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EL PUENTE ACADEMY FOR PEACE AND
JUSTICE:
El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice was established in 1993 by El Puente in
partnership with the New York City Board of Education, (now the NYC Department of Education)
as part of a school renewal initiative launched by New Visions for Public Schools (formerly the Fund for New
York City Public Education) to improve public education in New York City by providing
support to individuals, groups and communities that wanted to create schools of their own.
The Academy reflects El Puente’s vision of education
emerging from the community. The Academy, guided by the leadership of Frances Lucerna,
El Puente Academy’s Founding Principal, was the first community/youth development
organization in New York State to create a public school and by the unanimous vote of the
NYC Board of Education was the first organization authorized by the Board to own its own
public school building. El Puente Academy has received many accolades and awards as a
national community and human rights school model and is at the forefront of the
nation’s Small School Movement. In 2003, the Academy was
recognized by the Department of Education’s Chancellor as one of New York City’s
208 Schools of Excellence and recently highlighted in the
Eisenhower Foundation report What Works: Public School Reform.
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Frank Lopez
Gonzalez: