| State: New York | Number of Students: 327 |
| School Type: Charter School | Free and Reduced Lunch: 79.0% |
| Grade Level: 6-8 | English Language Learners: 14.0% |
School Context
College and Career Ready: Brooklyn LAB is focused on preparing students for college and their professional lives by providing learning opportunities that are interest-driven.
More Instructional Time: There is a heavy emphasis on providing more time for learning by extending the school day, week and year to include enrichment activities such as robotics, digital media, and coding.
Small Group Tutoring: Throughout the school day, students receive at least one hour of literature and one hour of math tutoring in small groups with a LAB Corps Fellow (recent college graduates).
Curriculum for the Future: The school’s curriculum is focused on college readiness and the school offers STEAM enrichment opportunities for students to increase interest and preparedness for careers in 21st century industries, and tocultivate the entrepreneurial spirit.
State of Technology
Chromebooks for All: All students at Brooklyn LAB receive a Google Chromebook to use in school. Students can access their school emailfrom a home computer, and the school makes Chromebooks availableto families who do not have home computers at a discounted price so that students can complete their work and access important school information.
360 Lab Time: A day in the life of a student at Brooklyn LAB includes a combination of direct instruction, game-based courseware and small group instruction. The school has a unique extended time structure to provide more instructional time for students. The school day lasts from 8:30AM to 5:30PM. From 3:30PM to 5:30PM, students transition to 360 Lab time which includes enrichment activities like arts, sports, debate, computer programming, robotics and game design. These enrichment options vary each trimester and are taught by a secondset of educators. The two hour block can include instruction, tinkering, working with guest speakers and even trips with the goal of extendinglearning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom setting and promoting a school culture of entrepreneurial learning.
The Backbone of Brooklyn LAB: Cortex, a homegrown tool designedby co-founder, Erin Mote, is the backbone of the school’s academic model. Cortex is a student information system, a learning management system and a formative assessment engine all rolled into one. The goal of Cortex is to help teachers and students have a good idea ofwhere students are in their learning and providing information about how each learner achieves mastery. The tool incorporates real timeassessments, delivery of content through playlists and allows students to set their own goals. The vision is for Cortex to be a tool that is available to other learning communities, and in fact it is currently beingused by Achievement First, a Connecticut-based charter middle school. As Brooklyn LAB grows and changes, it informs Cortex, which has been designed to be flexible.
Supporting Complex Learners: A major focus at Brooklyn LAB is to understand how to best implement personalized learning programs to include and support students with disabilities, or complex learners. Teachers andtutors use results from formative assessments to personalize instruction foreach student. Cortex was designed to not only give feedback on whether mastery was achieved in a particular area, but how it was achieved so that teachers and tutors can tailor instruction to meet each student’s needs andstrengths.
Tech Needs & Requirements
All technology purchases must solve a real problem. Data privacy and security is very important to Brooklyn LAB, especially because the school has a hacker club. The school is always looking for strong literacy and science tools.
