His tough-love blend of hugs, humor and high expectations endeared him to the students. Mr. Concepci n's sudden departure shows how the careful plans on which charter schools are constructed can be disrupted by the same forces that often cause instability at traditional public schools in poor neighborhoods like the Morrisania section, where Bronx Prep is situated. Operating outside a larger bureaucracy can make charter schools more dependent on individual personalities and thus more vulnerable to such surprises, though it may also give them more flexibility to rebound. In breaking his one-year contract, Mr. Concepci n is the second of Bronx Prep's eight founding teachers to leave. Kathy Simpson, a writing teacher, lasted only about three weeks before she and the school's administrators agreed they were a bad match.
Life goes on.
This is business. We've got to keep going on to college. What she did not say is that he is now teaching at the KIPP Academy, a charter school a mile away, returning to a job he left last fall to join Bronx Prep. Mr. Concepci n's resignation capped several weeks of small clashes between him and Mrs. Damiba, mostly over routine things like the scheduling of field trips, the supervision of the African dance teacher, and fumbles with communication and decision making, several staff members said. Mrs. Damiba had brought Mr. Concepci n with her from KIPP, where she taught for five years, and the two worked in tandem through the fall, leading Saturday trips for the students of the month and establishing a school culture of rigor and rules.