Excellence Girls Charter School - Brooklyn, NY

Excellence Girls Charter School (EGCS) was founded in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in August, 2009, as part as the Uncommon Schools network. EGCS works to ensure that its student population is reflective of the surrounding community: 78% of students qualify for free and reduced price lunch, and 84% of ECGS students are African American, 8% of the students are Hispanic, and 1% are Asian. Scholars at Excellence Girls consistently outperform the surrounding districts on state exams, and in 2015 the students at Excellence Girls Elementary Academy ranked #15 in math out of 2,500 New York State elementary schools with 94% of students scoring either "Advanced" or "Proficient." As a school community, we seek to redefine expectations for the quality of education possible at an urban public school and for what our graduates can achieve. The Excellence Girls student body is 99% minority women, a group that is historically under-represented in leadership positions throughout society and across sectors. For this reason, EGCS has strategically developed a rigorous curriculum, traditions, and a school culture that empowers young women with the character traits that will allow them to persevere along the road to and through college and ultimately be change-makers for our world. We strive to create a community of empowered and kind young female leaders who are the architects of their own lives. This emphasis on self-empowerment - cultivating the habits, skills, and confidence that will ensure success -is carefully interwoven throughout every aspect of the school.