“Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. As Success Academy turns 20 this year, former students of New York City’s largest charter school network share their stories in this episode of P.S. Weekly. Success Academy reshaped what free education for low-income students could look like. The network boasts above average scores on state tests and impressive college admissions statistics . Some alumni, however, wonder if the academic pressure and strict behavioral standards are worth it. Its famously test-focused approach has raised a question: How much pressure on students is too much? P.S. Weekly producers Jeremiah Dickerson, a senior at Williamsburg Charter High School, and Noa Salas Adam, a junior at Stuyvesant High School, dive into the complex world of Success Academy. Dickerson, himself a former Success Academy student, interviews another former student about what it was like to attend the school. They touch on everything from uniforms, “mouth bubbles,” and clip charts to extremely rigorous academics and the lingering emotional price tag of attending Success Academy. P.S. Weekly is a collaboration between Chalkbeat and The Bell . It’s available on major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify . Reach us at PSWeekly@chalkbeat.org. New episodes drop on Thursdays. P.S. Weekly is made possible by generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation. Transcript Jeremiah: On the last day of kindergarten, we lined up, and one by one were handed our school’s signature orange tie. That was the prize for graduating to first grade. At five years old, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on mine. It felt like it had a magic power. These days, people might call that aura, but back then, we called it success. Newscaster: Success Academy, with schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn, is living up to its name, outperforming their peers by a landslide. Newscaster: If Success Academy were a school district, it would be the single most successful school district Newscaster: the video raises new concerns about the demands on students at the 34 Success Academy schools in New York City. Newscaster: Andrew Cuomo, who’s running for mayor of New York, wrote in support of Success Academy News : Success Academy News: Success Academy News: Success Academy Jeremiah: Welcome back to PS Weekly, The Sound of the New York City School System. I’m Jeremiah Dickerson, a senior at Williamsburg Charter High School. Noa: And I’m Noa Salas Adam, a junior at Stuyvesant High School. Jeremiah: You’ve probably seen the commercials, the TikTok horror stories, and students in navy blue sweaters swarming the streets on weekday afternoons. That’s right, we’re talking about Success Academy. Noa: Refresh my mind. Isn’t Success Academy that huge network of charter schools that’s been expanding over time? I see the Success ads everywhere, on subways, buses, even on Spotify. Jeremiah: Noa, you’re spot on. 22,000 students attend Success Academy, making it the largest charter school network in the city, and that’s even larger than Syracuse, New York’s entire school district. News clip: And it’s even expanding to Florida next year. News clip: Success Academy Charter School’s announcing its expansion to Florida, right here in Miami today. With Citadel’s Ken Griffin contributing $50 million to that expansion. Jeremiah: Success Academy turns 20 this year. It started in Harlem back in 2006 with just one school and 165 students. But two decades later, there are FIFTY NINE Success Academy schools across the city. Noa: So if there are so many of the schools, they must be doing pretty well, right? Jeremiah: On paper they are!. Just recently in 2025, Success was ranked number one in mathematics and number two in ELA state test scores out of over 700 public and charter schools across the state. The school started in predominantly Black and brown, as well as low-income neighborhoods in New York, and more recently have been expanding to wealthier, whiter neighborhoods. Success has always been a huge target for both praise News clip: this dreary weather can’t possibly put a damper on the bright students shining inside of Success Academy Bronx 2, They passed their state exams with flying colors. Jeremiah: And criticism. News clip: the New York Times broke the story that a principal at the charter school network Success Academy targeted a group of students to be pushed out of his school, maintaining a secret “got to go” list. News clip: Some disturbing video of a teacher at a New York City charter school is raising questions tonight about the harsh treatment of some of its youngest students. Teacher: Count it again, making sure you’re counting correctly. Go to the calm-down chair and sit. Jeremiah: I went to Success from kindergarten to second grade. And because the first class of Success Academy only graduated high school eight years ago, I’m part of a growing number of teens and young adults who make up the Success Academy network and are now can share their stories. Noa: so I know it was a while ago, but what was your experience at Success like? Jeremiah: Well, Noa, I’ll keep it brief, but I was suspended multiple times between ages five and seven. Noa: What, how does such a young kid get suspended? Jeremiah: I got suspended for things that young kids usually do. Screaming, throwing a temper tantrum, being upset. You know, just not getting along with peers and not, in general, enjoying my environment And a lot of times I felt like I was overstimulated, overworked, exhausted, and certain things that really led me to, like, what we would say in common times is crash out. Noa: ‘Cause you were going through a long school day, right? Jeremiah: Yeah, like 7 to 4:30 in the afternoon. And we’re not even accounting for the travel time commuting, you know, commuting from different places. Like, I lived in Harlem with my grandma, but then I attended Success Academy in the Bronx. Noa: That’s a lot for a small kid Jeremiah: Yeah, and it honestly makes me wonder whether there are other Success students out there who have had similar experiences to me Fast-forward to today, I’m a high schooler going to school in Williamsburg. But throughout my high school career, I’ve made friends with quite a few students who went to Success Academy as well. Sasha: I immediately foot in the door. I was like, okay, things are going to change. Jeremiah: That’s my friend Sasha Hartwell.She’s a senior at my school and attended Success for much longer than I did. While I went there for a short time, Sasha attended Success for most of her educational career. From third grade to the beginning of her senior year.. Jeremiah: Do you remember what your parents said, if anything, about why they chose Success Academy in the first Sasha: I do know that they were super ecstatic about the education that the kids were receiving and acceptance rates, the high, you know, amount of kids that were able to make it to college or were able to succeed in life through Success Academy. Jeremiah: Sasha transferred to Success Academy at the beginning of third grade Sasha: Immediately I was told about mouth bubble and the clip chart and the sitting on the, on the carpet. Jeremiah: Yeah. Sasha: And sitting on your assigned color Jeremiah: Criss cross applesauce. Sasha: Yep. Sitting on your assigned color. And I was like, it’s just different. This is really different. Jeremiah: Take us through like, what is a mouth bubble? Describe it to us. Sasha: You take a deep breath, you, you breathe in, you try to catch all that air in your mouth because you literally take all the air that you have. You close your, you tight, your lips. Jeremiah: And you tighten your lips. Sasha: And you create a bubble with your cheeks. You look like a, a squirrel, essentially. Jeremiah: I remembered my jaw being sore from holding my mouth in a bubble all day. Kids would try to make the perfect mouth bubble to impress the teachers. This and perfect posture were a sign of respect. Noa: Sasha also said something about a clip chart? What’s that? You guys speak in code at this school. Jeremiah: About that.. Sasha will explain.. Sasha: A clip chart essentially is, uh, it’s a, a classic , you know, piece of cardboard. Um, and they paint on it. There’s different colors. You have green, you’d have yellow, you’d have orange, the clip chart specifically, what makes it a clip chart is you have a clip, like you have one of those pinboard clips and you have your name on it, and you put that clip. Well, I mean, I, when I got there, I remember I got to decorate, you get to decorate your clip, at least you got that privilege. But, you know, you put your clip, you, you do something bad, you get a, I remember there was at some point where, I guess it was like around finals testing. Jeremiah: Okay Sasha: Sometimes they would dictate it based off how you did on like a practice exam. Sasha: it’s one thing to do it, like, after class or do it in private, but no, you told me to get up in front of the whole class and walk to this clip chart and move my chart. And the thing is, is that with Success Academy kids, when we were kids, we were competitive, but we were, we weren’t, like, harsh or mean or anything. You know, you’re just kids, so you know, you’re playing. “Ooh, you in trouble.” Oh my gosh. Y- every time, “Ooh, you in trouble. You gotta move your chart.” And usually when you move your clip chart, that mean they getting a me- you getting a message from ParentSquare. Your parents will be notified of your clip change, and I’m just like, “Oh my gosh,” like I already be knowing what be happening when I get home. Jeremiah: at my school they had, like clip chart sheets that you were bringing to your parents where like the teacher can sign off and describe your behavior and basically give a reasoning as to why they gave you that color for the day. Like, a lot of times, like I remember my mom would get upset and she would just like rip up the red papers because the reasonings would be like things that were so little like, hey, like Jeremiah wasn’t paying attention to me, so we put his chart on red. But then for me, like. Every time, like I would, you know, go down the red, I would cry in certain things because it was an embarrassing moment. It wasn’t something that you wanted to see, you know, like no one wants to see that Jeremiah: The school doesn’t use clip charts any more. but now according to the 2025-2026 SA handbook they use a stoplight system. The handbook says quote “ Every day, scholars start on green. Throughout the day, if scholars are not following instructions, their color may be moved down to yellow or even red. We keep parents regularly informed about behavioral challenges students face in school and we ask for your support.” end quote Noa: Sounds kinda clip chart-y to me Jeremiah: And then are you familiar with the like water fountain rule? I, I think it was 1, 2, 3.That’s enough for me. Yeah. Sasha: it was, yeah, definitely that Jeremiah: the teachers would say it, but then the, a lot of the people behind me would say because they wanted that water right. Sasha: Do remember that, that phrase, that was a waterfront rule Jeremiah: Success Academy, a big portion of its identity is its uniforms and how students come to school represented. Take us through like what the uniform means to you and how it is. Sasha: Even before you even get in the building, there -you either have your principal or you have your vice principal and they’re standing outside of the door. They’re holding the door open, but they are there to check to see if you are in full uniform. Jeremiah: Right. Sasha: Even