Sign up for Chalkbeat Newark’s free newsletter to get the latest news about the city’s public school system delivered to your inbox.
A charter school organization’s plans to transform the South Ward’s Clinton Hill corridor are moving forward.
The BRICK network’s new K-8 building for the Gateway Academy was approved by Newark’s Central Planning Board in May. In addition, the network’s wellness center is set to open in 2027 that will offer prenatal care among other services. BRICK is also planning on building 70 units of affordable housing for residents.
The charter network says its $51 million project to replace its old elementary and middle school campus will benefit the entire community, not just its students, and that its work will help create an “ecosystem” of care and housing for families. The new building will have the capacity to grow Gateway’s current student population at a time when Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger León has fought to slow charter school enrollment growth citywide. Meanwhile, advocates for schools that provide wraparound services for students and their families say the charter network’s growing footprint in the South Ward should serve the entire community.
BRICK’s new building is also part of a broader wave of redevelopment happening in the South Ward.
Gateway Academy’s nearly 470 elementary and middle school students currently attend classes at a rented Clinton Avenue building with no windows, gym, or playground, according to charter school officials.
Students and staff have been in that building ever since the 2024 merger of People’s Preparatory and Achieve Community charter schools established Gateway Academy. People’s Prep left the previous space it rented from the district that same year, following a tense four-year legal battle with Newark Public Schools over contract and rent issues. That departure has allowed León to reclaim the space for district students, one of his top priorities.
The future Gateway is slated for a 2028-29 school year opening and will house 810 kindergarten through eighth grade students on Jelliff Avenue. It will include a full working kitchen, a community room, and a gym that BRICK officials say will be open to South Ward sports leagues and nonprofits.
Shavon Harris, managing director of housing and real estate for BRICK, said the new facility will be “more than a school” and will act as a community hub in several ways, while also improving opportunities for its students.
“We’re not trying to take on more than we can,” Harris said. “We need this for our babies. Our students deserve it. Our staff deserves it.”
Yet state advocates who provide academic and social services to families say all Newark students, not just those in the South Ward, also deserve and need what BRICK is promising to provide.
“I think that these community-based things are needed, are necessary, and as long as the entire public has access to these things then [that’s] fantastic,” said Julie Borst, co-founder and co-director of the New Jersey Institute for Community Schools.
The new Gateway Academy is just one notable project underway in the South Ward, where a $125 million Lionsgate film and TV studio is under construction and scheduled to open in 2027. The district is also expanding its presence in the area: New Media High School, which will focus on content creation and entertainment, will move its students to a building next to the studio in the 2027-28 school year.
Khaatim Sherrer El, executive director for Clinton Hill Community Action, a local advocacy group, declined to comment on the future Gateway Academy facility specifically, since it is outside the area his group focuses on. But he said all developers in the South Ward should think broadly about their projects’ impact.
“The South Ward deserves the investment, and all of these developers must answer to today’s residents — for whom are these projects intended?” he said. “This must include conversations about access to opportunity, good-paying jobs, and respect for the rich culture and history that is already here.”
Jessie Gomez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark, covering public education in the city. Contact Jessie at jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
