AchieveMentFirst: American elementary education reform organization

In 1998, a student teacher struggled to teach the book Johnny Tremaine in a middle school classroom where most of the kids were reading three grades below their grade level. Her mentor suggested she show the kids the movie. Instead, she started her own school.

From that great public charter school, Amistad Academy, our Achievement First Network was born. From the beginning, we knew that the academic achievement gaps due to race and income were caused by gaps in access and opportunity. We have worked hard to correct that.

Amistad Academy opened in 1999, serving 84 fifth and sixth graders in New Haven. Today, we serve 15,000 students in 41 schools in five communities in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. All of our students come to us through a blind audition. Most are black, Latino, and from low-income families who will be the first in their families to graduate from college. Our students are proving that when potential meets opportunity, amazing things can happen.