in the freezing cold, they will tell you to zip down your coat. Let me make sure you have your tie and your blazer. Boy, girl, it does not matter. You have to have that tie on and you still have the option to wear a skirt or pants, depending, whatever your preference was. Um, but yeah, they were very cutthroat on them. Socks. I Have been sent home my junior year because I had on black socks, I had on black socks, but not Navy blue socks. Yeah, you have to have them and them shoes. Oh. They used to get on me for my shoes. They’re all, they’re all black, but they have a little white check mark. Jeremiah: YEAH Sasha: If anybody that goes to my school knows me, they know about these sneakers. I wear these sneakers every day. Now my parents obviously are not, you know, they ain’t the wealthiest, so, you know, I make do of what I got. Right. So I got these shoes. I liked them. I was like, okay, cool. But the one problem, the one problem, it had a little white check. And they used to nitpick on me so bad for it. The principal himself came up to me and handed me a black roll of tape, and I was like, what is And he was like, for your, for your shoe. Jeremiah: And I know you can hear me and Sasha laughing and joking about all the rules at Success Academy but some of the discipline.Wasn’t a joke. At times, it felt like it we were being punished for just being kids. They also tried to balance the harsh discipline with special rewards. Like Fun Fridays Sasha: It’s a fun Friday. It’s like a, you lasted through weeks, so now you get your little Friday and advisory and there would be a shelf on your wall or you know, like on a little bookshelf where you had your little area where they had things from toys and you know, we had a bunch of little toys, trinkets, fidgets, all that type of stuff. And you know, you had, um, a system called Class Dojo where you would gain or lose points , depending on your behavior Jeremiah: Fridays weren’t so fun for everyone. If your clip wasn’t high enough on the clip chart, or your points in class dojo weren’t adding up. You would have to sit out while your friends ate pizza and sang their hearts out to Just Dance. Sasha: Think there was one time where I was highly upset. Mm-hmm. I was, I was in trouble. I was in trouble for sure. I was in trouble and they told me that I couldn’t participate in Fun Friday. Jeremiah: That used to be the worst Sasha: So obviously I was sulking, yeah. I was sulking in the corner. I think that that was when I was in the negative probably. ‘cause obviously you can’t spend no points. Yeah. So when you’re in the negative, you’re not allowed to participate in Fun Friday. Mm-hmm. That’s just it. Like, you’re not allowed Jeremiah: why do you think Success Academy was so strict with all the different rules, like mouth bubbles, clip charts, walking in a straight line, and all of that? Sasha: I feel like …Even though I don’t feel like the execution was appropriate for us at the age, at the ages that we were, I don’t feel like the actions that they were taking were appropriate. But I do feel like they really do prepare us for the real world and what we would have to face out in the real world. Jeremiah: What do you remember about test preparation culture at Success Academy? Like, how did they prepare you? Do you feel like it was effective? What do you think? Sasha: Think? Mm, I do feel like it was effective, but it was very rigorous. So it definitely caused a lot of burnout before the test even started. Do I think taking tests over and over and over and over again was helpful? No. I don’t feel like that part was helpful. I feel like it stressed us out and it burnt us out for the actual test, Jeremiah: Success is known for its intense test prep culture. How else would they get those super high scores on state exams? Sasha: As much as, you know, like this conversation is more of like how it’s affected us mentally, I could say, like, um, educationally success has benefited me way beyond that I, I even can think of now, right? So I can’t, I graduated out of middle school with all my regents done, and I went to public school and everybody was looking at me like I was an alien. So I was like, oh, so this ain’t normal. Jeremiah: So eventually you transferred to my school So there had to be a conversation or something that happened where your parents were like, “It’s time to go.” So can you take us through that experience? What happened? Sasha: Um, honestly, I kinda put my foot down on that one. I said, “Baby, I’m leaving.” I don’t know what y’all think, but I think it’s time for me to go. Not to even be that type of person, but I was literally coming home crying every day. I was really just sitting there, with my little bunk bed with my LED lights and I’m like, “I can’t do this.” I ca- I can’t do this for another, I can’t do this for another five months. I just can’t." And so I finally sat down my parents and I said, “Honestly, I don’t know where I go. I just don’t wanna be here. It can’t be here. I can’t do this my senior year.” But again, because I was so upset- Every day coming home, having to do the same cycle. Even on weekends, I just wanted to stay in bed. I didn’t wanna go out, I didn’t wanna go to the movies, I didn’t wanna go shopping, I didn’t wanna do nothing. Jeremiah: And even though Sasha and I both left Success Academy and are happier in our new school, Sasha felt conflicted like me. Sasha: in certain aspects I’m grateful for like how they’ve made me who I am as a person, but sometimes I be taking a step back and I’m like, “Oof. Babe, that, that ... Ooh, I’m, I’m a little damaged,” like. Um, like sometimes I would talk to my parents and like, obviously every conversation with your parents, it’s not gonna be a great one. So you know, we’re dis- we had a disagreement, and I kinda just shut down. Like I