Saved Schools

Ember Charter School for Mindful Education; Innovation; and Transformation

Ember Charter School for Mindful Education; Innovation; and Transformation, nominated by an anonymous organization, is a elementary/middle/high school in Brooklyn, New York that describes itself as a public charter school serving learners from a primarily urban area.

Location Brooklyn, New York

Governance Public charter school

Grades Elementary, Middle, High

Students 415

Locale Urban

Founder and Managing Partner Rafiq Kalam Id-Din II, Esq.

Demographics

Percentage of students*

10%

English Learners

80%

Free/Reduced Lunch

30%

Students with Disabilities

African American or Black

American Indian/Alaska Native

Asian

Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

Hispanic or Latino

White

2+ Races

Why Ember Charter School for Mindful Education; Innovation; and Transformation was nominated

Deep cultural and identify focus. Centered on Afrocentric curriculum. Teacher pathways modeled after law firms where teachers are partners. Experiential / exposure model. New definitions and models of student success. Rafiq and his team are intently focused on creating a beloved community in which all students feel affirmed. The team at Ember has built and intentionally mindful learning environment that prioritizes inquiry in academics and student social-emotional development.

Student experience design

We fundamentally believe that if our society shifts the focus of schooling for youth from high poverty communities away from information acquisition to holistic human development, students will be empowered to escape generational poverty, heal and thrive interpersonally from the deeply debilitating trauma of persistent poverty and racism. Such young people will emerge into adulthood as whole and healthy people well skilled in engaging in thoughtful analysis about our world’s biggest problems, with the brave and kind hearts and brilliant minds to solve them. Ember endeavors to serve as a catalyst for this process. Built on a foundation forged by the independent Black-schools movement from the 1960s and 70s, our “Ember Way” model operationalizes our trauma- and culturally-responsive approach to close the racial achievement and wealth gaps. We nurture and cultivate self-efficacy, social emotional healing and economic fluency as the primary tools for disrupting generational cycles of poverty, racism, and inequity. We recognize the debilitating impact of trauma on our students’ self-esteem and cognitive development, thus we emphasize the importance of love, agency, curiosity, self-direction, critical thinking, and physical and mental health. Each day we endeavor to serve as modern day conductors on the socio-economic Underground Railroad.

Core Practices

Core Practices Length of Use

Culturally Responsive Practices

5+ years

Interdisciplinary

5+ years

Performance Based Assessment

5+ years

Trauma-informed Practices

5+ years

All Practices

Advancement On Mastery

Student Advisories

Anti-racist Practices

Assessments For Agency And Self-directed Learning

Assessments For Career Readiness

Assessments For Deeper Learning

Assessments For Social-emotional Skills

Blended Learning

Career Prep And Work-based Learning

Teachers As Co-leaders

Co-leadership

Community And Business Partnerships

Family And Community Support Services

Competency/mastery-based Education

Disaggregated Data On Student Participation

Early College High School

Extended Learning Opportunities

Flexible Staffing & Alternative Teaching Roles

Grading Policies Focus On Mastery

Hiring For Equity And Inclusion Values

All Courses Designed For Inclusion

Interoperable Data From Multiple Technologies

Individual Learning Paths

Individual Learner Profiles

Mental Health Services

Multi-tiered System Of Support (MTSS) In Academics

No Tracked Classes

Multiple Opportunities To Demonstrate Mastery

Project-based Learning

Peer To Peer Support

Physical Well Being Services

Reallocation Of Resources For Those Most In Need

Restorative Practices

SEL Curriculum

SEL Integration School-wide

Social Justice Focus

Student-led Conferences

Students Access Their Own Data

Student-led Goal Setting

Students Develop Projects

Universal Design For Learning

key reasons for innovating

Systemic inequities

Date Updated: 4/1/2024

*Canopy profile data is self-reported or sourced from NCES data, then verified by school leaders.