A new public charter school has been approved for northwest Rochester and is on schedule to open next fall.
BRICK Rochester Academy is a partnership between the BRICK Education Network in New Jersey and the local nonprofit Rochester Education and Development for Youth. The curriculum adopts a more holistic approach to education, which includes access to social services.
“It’s so much more than books. It’s a pathway to a better a more viable community as a whole,” said Shanai Lee, founder and executive director of READY. “If we’re able to educate a child, we can lift a family out of poverty. We can lift a block out of poverty.”
Once enrolled, students and their families will be connected to multiple organizations that school leaders said would help drive economic mobility. This includes health and wellness resources and housing and career supports.
“If you are not addressing a whole family, and you’re also not addressing all the aspects of what comes with children when they come into your schoolhouse, the cycle is never going to end,” said Dominique Lee, founder and CEO of the BRICK Education Network.
Dominique Lee (no relation to Shanai Lee) established the BRICK Network 15 years ago in Newark, New Jersey as a countermodel to his own academic experience. He described it as “a cradle to career program” that focuses on supporting children from infancy to adulthood. The first BRICK academy in New York opened in the fall of 2023 in Buffalo.
“There are needs, not just your physical needs, but your social, emotional needs that have to be served. BRICK is able to do that well,” Shanai Lee said. She visited the Newark location about two years ago and after some deliberation and community feedback, said she became convinced of the local need for this type of program.
“We have to begin to innovate education. We got to think outside the box,” Shanai Lee said. “It really offers an opportunity for a community to transform itself, to take charge of their future.”
BRICK Rochester Academy will open in the former All City High building off Lyell Avenue on Austin Street.
“This is a neighborhood where we can really make a significant impact,” Shanai Lee said.
BRICK Rochester Academy will begin with kindergarten and first graders only — with a plan of eventually growing into a K-12 program.