The Story of Challenge Charter School

For many years, Dr. Mullings had watched generations of families in the area suffer from lack of quality education, basic health care, affordable housing, job opportunities and economic development. The statistics of high-school dropout rates and lack of job options had left many families fractured and in poverty. He knew that offering a choice for quality education was a long-term solution to begin to address those deep needs.

In 2004, Dr. Mullings aided by a few dedicated local supporters and advisors including Senior Advisor Dr. Michael R. Estep, formed a development team to begin the long, arduous process of applying for the charter school. Six years later, the dream became a reality, and the school opened in August 2010 offering Kindergarten and 1st Grade in co-located public school space at Goldie Maple Academy.

In 2011, the school leased and retro-fitted the building at 710 Hartman Lane for grades K-5. On a clear mid-April morning, Mullings stood on the steps for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Fellow community leaders and local officials including (now) Councilman Donovan Richards joined the celebration. Spring Break had just ended, and Challenge Prep was in its own building for the first time.

Six months later on October 29, Hurricane Sandy hit New York City as the deadliest storm in the area in 100 years, devastating the Rockaways. The School’s first floor was completely flooded with seawater rising up to six inches on the second floor. The building and its contents suffered nearly a million dollars of damage.  

Amidst intermittent power, massive street flooding, and few initial resources, Dr. Mullings and the staff quickly worked to sanitize the building, opening it back up after only 14 days. But beyond the school walls, the families of Challenge Charter’s scholars and the citizens of Far Rockaway needed much more.

As a community leader and local pastor, Mullings recognized the serious need for immediate recovery efforts. He started an organized response called Project Sandy with two distribution sites, one being at the school and the other at his church at 1414 Central Avenue.

In early November, the church became an official NY State FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, and along with the school site, Project Sandy served 78,000 hot meals and distributed 6.8M worth of supplies, clothes, toys, coats and more through February 2013. Support came from state, local, and national entities and officials including Governor Andrew Cuomo, many New York professional sports teams, the National Guard, and over 3000 volunteers from New York Cares.

A few weeks later Thanksgiving came. With many people still displaced from homes destroyed, Challenge Charter transformed its gym at Hartman Lane. It was easy to see the impact made as families gathered together around tables, enjoying all the fixings of the grand holiday feast. Through the devastation of a storm, the community was convinced of the school’s care and commitment to Far Rockaway.

In June 2019, when the last scholar walked across the stage and received a certificate of completion from 6-8 Principal Mavgar Mondesir-Gordon at the 8th Grade Graduation ceremony, Dr. Mullings stood by with Board Chair Frederica Jeffries and Senator James Sanders, both long-term supporters of the school. The 2018-19 school year ended with Challenge Charter Middle School scholars achieving 100% high school placement in the first round.

Challenge Charter School’s educational philosophy is aimed at promoting high levels of academic achievement and tailoring instruction to ensure that the academic needs of all students are met. The School has an extended learning day and extended year (190 days per year). Technology is infused from early grades forward with scholars having access to Chromebooks and learning valuable skills like coding.

Challenge Charter’s founders believe that good instruction recognizes the interrelation of content knowledge and higher order thinking and that, accordingly, good instruction should reflect a balanced approach to learning. Thus, Challenge Prep employs a balance of teacher-centered and student-centered instruction, with both direct instruction and project-based instruction incorporating hands-on and student led activities and small student grouping and regrouping and in grades 6-12, blended learning and flipped classroom instruction. 

The demand for high-quality education choices in District 27 is clear. Beginning with its inception, each spring Challenge Charter School hosts an annual Lottery to fill the empty seats for the upcoming academic year. Most of the 100-plus seats are for the new annual Kindergarten scholars, but typically a few seats open up for the other grades as well.

Challenge Charter School is deeply imbedded into the Far Rockaway community. Now serving scholars and their families from four locations, the school regularly goes beyond the classroom to meet the needs of families. A new Parent Academy offers support and education for our parents and guardians such as parenting skills, financial planning, health, and college planning.

In 2017, Project Character was born featuring school mascot Champ the Cheetah to teach scholars traits like Citizenship, Kindness, and Tolerance. That same mascot takes on a bit fiercer look for our Middle and High School scholars as can be seen on our high school gym floor.

Challenge Charter School is always looking for ways to enhance the lives of the scholars, and by extension, their families. For years, the school has offered summer programming including Summer Boost, the APEX program for high school, and prior to the pandemic, Challenge Charter Summer Day Camp.

The Camp’s partnership with RDRC is just one of the examples of how Challenge partners with community and city-wide organizations. Various partnerships over the years include JFK Redevelopment Community Council, New York Cares, New York Food Bank, and Alvin Ailey Arts in Education. 

The original vision of Challenge Charter School remains strong as changes take place across housing, business, and public spaces in Far Rockaway. In the fall of 2018, local and city officials kicked off a historic $139 million dollar project to revitalize approximately 25 blocks in downtown. Today, the revitalization continues with a recently refreshed Far Rockaway Branch of the Queens Library and Community Spaces and future Pre-K at 1414 Central Avenue.

Challenge Charter Middle School opened in the fall of 2016, a beginning to the transformation of the blocks on Central between Mott and Nameoke.

The school renovated two buildings at 1520 Central Avenue to add over 70,000 square foot of new educational space. The building now houses the Middle School and High School, a computer lab, and space for college courses offered through CUNY’s School of Labor and Urban Studies. 

Challenge Charter High School, a Career & Technical Education and Early College school offers scholars a New York State Regents Diploma plus 2 years of free college or trade certification in a number of exciting pathways including Allied Health, Culinary Arts, Aviation, and Hospitality. Challenge Charter is well-represented across the current 3 school sites on Hartman, Redfern, and Central, with our high school right at the epicenter of the city’s hard-fought-and-won renaissance.

As the school celebrated its 10-year Anniversary in 2020 during the pandemic, the leaders, principals, and staff joined together to quickly provide remote learning and 1-to-1 devices for all grade levels. Despite the pandemic, Challenge has maintained 95% or better enrollment the past few years, and work to address learning loss and other affects of COVID-19 continue.

This year, Challenge Charter is seeking it’s third 5-year renewal and preparing for the next phase in Challenge Charter School’s plan. With energy pulsing throughout the community, immigrant populations growing, and multiple construction projects in the area, there is an increasing need for quality education for the families of Far Rockaway.

The Future 

In December 2022, the groundbreaking for Challenge Charter’s latest building marked a long-awaited location in Arverne by the Sea. The finished project will serve close to 400 middle school scholars.

The school motto is “Teach me. Prepare me. Challenge me.” Using the word “challenge” as part of the school name and brand is no accident. It's a word that represents the great hurdles that Mullings and his handful of supporters overcame to start the school, and it represents what the scholars face with each new phase of their academic and daily life. No matter the challenges in the Past, Present or Future, Challenge Charter is poised to continue to build a legacy of positive change through the powerful force of excellent education. 

“As we approach our 15th Anniversary, I believe we have shown our families and neighbors how dedicated we are to the children, families and the future of our city. In many ways, I feel we are just getting started. Keep your eyes on what is next. We are giving tangible hope for our current citizens and training up dynamic future leaders out of Far Rockaway,” Rev. Dr. Les Mullings.

Anyone interested in touring Challenge Charter’s facilities, learning more about the application process or the upcoming High School opening is encouraged to contact us today.