Even though school is out for the summer, parents are already making plans for school year 2019-20! When students return in August, they will learn, play, and grow inside Success Academy Williamsburg. A free, public charter school with grades K-4, SA Williamsburg admits students based on random lottery — and they’re still accepting applications for the upcoming school year. If YOU would like to learn more about this world-class elementary school, what better way than straight from an SA scholar?? Keep reading to hear more about a day in the life of SA Williamsburg scholar, Keagan!
I wake up early to get to school on time, and I like to listen to The Greatest Showman soundtrack and to Drake when I get dressed in the morning
Ms. Levy, my principal, is always waiting outside to say hello. She shakes my hand every morning!
My classroom is called UPenn — that’s where my teacher, Ms. Saez, went to college. My classmates and I are known as the class of 2027 here at Success Academy because that’s when we will graduate from college.
When I come to the classroom in the morning, I start my morning work, which is a chance to practice what we learned the day before. Usually I get all the questions right. Sometimes I get one question wrong, maybe two but usually just one.
In Ms. Saez’s UPenn class, we have special leis with different meanings. The light blue lei is for getting 100 percent on your homework. Ms. Saez helps each of us set goals and work to reach them so that we get better and better each day.
Math is one of my favorite subjects. In Math Workshop, we’re learning how to decompose hard numbers using rows and columns. Basically, you take big numbers and break them down into friendlier numbers so you can easily do equations.
Writing is actually a big part of my day because we write in all of our classes.
We often will swap papers with our neighbors to offer suggestions. We’re helping one another become stronger writers.
In Guided Reading, we’re reading books together that teach us about the muscles in our body and how they help us sit, stand, run, and jump. But we’re also learning how to think carefully about what we’re reading. My reading goal is to slow down and pronounce each syllable of a word I don’t know. Today I got stuck on “Achilles” while we were reading. But I get stuck less often than I used to!
We get lunch at school every day, then go outside for recess. I love playing sports. My favorite is basketball. I’ll play basketball every day even if it’s raining outside.
Starting in third grade, we get to pick two electives to study for the whole year! This year, I’m taking music and theater. Today in our music elective, we played an old folk song on the xylophone called “Captain, Go Sidetrack Your Train.”
I love that we have science EVERY DAY! We do so many experiments. Right now we’re learning about the Earth’s movements and its revolutions. It’s interesting because we’re seeing how shadows move — we use a flashlight and pretend that it’s the sun!
Today after school, my mom is going to pick me up. It usually takes me 45 minutes to do all my homework. I work on vocab, spelling practice, and No Hesitation Math. When all my homework is done, I’ll play my Xbox.
Usually I’ll go home with my babysitter. I don’t like having a babysitter. I’m too mature for one.
Sponsored by Success Academy: Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools is the largest and highest-performing free, public charter school network in New York City. Admission is open to all New York State children, including those with special needs and English language learners.