About Us

We believe that public schools—whether district or charter—have a collective and mutual obligation to ensure that all students in the City graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college, work and life.

NYC COLLABORATES

With a public school system as diverse as the city itself, great ideas can come from anywhere. We’re here to make sure they don’t go unnoticed.

NYC Collaborates creates opportunities for educators from district and charter schools to come together to share information and collaborate to improve student achievement.

Spearheaded by the New York City Charter School Center and New York City’s Department of Education, NYC Collaborates is funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates, Robertson and Robin Hood Foundations.

We don’t expect this to be easy—we face a sprawling education system, structural and cultural differences, distracting media, and hectic workloads. We understand that there is a lot to wade through, but we know collaboration is possible. We’ve seen it happening in schools and communities already. We’re committed to expanding upon this work and establishing a culture of collaboration.

  • 300

    SQUARE MILES

  • 1,750

    PUBLIC SCHOOLS

  • 1.1 MILLION

    STUDENTS ENROLLED

OUR WORK

A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO COLLABORATE

NYC Collaborates is a program born out of New York City’s District-Charter Compact. The Compact is a national initiative, spearheaded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to highlight new ways that traditional public schools and public charter schools are working to provide high-quality education for all students.

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LEARN ABOUT NYC’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

NYC’S PORTFOLIO OF SCHOOLS

Along with a growing number of urban school districts, the NYC DOE pursues a portfolio strategy, which is a continuous improvement model for districts that aim to dramatically affect student outcomes at scale.

CHARTER SCHOOLS 101

Charter schools are just one part of the NYC DOE’s portfolio strategy. Though public, charter schools operate independently, according to the terms of a performance contract or “charter” which grants schools greater levels of both freedom and accountability.