stopped talking and I was just looking at them. And it was like you’re not gonna say anything? ‘Cause obviously like you know how we’re talking right now, I’m a very verbal person. If something’s wrong with me, I’m gonna tell you. So I’m just sitting there and I’m just like not saying anything, and they’re like, “Are you okay?” Like, “You’re not gonna say anything? You don’t agree, disagree?” And I’m just like, “I don’t know. That’s...” And I was just shutting down. And looking back on it- It definitely is like I, I had to deal with that from Success. When you got in trouble at Success or you’re trying to talk to a teacher to change a grade or why you were late to class, it’s never a conversation. It’s a monologue. They’re talking at you, they’re not talking with you. So I feel like that aspect of it, , it definitely affected me, I feel like there’s obviously certain aspects of Success Academy where their intensity of certain things, it helps, but also it definitely did take away from my childhood, and actually, like, becoming my own person naturally. When, like, with going to Success Academy, you’re, you’re getting all these rules and all these things thrown at you and, you know, they kinda, they say that your grades don’t define you, but they act like your grades do define you. So when you have that type of mindset growing up, it lowers your self-esteem. Jeremiah: I’m always someone who participates or raises my hand or says a lot. But then for me, I feel like I rescind it as easily as I give it because I feel like once a space makes it known that it’s not appreciated that I’m speaking up or saying certain things, I just fall all the way back because I have trauma behind that. I feel like growing up with Success Academy, it’s been more so just, like, juggling with the emotions and how I’m still, like, even at 18 years old, I’m still processing my kindergarten through second grade experience. Jeremiah: So thank you so much for joining us, Sasha today. Sasha: Thank you Jeremiah, so much for the interview. Noa: So after all this, the clip charts, the mouth bubbles, why do parents keep sending their kids to Success Academy. Jeremiah: Honestly, to be real with you, I don’t know either. But looking as a parent – a parents perspective. I would say a lot of parents send their kids to Success academy because of the image. They see kids structured in uniforms, behaving well, they’re keeping quiet, they’re doing their work, and their coming out with good grades. I think the parents especially are the ones drawn in by test scores because every parent wants tso see their student do well. And when the Success Academy scores are in the 90s and the average school nearby is in the 50s, which one are you going to choose – the one in the 90s or the one in the 50s? If I were a parent, maybe I would trust that high test scores means my child would learn what they need to in order to be prepared for college, their career, or whatever comes next. Noa: Yeah, speaking of college – I just saw that viral video of the first student to get into an Ivy league at her Success Academy Chapter. Let’s watch it Clip: I have a very special announcement Our school has again made history on the college acceptance front. We have our first scholar to get accepted to an Ivy League school. (Cheers) Jeremiah: I feel like it was just very sweet like, on the announcements to hear whoever was just like, announcing it to the school and everything. Because not only did that really show support for the individual, it really like, enhanced I feel like, the community in there that aspect with everyone clapping for her because if I were in her shoes, I would be so happy for everyone clapping for me and everything just in that moment. cheering me on and just celebrating me in general. So I’m sure she appreciated that. Noa: Yeah, and everyone is just supporting her, which is super cool. I mean, having good college acceptances must be a major draw for families. Jeremiah: Definitely. One of their major selling points is that 100% of their graduating classes receive offers to a four-year college. And a majority of these students are accepted to selective schools. From the outside, it’s pretty impressive, especially considering 65% of these students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Noa: It really speaks to this idea I’ve heard about Success being a private school without the price tag. Jeremiah: Yeah. I really connected with Sasha on this idea. On one hand, we were set up to thrive academically by Success, but on the other hand, we both experienced some pretty intense emotional hardship as a result. Noa: I’m really glad you got to talk about your similarities and I hope maybe other students who went to success or families thinking about sending their kids there found something useful in the conversation too. Jeremiah: Agreed. Jeremiah: Success Academy did not respond to our request for comment. Jeremiah: PS Weekly is a collaboration between the Bell and Chalkbeat made possible by generous support from the Pinkerton Foundation. Producers for this episode were me, Jeremiah Dickerson Noa: And me, Noa Salas Adam Jeremiah: Our senior producer for the show is Maria Robins Somerville, and our technical director is Jake Lummus. Noa: Our executive editors are Amy Zimmer and Taylor McGraw Jeremiah: Additional production and reporting support was provided by Mira Gordon, Sabrina DuQuesnay, Zana Halili, and Katelyn Melville, and our friends at Chalkbeat Noa: Music is from APM, and the jingle you heard at the beginning of the episode was created by the one and only Erica Huang. Thanks so much for tuning in and see you next time. We make transcripts available for our episodes as soon as possible. They are not fully edited for grammar or spelling.
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