Steinhardt Collaborates with Ross Institute on New Charter Public School

By James Devitt

NYU’s Steinhardt School has collaborated with the Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education to create a new charter school in New York City. The Ross Global Academy, approved by the New York State Board of Regents in mid-January and backed by New York City Public Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, is scheduled to open on the Lower East Side in the fall of 2006.

Ross Global Academy will adopt the education model developed at Ross School of East Hampton, an independent school founded 15 years ago by Courtney Sale Ross and her late husband, Steven J. Ross, former chairman and CEO of Time Warner.

“Our global city needs to prepare the youngest New Yorkers with a global education,” said NYU President John Sexton. “We are very proud to partner with Ross on this new initiative. Such an undertaking is a particularly good fit for NYU, which throughout its history has charted new ground in higher education. Our institutions clearly share a commitment to educational innovation as well as a devotion to the most important cause in New York City today: the education of the next generation of New Yorkers. I salute Courtney Ross for her vision and generosity.”

“Ross School in Long Island is at the forefront of some of the most promising innovations in the country today: an education based on the theory of individual differences in cognition and learning, interdisciplinary integration, and the most sophisticated use of technology in education,” added Mary Brabeck, dean of the Steinhardt School. “The innovative curricula reflect the mission of the Steinhardt School to integrate knowledge, wellness, and the arts. The new academy arrives in New York City at exactly the right time. We are delighted to be a part of this exciting new partnership.”

Ross Global Academy will extend, for the first time in the United States, the innovations from an internationally credentialed independent school to a public charter school. It will feature the Ross Model of interdisciplinary instruction designed to engage students with individual differences in learning, to foster higher order meta-cognitive skills and intercultural understanding, as well as immersion in technology. The academy will also focus on the whole child, including an innovative wellness program.

Ross Global Academy will join a number of schools that have a special “partnership” with NYU involving collaborations in research, the education of teachers and other professionals, and efforts to improve education for all New Yorkers. The relationship in this case grows out of nearly two years of conversation and collaboration among the Steinhardt faculty, the Ross School faculty in East Hampton, and the New York City-based Ross Institute.

The academy will serve New York City public school students from diverse backgrounds and with a variety of academic abilities in grades Kindergarten–12, including students with special needs and English Language Learners (ELLs). It is expected to achieve a total enrollment of 500 students in four years, and, as with all New York charter schools, a lottery will determine admission.

“As the world undergoes profound changes, education must adapt to prepare children for an increasingly interconnected, diverse, and technology driven society,” Courtney Sale Ross said. “Our work with NYU at Ross Global Academy will allow us to help more children be better prepared for a world made smaller yet exceedingly more complicated by globalization. I have always intended that what we have learned at Ross School, with the help of some of the best minds in the world, would one day be widely shared around the globe. Today marks a significant milepost in our efforts to scale up what works.”