Category: Uncategorized

Empowering Community: A Recap of Inwood Academy’s Week of Service

By: Ana Gonzalez, Marketing Manager

At Inwood Academy for Leadership, we believe in the power of service to transform communities and instill a sense of purpose in our students. Our mission is to empower students to become agents for change through community-focused leadership, character development, and college preparedness. One of the ways we  empower our trailblazers is through our annual […]

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Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School achieves Level 1 certification in Marzano High Reliability Schools

By: Marketing & Communications Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School achieves Level 1 certification in Marzano High Reliability Schools   New York, NY, [December 5, 2024] – Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School is pleased to announce the achievement of Level 1 certification in Marzano High Reliability Schools. Level 1 certification means Inwood Academy for […]

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Where Are They Now: Gabriel Carpio, Class of 2018

By: Sarabeth Weszely Thorson, Writer

We work hard to keep close connections with our alumni, not only so that we can support them along their educational and career journeys, but also because their journeys are one of our greatest inspirations as we continue investing in the lives of future leaders each year. This month we spoke with an alum from […]

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Where Are They Now: Agapito José Pozo, Class of 2020

By: Sarabeth Weszely Thorson, Writer

“I don’t want myself to just be a statistic. I don’t want to be one of the few that make it to a nice college. I don’t want to be one of the few that succeed. I want to be one of the many. And I feel that in order for that to happen, I […]

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A Space to Dream: College & Career Success Program reaches IAL Middle School Students through Alumni Week

By: The Strategy & Institutional Advancement Team

“I’m proud of the way our College & Career Success team and our teachers have supported each other to effectively serve our students.” – Hazel Pina, Alumni Success Manager Inwood Academy strives to open as many doors as possible for students during and after their time in our school, and we know that exposure to […]

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Giving Students The Power To Break Barriers: A Fund For Student Success

By: The Strategy & Institional Advancement team

Inwood Academy strives to open as many doors as possible for students during and after their time in our school, setting holistic goals for student success that far exceed the norms in our community. In order to realize these goals, we need to begin orienting our students to their many options as young as possible. […]

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SOMOS Inwood! “Inwood Academy families celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month”

By: Ana Gonzalez, Marketing Specialist

IAL Families celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with taste! September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month! Last year, our team dedicated time to figure out creative ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month while students were remote learning. While we are now in person, we decided to kick it up a notch while still […]

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30 Days Down and a Great School Year To Go!

By: Ana Gonzalez, Marketing Specialist

Student Orientation Week: An Overview  It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 days since our students started the academic year at Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School. 30 days of in-school learning. 30 days of hearing the transition bells, seeing the hallways flood with students changing classes. This time, they are wearing masks, staying […]

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A Long-Awaited Month of Celebration

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

Celebration is so important to the culture of IAL. When we began the 2020-21 school year last fall, while the pain of sending off our 2020 graduates without in-person celebration was fresh and the future was uncertain, we made it a point to keep end-of-year celebrations a priority. Despite the many setbacks COVID-19 presented, we […]

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Meet Our New Middle School Principal, Bianca Mercedes!

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

After tirelessly serving Inwood Academy students, families and staff for eleven years, Valerie Hoekstra will be passing off her role as Middle School Principal to Bianca Mercedes, a fellow founding member of IAL with a rich background in education and community leadership. We share this news with a bittersweet joy, appreciating all Mrs. Hoekstra has […]

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Education as Advocacy: Learning from, with and for our Autistic Scholars

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

The extent to which we embody our mission of raising leaders who will advocate for themselves and others becomes especially clear when you look at our engagement with physical and developmental disabilities as a school. Ensuring equity for students and staff of all abilities is a longtime value of ours, as about one in four […]

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Students are Back in the Building!

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

On April 19, we began our school-wide return to in-person learning, welcoming students into both buildings one grade level at a time in order to promote social distancing. Our goals for the spring in-person learning experience are to assess where students are at in order to plan for next year’s instruction, allow them to connect […]

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Education as Advocacy: Lady Leaders at IAL

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

Our founding values create in us an unwavering commitment to protect the dignity of all human lives, promote justice and mutual respect, and advocate for those who are marginalized and vulnerable in our communities. We are committed not only to empowering our students as they fight injustice, but also ensuring equity internally through our leadership […]

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Education as Advocacy: Exploring Black History Outside of Our Textbooks

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

“Black History Month – which my 86-year old-grandmother celebrated as Black History Week – is something Black Americans have been fighting for for a very long time,” begins Middle School Drama teacher, Ms. Porter. “And that is simply for Black history to be considered American history.” It has been our mission as a school to […]

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Alumni Leadership Through Socially Distanced Times

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

“My mom and I moved from the Dominican Republic in 2013. I needed a lot of help with my English, and no other school had the right tools to help me learn and push me to where I am today. I earned awards that I never thought I would earn. I was pushed to succeed, […]

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What Has 2020 Meant for Inwood Academy?

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

“This school has not missed a beat. When you look at the year overall, we have some significant accomplishments. We gave Chromebooks to all of our students. We have an advisory program that now serves all grades. The staff has held countless virtual parent-teacher conferences, curriculum nights, professional development sessions – the list goes on. […]

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A Season of Gratitude and Giving

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

Though recent pandemic trends have brought more challenges and difficult decisions our way, this month has been full of gratefulness, generosity, and goodwill in our school – and we are confident there is more to come! In addition to dedicating our social media channels to reflections on gratitude, we have been working to put together […]

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Election Season Advocacy at Inwood Academy

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

While we have been hard at work ensuring the voices in our community will be heard on November 3rd, we are well aware that the work we do year-round has vast implications when it comes to advocacy, equity and justice. Here are a few ways we have been pursuing those goals this month.  Each month, […]

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Remote Learning & Support Round Two: Another Fall at Inwood Academy

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

“I am so proud of our teachers for the tremendous amount of work they have put into planning and executing this very different school year, from leading Professional Development sessions to hosting one-on-one office hours with students. Thank you for dedicating your time and energy to make this the best remote experience possible.” -Christina Reyes, […]

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Why One Mother Chose Inwood Academy

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

  Jhoselyn Almonte is the mother of triplets and rising seniors Jassani, Jassiahs and Jayden Ruíz, who have all been students at Inwood Academy since fifth grade. Born and raised in the Inwood and Washington Heights neighborhood, Jhoselyn is a trained social worker who has worked for the Children’s Aid Society and New York Department […]

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La Casa del Pueblo: Honoring the Family of Ryan and Raldy Reyes

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

We have been using our social media platforms to give shout outs to some of our families who continue to do incredible work in and for our community. When we started to list the many ways the family of Ryan and Raldy Reyes (5th and 8th grade) serve our community, it became much too long […]

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Remote Learning Support and Reflections

By: Sarabeth Weszely, Senior Writer

Coronavirus/ like a new dark energy/ which was always here./ It was tiny,/ not familiar,/ until it spread like a wildfire/ leaving only its dark energy behind…/ But a dot of light can overcome the darkness…/ that the joy of life outside is being realized…/ and the earth is healing itself.  – excerpted from a […]

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Alumni Story

By: Fabian Garcia, 2018 Graduate

Hear firsthand from one of our alumni about the ways he has overcome disappointments in his post-grad life and followed his own path to creativity, leadership, and lifelong learning. I have always respected the arts and the powerful impact they have on people emotionally and physically. It wasn’t until I found dance that I was […]

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