Success Charter Network advertising for open spots at new, current schools

With all the talk of budget cuts and the hiring freeze, it’s difficult to remember that some city schools are hiring. But there was an eye-catching reminder on the New York Times’ home page yesterday — a bright orange and blue ad from the Success Charter Network asking for applicants.

Success Charter spokeswoman Jennifer Sedlis said the recruitment drive is aimed at attracting applicants for next school year, when Eva Moskowitz, the network’s founder, plans to open three more schools. Harlem Successes 5, 6, and 7 are steps in Moskowitz’s goal to open 40 of her charter schools in Harlem in the next decade.

“We will have a lot of new positions,” Sedlis said. “We get the bulk of our applications in winter, sort of right after the break. We really have to recruit a lot of teachers.”

The charter network is also in the awkward position of having to recruit a new principal for the first Harlem Success  school it opened in 2006. Less than half-way into the new school year, principal Jacqueline Getz has left the school, Sedlis confirmed, though she would not say why. Getz joined Harlem Success Academy 1 this past summer after leaving P.S. 87, where she had been principal.

While it waits for a new principal, Harlem Success Academy 1 is being overseen by a “strong leadership team,” Sedlis said. Asked what that means, she said: “It means the teachers are not without a strong leader.”