In September 2009, Civic Builders and New Heights Academy joined together to celebrate the completed expansion of the school. The long-term leasehold improvement project enabled the school to scale to 750 students, making it the largest, single charter school in New York City.
After securing a charter, New Heights' Board of Trustees decided to take a planning year to locate, lease and renovate a space for the school. New Heights was able to secure several floors (28,000 square feet) at 1818 Amsterdam Avenue and opened their doors in the fall of 2006. Their initial real estate endeavors were very costly and excessively taxing on the school.
As New Heights began to scale, they realized that they needed to find a better solution for their real estate needs. In July 2008, the school partnered with Civic Builders on the expansion of their facility. Civic took over New Heights' current lease and secured the option for an additional two floors - a total of 60,000 square feet - for 30 years. Civic financed and renovated/built-out the additional floors to accomodate the school's needs, and subleased the entire space to the school.
Civic's renovations created an additional 16 classrooms, six science labs, small instruction rooms, and administrative offices and brought bathrooms and other amenities up to code. Construction launched in November 2008 and was completed in time and on budget for the fall 2009 semester.
New Heights Academy Scores High
As the only chartered middle and high school currently operating in community school district 6, New Heights works to provide an academically rigorous curriculum to ensure that all students possess the knowledge, skills, and desire to achieve challenging post secondary education and career goals. Simultaneously, their small class sizes provide a nurturing environment and a focus on character education to ensure that their students develop a strong self-identity conducive to leading responsible lives as citizens in our global society.
As indicated by the New York City Department of Education's 2008-2009 Report Card, New Heights is closing the achievement gap. The school scored an "A" and came in 15th out of 1,058 ranked NYC elementary and middle schools.
Statistics:
New Heights Academy Charter School
1818 Amsterdam Avenue, Washington Heights
Total Square Footage: 60,000
Students at Scale: 750
Grades: 5-12
Project Status: Completed 2009
Achitects: Edelman Sultan Knox Wood Architects LLP
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