Kindle Education Public Charter School, originally slated to open in Journal Square, will open this fall instead in Lafayette at 373 Communipaw Ave., the site of the nonprofit organization Team Walker.
The school recently received final approval from the New Jersey Department of Education for the fall opening. This makes Kindle Education the first independent charter school to open in New Jersey in over five years.
Founded by recent Jersey City transplants D.J. Hartigan and Katie Hahn, Kindle will have just one grade initially: 6th grade. It will add a grade each year until 2029 (when it will serve grades 6–12).
“A key aspect of Kindle Education’s approach is its focus on small class sizes,” according to Hahn. Students will learn in cohorts of 22 with one teacher and three tutors and at times be in groups as small as 11. Much of the “diverse-by-design” curriculum will be “workshop-style.”
The school’s founding team, which is composed of educators and parents, says it has been working to bring Kindle Education to Jersey City for the past three years. The organization has garnered notable support, including a $1.25 million federal grant from the New Jersey Public Charter Schools Association and backing from prestigious national organizations such as NewSchools Venture Fund, Charter School Growth Fund, BES, High Tech High, and the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition. It is also partnering with the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, the international education organizations Kunskapsskolan and Global Spirit Ed, and the education design lab 2Revolutions.
In total, Kindle Education has raised $2.75 million in seed funding. Spaces for this fall’s inaugural 6th grade class still exist; no entrance exams are required.