Learning Community Charter School

It has long been a dream to bring an instrumental music program to LCCS and we are happy to say that this fall will mark the first year of our new program.

The program will begin in the 4^th and 5^th grades with plans to expand into the next Middle School grade in each subsequent year. Participation is optional and instruments available will be flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and percussion. Instruments will be rented through an outside company and the cost will be about $20 a month. We plan to have methods available to cover those costs for families who cannot afford it, and we will work to ensure that any after school music sessions don’t interfere with the popular 5^th grade musical.

Instrumental music will be offered during class time when “specials” are traditionally taught (music, art, gym, etc.) but days will rotate so participating students will not miss out on those important classes.

Over the summer we converted an old locker room into an instrumental music room, and because of the new program, we are thrilled to welcome Mike Brown as our instrumental music teacher.

Mike, in the music room as it was under construction. 

Mike has played in bands including the pit orchestra for the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, and most recently spent the past 10 years touring the world with the ska punk band, Streetlight Manifesto. He has taught music at nearby Primary Prep, has substitute taught here at LCCS, and was giving private lessons to about 50 students a week.

“Music has played such an important role in my life,” Mike says. “I’m so excited to come into a school, to help create a program, and help children have the same experience with music that I’ve had.”

A music committee has been formed to support the program. If you are interested in more information in supporting our developing music program, please reach out to parent Allyson Johnson at [email protected]

When Ms. Jaffrey heard about a project designed to use song to spread awareness about educational equality in Afghanistan, she new it would be a perfect project for LCCS students.

She asked some of the children who were waiting for class to begin in the morning if they’d like to participate and the “Early Morning Singers” were born. The National Afghani Institute of Music in Kabul asked choirs around the world to sing “Proud Women,” a Farsi song, in solidarity with the women of Afghanistan, to support their freedom to gain an education.

Please check out our YouTube Channel, LCCS Live! to see them perform! 

This is the inaugural blog post in a recurring feature we will have here at the blog about all the interesting things LCCS staff members are doing when they are not teaching or working with students. If you have a staff member you’d like to recognize, please email Jen Hughes at [email protected]

Sarah Westley, an early intervention reading teacher, is leading a team of other school employees and friends in the Making Strides of Jersey City Breast Cancer walk on Oct. 18 in the city’s Lincoln Park.


As Ms. Westley says, “I walk in order to remember a friend of mine, Mary Downing, who was a middle school ELA teacher here at LCCS who lost her battle with breast cancer in March of 2012.  Her birthday is in October and her teaching legacy lives on at LCCS (our library is named after her) so it seems particularly poignant to walk here in Jersey City in the fall.” 

Others who are walking this year include Emily Litman, Kimberly Smith, Kristen Hynes, James Laster, Scott Silva, and Michelle Smith.

In addition, the walk will be part of the 5^th grade’s community service project, led by Ms. Litman. Students and their families are invited to walk to support breast cancer research and awareness, and they will be collecting donations toward the cause.

Sarah formerly organized the Denim Day fundraiser at the school to raise money for breast cancer research, but loved last year’s walk so much that she decided to do it again.

"While I was at the event last year, I ran into many LCCS families and realized just what a great community building opportunity it could be for our staff, parents, and students."

For more information on the walk or to donate, check out the team’s webpage or email Sarah at [email protected]

There are two new programs this year for the upper grades that are very exciting.

Supervised Independent Study: If you have a student in grades 5-8 you might have seen a permission slip that went home about this program. Students who sign up for SIS will have a place to go on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:30 if they need a little extra help with a homework assignment, or they want a quiet place to work on homework.

The program, led by Emily Litman and Michelle Flam, will also be the place and time where students can make-up a test that they missed during an absence. That way, they won’t have to lose class time to take the test and they can keep up with their peers.

21^st Century: Middle school students have a chance to delve deeply into some exciting fields of study in this new course. At the beginning of the year, students were given a list of topics (urban gardens, abnormal psychology, social justice, nutrition are a few of the options.)

Students will work studying these subjects in small groups of 10-15, led by teachers across the Middle School faculty. For example, in the social justice class, students might research an issue surrounding that topic, come up with a proposal to explain a particular social justice movement and research that movement and then present what they’ve learned to their peers.

Students will get a chance to pick three topics in 21^st Century throughout the school year. Thanks to all the Middle School faculty who are guiding them in this fascinating effort! 

Charlotte Kreutz, who heads up the after school Think Tank program and is a general LCCS Jill-Of-All-Trades, has recently served as costume designer for a New York City performance based on a Duke Ellington jazz suite.

Theater is in Charlotte’s blood. She says her parents were avid theater goers, and her father acted and wrote plays at the community theater level. Certainly it will come as no surprise to everyone who knows Charlotte, that she was able to lend her ingenuity to the project. 

“I had a budget of $1500 to work with.  I could have borrowed (for a fee) costumes from the Costume Collection in Queens but I knew I wanted to build (a costume term) the women's dresses from scratch.  They had to be sexy and dramatic and I wanted to fit each actress perfectly.  I shopped for fabric at MOOD in Manhattan (Project Runway fans will know...). I'm so glad I made them, and so are the beautiful ladies.  I also lucked out finding a snazzy1950's double-breasted suit for the one of the actors for $20 at Goodwill.  Love a bargain!"

The work was inspired by characters from Shakespeare and features a live jazz ensemble from Jazz at Lincoln Center performing with actors from Hudson Guild Theatre Company and dancers from Matthew Westerby Company.

The final performances are this weekend, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m and Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. and 8 pm. 

In the Fall of 2014, LCCS launched a program called Touchstones, an innovative program with a simple premise: Students sit in a circle and discuss a famous piece of writing that addresses a complex ethical theme or issue. Out of thousands of Touchstones teachers nationwide, Shanelle Muse, who facilitates the program in 5^th grade, will be honored Dec. 12 as the Cynthia M. Barry Touchstones Teacher of the Year for 2015.

             “Shanelle was a wonderful choice for this award not only because she uses Touchstones with her students, but also because she applies the program in her work in social justice and counseling and is an exemplar of the inclusive leadership that Touchstones strives to foster in all teachers and their students.”
            -Howard Zeiderman, Cynthia M. Barry Touchstones Teacher of the Year Selection Committee and Touchstones Co-founder & President.

Teachers facilitate the discussion of Touchstones issues, but they do not lead, allowing students to guide the discourse. Previous sessions have tackled the classic French text, Democracy in Action by Alexis de Tocqueville.

              “Touchstones is the type of program that subtly moves mountains in our classroom. Implementing it has allowed the students, I as well, to openly bring our race,  religion,  moral compasses,  socioeconomic status, gender,  family values and personal experiences,  unapologetically into our classroom. 
              To have genuinely open discourse about topics such as revenge, being judgmental,  sacrifice,  forgiveness and friendship builds their cognitive thinking,  socio-behavioral skills and self confidence.  My students have become meaningfully connected as they learn to be active agents in their own education, seek and appreciate diverse perspectives, and share power and responsibility." 
- Shanelle Muse