They call this a school, but I call it a community. Students arrive older. On average, Satellite students are 17.5 years old when they are admitted. Though few arrive with more than a tenth-grade standing, they can expect to complete Satellite's graduation portfolio requirements in about two years. With the school's help many also take on concurrent courses or internships, either in local community colleges, technical cooperative programs, or experiential learning programs.
Students have prior attendance problems.
Chambers Street site attendance has shown steady improvement since joining the Coalition, with 82 percent of students present each day, based on data collected with strict attention to accuracy. Students have previous academic failure. About 200 students of the 780 in Satellite's four sites graduate each year, which places the school sixth in the city for percentage of total population graduating. Kathleen Cushman A continuing series describing areas in which Essential Schools are demonstrating significant progress toward change using the Nine Common Principles.