Two educators are hoping to open a charter school in the northwest Bronx, possibly on Webster Avenue.

Steve Bergen and Adjowah Scott, two former colleagues at an independent, tuition-free K-8 school in Harlem, have applied with the State University of New York’s Charter Schools Institute to establish their own middle school here in the Bronx.

The months-long application process should come to a head in June, Bergen says, when the two will find out if their proposal has been approved by the State.

They are calling the proposed school “Tech International,” and say their vision is a curriculum based around strong reading, writing and math skills, an added emphasis on the use of technology — every student would get their own laptop and e-reader — and a focus on different cultures and worldviews.

“We have ambitions to make this a very special school in the Bronx,” Bergen said.

If approved, the school would open in the fall of 2012, serving grades six through eight and starting with a class of 88 students, Bergen said, but he would hope to eventually expand the school through grade 12.

Bergen is a longtime math teacher and Scott has a background in special education. For the past several years, the two have run a program called “Tech Saturdays” in Harlem, which offers free computer skills classes to students and their families, and sets them up with refurbished or donated computers.

“We really have come up with an approach to using technology and international connections to help kids in underserved areas succeed,” Bergen said. “We want to take what we’re doing [now], and have a bigger impact.”

There are four charter schools currently operating in District 10, which covers most of the northwest Bronx, and two more are scheduled to open this fall.
Marvin Shelton, president of the district’s Community Education Council, said the community is likely to see an influx of charters in the coming years, since the State Legislature voted last spring to raise the cap on the number allowed in New York, from 200 to 460.

Charters schools, which are publicly funded but independent from the regulations of traditional public schools, can sometimes be a source of controversy. In a city like New York, many schools must compete for limited resources — building space in particular.

“We prefer them to find their own space,” Shelton said. “Anytime a charter is going to go in a public school building, it decreases that area’s ability to absorb students. Our buildings are supposed to serve the local community.”

Tech International hopes to open at 2348 Webster Ave., in a building currently occupied by another charter school, Bronx Community, which is expanding and will move to a new building on Webster and 205th Street in the 2012 school year.