelong learning, and teachers plan and collaborate on a daily basis. Each Wednesday students are released early, and the entire staff participates in weekly two-hour Professional Developments on-site that offer resources, training, and professional support. Literacy and Instructional Coaches provide weekly on-the-job training for teachers as part of our commitment to ongoing reflective practice, and Administration/Lead Teachers run regular “planning clinics” to support teacher use of data inquiry and curriculum/unit planning to impact student learning. Staff-run mentoring and intervisitation programs place special emphasis on supporting new teachers, and our school website has a comprehensive internal platform where staff shares lessons, resources, student work, teaching videos, and other collaborative tools that drive our professional culture.

SCCS Advisory program is a cornerstone of our school culture; all students are assigned to an Advisory that meets three times a week, and provides each child with the social, emotional, and academic support necessary for each child to learn and thrive on their path to success. Advisories spearhead school-wide projects and initiatives such as seasonal food drives, Student Government, charity fundraising, and take responsibility for planning school events like Spirit Week, Career Day, and the Spring Dance. Advisors stay with their Advisory students throughout Middle School, and build long-term relationships with parents and families to communicate about student progress. A full-time Guidance department works with staff and students to emphasize our community values of empathy, justice, and integrity.

SCCS knows that collaboration and communication with parents, guardians, and families is key to all our success. All parents are registered with an online gradebook account, which gives them access to their student's information, and allows them to contact teachers directly. Monthly progress reports are sent home to parents, and our educators and staff are in regular communication with parents, who participate in community events such as the Winter Potluck, Field Day, and Student Exhibitions.

Another important aspect of SCCS’s focus on the whole child, and the centrality of critical and creative thinking to student success, is our emphasis on developing partnerships with arts, academic, and technology organizations to integrate enrichment into the daily learning of all students. SCCS prioritizes enrichment opportunities within and beyond the school day, and our recruitment strategies, allocation of resources, and Professional Development are all aligned with this goal. Our teachers plan and join students and families for SCCS Family Day weekend trips to cultural institutions like the Bronx Zoo; our track team makes occasional visits to our weekly yoga and relaxation class; a teaching staff with professional experience in theater, film, and the performing arts runs our Broadway Junior program with the Shubert Foundation; Literacy classes partner with in-house teaching artists from local galleries for a full academic year; students plan alien invasion routes from Brooklyn to learn map literacy with the Brooklyn Public Library; we have partnered with the Brooklyn Historical Society as their first ever East New York school to participate in their Young Curators program, researching the history of ENY; a documentary film elective developed by a team of teachers saw students conduct and film interviews with community members from local farm cooperatives and police stations; students take courses in Lego Robotics and coding and programming, and a trained student-run “Technology Team” is deployed to classrooms and during school events to set-up and trouble-shoot technology issues. 100% of our students rotate through multiple Enrichment Electives over the course of the year, and over 70% of our students are enrolled in and regularly attend at least one school-based, after-school activity.