School Spotlight: Hope Elementary Charter, Raleigh
Hope Elementary Principal Richard Rubin “wanted to do something different” after leaving the New York public school system, and as he says, “this is different.”
With only 120 students, this small K-5 charter school in Raleigh has the freedom to implement innovative teaching for its students and operates like a family. . Rubin believes “teaching is becoming a science; and the more data a teacher has, the better teachers can reach students.”
All teachers use data driven instruction for students; online testing assessments are done four times a year in English and math, which enables teachers to separate children into small groups based upon their test scores. This model enables more individualized teaching, particularly with an average class size of 19 students.
By minimizing interruptions in the classroom, meeting children where they are, and having high expectations for students, Hope Elementary has become a great model for how charters can help shrink North Carolina’s achievement gap. Hope’s end-of-grade (EOG) test scores exceed the state averages for minority and economically disadvantaged students.
Another important component is the school’s new discipline policy, which focuses on self responsibility and handling discipline in a positive way. Instead of rewarding students behaving well, good behavior is expected as the norm, and that has created a culture of respect not only for teachers and staff, but for students as well.
Rubin feels he can “give back to the community, and I finally feel like I’m doing God’s work. My work will be done when I can ask my staff if they would send their child to Hope Elementary, and the answer is yes.”
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