Dive Brief:

• Roses in Concrete Community School in Oakland, CA, aims to offer the enrichment opportunities common in wealthy, white, independent schools instead of the bootcamp-like test prep more common in urban charters that serve mostly black and Latino students.
• The Hechinger Report writes the charter school is dual language (English/Spanish) and has a full suite of extra-curricular activities and athletics, while also focusing on the performing arts through the lens of African, Latino and Native American traditions.
• Founder Jeff Duncan-Andrade tailored the school design to the realities of the Oakland community, and while he hopes to help other school leaders create models for their environments, he doesn't think it makes sense to replicate a chain of Roses in Concrete schools elsewhere, which he says is a colonial model.

Dive Insight:

A handful of urban college prep charter schools have been very successful at getting predominantly black and Latino students through high school and into college, but some argue it is at the expense of a more well-rounded curriculum. While their peers in wealthy districts are learning important critical thinking and collaboration skills, these students are doing test prep drills. Teachers and counselors also tend to hold students’ hands to keep them on track, and some say that leaves students at a disadvantage in college.

There are many ways to define success when it comes to urban education. One important lesson schools can take from Roses in Concrete, however, is the focus on serving unique local communities. The best school reform strategies respond to specific realities on the ground. Every poor, urban community is different, and school leaders who recognize that can address the specific symptoms and underlying causes they see.