The International Leadership Charter Middle School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 3515 Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood on Monday, Sept. 11, and officially opened its doors on Wednesday, Sept. 13, for the 2023/24 school session.

 

Monday’s ceremony included a tour of what were described as state-of-the-art classrooms by staff and faculty. Officials said the new school will duplicate the instructional model which they said has proven successful at the International Leadership Charter High School located at 3060 Riverdale Avenue in Kingsbridge, which opened its doors on Sept. 11, 2006.

 

Dr. Elaine Ruíz López, founder and CEO of the International Leadership Charter Schools, said of the date, “We chose that day as a symbol of hope and a light that would shine from The Bronx and to acknowledge all that is still beautiful and positive about our future.”

 

She added, “Our Bronx scholars, many of whom are economically disadvantaged and/or multilingual learners, deserve the opportunities that traditionally have not been readily available to them.”

 

Representatives for International Leadership Charter Schools said its high school system was established in 2006 and provides college preparatory education to thousands of Bronx scholars. They said it has earned recognition by U.S. News & World Report for the Best High School in the country and state.

“This is due, in part, to the fact that the school’s average graduation rate over the last decade is 95%, and that 99% of those scholars have been accepted to 4-year private and public institutions of higher education,” officials said. They said these institutions include New York University, Fordham University, Manhattan College, Barnard College as well as State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) schools.

 

The school building is the former site of St. Ann’s School, one of three Bronx Catholic schools which closed following an announcement by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York in February 2017. The other two were St. Mary School and Visitation School. The closure trend continued in recent years with the announcement of the closure of a further six Bronx Catholic schools in 2020 and six more in 2023, as reported.

 

According to an Archdiocese announcement in 2017, students at the former St. Ann School had had “the opportunity to continue their Catholic education at St. Brendan School [in Norwood], St. John’s School in Kingsbridge, and Our Lady of Grace, respectively, or at other neighborhood Catholic school.”

 

Since then, St. Brendan School on East 206^th Street, also in Norwood, has also closed, as reported, to the disappointment of many local parents, teachers, kids, and alumni who held rallies to oppose the closure, while the other two Catholic schools remain open. As reported, Success Charter Academy announced in April 2023 the leasing of the former St. Brendan School site for the opening of a new charter school in September 2023.

The International Leadership Charter School is also opening a new charter school in Kingsbridge, as reported, despite opposition from some residents who oppose the location of the school site at 306 West 232nd Street.

 

Meanwhile, officials of the charter school said incoming 6th graders at the new Bainbridge Avenue middle school will receive an academically rigorous curriculum with a S.T.E.A.M. focus that includes robotics and coding, all skills designed to prepare them for the jobs of the future in areas which they said will undoubtedly require higher levels of competency. Officials said the school is still accepting applications.