A new charter school is set to open in Rochester in the fall of 2011. True North Genesee Preparatory Charter School, or Genesee Prep, will be modeled after another similarly successful Rochester school that will graduate its first class next month.

True North Rochester Preparatory Charter School opened its doors in 2006 and has steadily increased its state ranking in Math and English Language Arts reaching 100 percent in 2009.

Part of the success is the association Rochester Prep has with Uncommon Schools, a network of urban charter schools located across New York State in Rochester, Brooklyn, and Troy along with Newark, New Jersey. They all rank among the highest performing urban schools in the United States.

The new Genesee Prep will also be part of that group.

"I think it plays out in our results, it's visible when you walk into the school,” said Dan Deckman, Rochester Prep’s chief operating officer. “This is a school that has high character and high academic expectations. We're looking to push our kids onto the path to college."

On the surface, Rochester Prep resembles your typical school. The difference is in the classroom. The faculty makes learning fun. It believes with such a strict curriculum, students tend to better comprehend their lessons if teachers keep them engaged.

"I do what I can to find ways to make it enjoyable for them too,” explained Kelli Ragin, a math teacher at Rochester Prep. “So we'll do songs, we come up with chants to get them participating. It's not just about using your hands. I make them stomp their feet. I'll get every body part in there if I can just to make them engaged in the lesson."

Rochester prep has 270 middle school students in grades five through eight. It will add an elementary school at Jay and Ames Streets beginning this coming fall.

The charter school said there is a growing need to close the educational achievement gap making the 2011 opening of Genesee Prep a needed commodity.

"We felt the overwhelming demand here at both the Rochester Prep Middle School and then at the elementary school that will be opening in the fall,” Deckman said. “The pressure has been on us to grow and open more opportunities."

Genesee Prep will be modeled after Rochester Prep. Around 80 fifth graders will be accepted into its first class. The school's long-range plan is to serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Rochester Prep