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El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice

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Coordinates: 40°42′21″N 73°57′20″W / 40.7057°N 73.9556°W / 40.7057; -73.9556
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El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice
El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice
Original location on South Fourth Street
Address
Map
250 Hooper St

Brooklyn
,
New York
11211

United States
Coordinates40°42′21″N 73°57′20″W / 40.7057°N 73.9556°W / 40.7057; -73.9556
Information
TypeAlternative Public high school
Established1993 (1993)
School districtNYC District #14
NCES School ID360011900892[1]
Teaching staff23.95 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment221 (2021–2022)[1]
Student to teacher ratio9.23[1]
Campus typeUrban
Websiteelpuente.us/el-puente-academy-for-peace-justice

El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice is an alternative public high school in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City.[2][3] In 1998 it had a mostly Hispanic student body.[3] As of 2012 Wanda Vazquez is the principal.[4]

History

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El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice was established as a partnership between the El Puente, a Latino youth development group, and the New York City Board of Education (now the New York City Department of Education) in 1993 with money provided by New Visions for Public Schools, a nonprofit sponsor of alternative schools. It was created to teach social justice and human rights to high school students, training them to become community activists in Williamsburg's predominantly Hispanic South Side. Director of the school Frances Lucerna and leader of El Puente and member of the Young Lords Party Luis Garden-Acosta founded the school in hopes it transforms the community as well.[5][6][7] The staff is multicultural with no strict hierarchy and work to connect the classroom with real-life experiences.[8]

The school was originally housed at the South Fourth Street community center until City Department of Education officials ordered it to leave in 2006. The El Puente organization was the first organization authorized by the NYC board of education to own its own public school building and in 2008 moved to the vacant Transfiguration grammar school after the death of the church's long-time pastor.[9][5][6]

Criticism

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At its founding, critics worried that the school's focus on social justice and human rights might lead to an indoctrination of politics. They feared that students in the Williamsburg area, known for being the city's teen-age gang capital at that time, needed more traditional academic skills for them to succeed.[7]

In 1998, Heather Mac Donald of the City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute think tank, criticized the school's culture and specifically its hip-hop class.[3]

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In the 2010 movie It's Kind of a Funny Story, the El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice is lauded as a magnet school for Do-Gooders.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Search for Public Schools - EL PUENTE ACADEMY FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE (360011900892)". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  2. ^ "Location & Hours Archived 2012-03-01 at the Wayback Machine." El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, El Puente Leaders for Peace & Justice. Retrieved on March 17, 2012. "El Puente for Peace & Justice Academy 250 Hooper Street Brooklyn, NY 11211"
  3. ^ a b c Mac Donald, Heather. "An F for Hip-Hop 101 Archived 2012-05-13 at the Wayback Machine." City Journal. (Northern Hemisphere) Summer 1998. Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
  4. ^ "Welcome." El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, New York City Department of Education. Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Gonzalez, David (October 28, 2008). "High School for Social Justice Finds New Home". City Room. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Hartocollis, Anemona (January 29, 1999). "Crew Plans Charter Schools, His Way". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  7. ^ a b Gonzalez, David (May 23, 1995). "ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS; A Bridge From Hope to Social Action". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  8. ^ Dryfoos, Joy G. (1998). Safe passage: Making it through adolescence in a risky society. North Central Regional Educational Lab., Oak Brook, IL. Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED425225.pdf
  9. ^ "EL PUENTE ACADEMY FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine." El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, El Puente Leaders for Peace & Justice. Retrieved on March 17, 2012.
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