FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2009

Great strides have been made at The Ethical Community Charter School. An impressive principal has been hired, the school building has been leased in the Marion section of Jersey City, and a parent community is building as students secure their spots for September 2009.

Marta Bergamini, hired earlier this month as principal, has the depth of experience required to run a new school taken from roles held inside and outside education. Strong organizational and communication skills were obvious in her interview with the Board of Trustees and to the parents who have met her and consequently enrolled their children at TECCS. She is currently an administrator and Teacher in Charge at Haworth Public School where her teaching role is in world language education. She looks to hire staff members with varied backgrounds who are “energetic and creative” and have “a strong work ethic.” Her immediate goals for the charter school include creating a safe learning environment and completing an exciting curriculum.  Bergamini is enthusiastic about becoming a part of the Jersey City educational community, where she finds that the “diverse background of the families and the dedication of parents will make the school special.”

The Ethical Community Charter School features a curriculum focused on ethical behavior, learning by doing, and creative problem-solving, all promoted through a love of literacy.  Bergamini believes that students’ future success as individuals and also our success as a community depend on developing mutual respect and tolerance: “Creating a curriculum that involves community service is a key component in building acceptance and understanding of each other.” 

The charter school will open its doors in September at 95 Broadway, the former home of Mt. Carmel School in the Marion section of Jersey City, just west of Journal Square. The building, constructed in 1954, is in excellent, nearly move-in condition (the school will be recruiting volunteers to help paint later in the spring) and boasts a full-size gymnasium for sports, some recess and school gatherings, with a proscenium stage at one end and a recently installed projection system. The building has twelve large, sunny classrooms, as well as ample office space. The basement level has a sizable cafeteria and a full kitchen. The school is at the corner of Broadway and Giles, just a block away from a safe and well-maintained public playground, ideal for recess time.

The school has a detailed new website: www.teccs-jc.org, where parents can download applications and learn more about the school’s mission.  TECCS will continue to take applications throughout the spring and will hold public lotteries to assign spaces or waitlist positions to each applicant.  Interested parents are also encouraged to attend the next open house on Sunday, March 29 at 4:00pm.

For further information:
201-606-8108
Dr. Ann E. Wallace  
The Ethical Community Charter School
P.O. Box 249
Jersey City, NJ 07303-0249