DREAM Charter School

1991 2nd Avenue

East Harlem, New York City, New York 10028
!
School Performance Data:
http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/data/TestResults/ELAandMathTestResults
(Click on Math and ELA links below Charter Schools)
!
School Website:
http://www.dreamschoolnyc.org/
!
School Placement:
DREAM Charter School is a charter school affiliated with the non-profit
organization, Harlem RBI. This school, located in a primarily Hispanic area of East
Harlem, is home to a majority of Hispanic (60%) and Black (34%) students. 8% of
students are English language learners, 25% of students have disabilities, and 81% of
students are considered economically disadvantaged. DREAM Charter School prides
itself on its inclusion model, and aims to have a learning specialist in every classroom in
order to meet needs of students with exceptionalities. The school has common systems
for nearly everything we do, including class points, rewards, management, lesson
structure, and routines. Behavior management is a primary factor, as many students miss
class on a daily basis as a result of being sent to the Deans office as per our common
management system guidelines. When it comes to lesson planning, I have access to rough
outlines of the previous years lesson plans, but I am encouraged to add a great deal of
detail and to create new assignments and learning experiences weekly. I am expected to
script very detailed lesson plans including exemplar responses, data tracking, feedback,
anticipated misconceptions, and scripted responses to address misconceptions.
!
Teaching Placement:
Throughout the 2016-2017 school year, I taught seventh and eighth grade science.
I had two seventh grade blocks, each with 26 students, and two eighth grade blocks, each
with 26 students. Each section was 45 minutes long. Classes were equally comprised of
male and female students. Preparedness ranges from on grade-level to far below grade
level. The seventh grade sections have a learning specialist in the room every day. This
person is responsible for making annotated texts and guided support packets for students
that need additional resources and help. This person is also responsible for progress
monitoring for students with IEPs. In one eighth grade section there is a second teacher
in the room for support with management and maintaining high expectations, but she
does not assist with teaching or providing targeted support. In the other eighth grade
class, there is no additional support. I primarily operate on the seventh grade team,
although I also collaborate with the eighth grade team frequently. Constant collaboration
is an expectation, as all teachers work together in the best interests of the students.