Achievement First Crown Heights Middle School

790 East New York Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11203
Phone: 718-774-0762
Fax: 718-774-0830

Opened: August 2005
Grades: Five to eight
Number of Students in 2009-10: 342
Student Demographics in 2009-10:
51% Boys, 49% Girls
99% African American or Hispanic
72% Qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch

Overview

Achievement First Crown Heights Middle School opened in Brooklyn in 2005 as one of the first two Achievement First schools in New York City. Achievement Fist Crown Heights Middle balances fun and excitement with discipline, reflection and focus. The school hosts challenge events to foster healthy competition, like a Book Bowl or a Multiplication Tournament. Among the school’s many character development initiatives, the Natural Born Aces (NBA) program is unique. This program helps male scholars who are on the cusp of becoming Aces (getting straight “A”s) achieve their goal with the help of team goal-setting, emotional support from peers and candid conversations about the formation of their identity as young, African-American males. After-school activities include a documentary film club, art club, orchestra, step team, track and basketball. Last year, the school was proud that both its boys’ and girls’ basketball teams placed second in the NYC Charter School Athletic League.

School Leader

Wells Blanchard is the principal of Achievement First Crown Heights Middle School. Prior to joining Achievement First, Mr. Blanchard was a founding math teacher at Boston Preparatory Charter School, helping to build the high-performing school from the ground up. On the 2009 state exam, Boston Preparatory Charter School eighth graders ranked third and fourth out of all school districts in the state in math and English language arts, respectively. Previously, Mr. Blanchard served as director of athletics and director of technology at Leadership Public Schools in East San Jose, California, following six years in the business world as product manager of several Internet start-up companies. Mr. Blanchard graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and earned his Masters in teaching from Simmons College.