Greater Brunswick Charter School

Greater Brunswick Charter School is a public charter school serving grades kindergarten through eighth located on 429 Joyce Kilmer Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The school has a Spanish-English bilingual program for grades K-4, and has plans to extend it through grade five.

History

The school opened in the 1998–99 school year. In 2004, it purchased its current building, formerly a bowling alley, with the help of a $500,000 government of [the United">Federal government of the United States">government of [the United States|government] grant and a $2.5 million loan from New Jersey Community Capital and the Community Redevelopment Fund.
Over the summer of 2010, the charter school expanded, creating over a dozen classrooms and a larger gymnasium out of warehouse space in the building. The funding for this was secured by the nonprofit organization . A year prior to this expansion, the school's middle school and one fifth grade classroom had been housed across the street from the school building. The following year, a playground was added, with assistance from KaBOOM!.

Student body

As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 395 students and 33.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1. 70.4% were Hispanic, 19.4% were black, 8.1% were white, and 1.8% were Asian. 63.4% of the students were eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch. 55.2% of students primarily spoke Spanish and 44.8% primarily spoke English at home. The school has a student:teacher ratio of 15:1. GBCS will accept students from any district in New Jersey, although it gives preference to those from Edison, New Brunswick, and Highland [Park, New Jersey|Highland Park].

Administration

Core members of the school administration include Vanessa Jones, the education director; and Hector Alvarez, the assistant education director.