Pros
The schools are near subway stations so they are easy to get to for the most part.
Cons
The leaders are inexperienced, and often not only passive aggressive, but also outright vindictive. Most of the principals have no administration training whatsoever, and they are so brainwashed by Democracy Prep's koolaid that they can not see what the kids developmentally need. Kids are expected to be completely silent (how do they make friends?) They have no time to move or get their energy out. A lot of behavioral issues occur because the kids developmental needs are not taken into account. The leaders treat teachers like dirt, and then get upset when teachers do not produce results. There is no training in current best practices, and the 'curriculum' does not emphasize deep thinking or creativity. They used Saxon Math for many years, despite the protests of teachers who correctly argued that Saxon Math is a very procedural way of teaching math that in essence destroys flexibility and problem solving abilities. There is no hands on learning, no collaboration among students or teachers. Also, the adult culture is terrible. Everyone routinely gossips about everyone else, and on top of that, many teachers cheat on assessments because Democracy Prep gives teachers raises based on their test data. The principals pretended to give teachers 'feedback' but we never got anything that would help us instructionally. We never got feedback on the content of our lessons. We were simply told that, "Not every kid is sitting up straight" "Some kids were not tracking you" "Not all hands were up". Our principals had NO idea what good teaching was. All they wanted was an atmosphere that looked militant. They wanted the illusion of learning. Real learning does not look like that. And on top of it all, none of what Democracy Prep does is working. Democracy Prep does TERRIBLY on the NYS tests. Only 12% of 6th graders passed the New York State ELA test. TWELVE PERCENT!!! Democracy Prep does NOT work.