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During Hispanic Heritage Month, our Lower House scholars were treated to a special assembly!  Mr. Carlos Maldonado, father of Link Teacher Ms. DeJesus, explained some of the Puerto Rican culture and, with his friends, played live music called Bomba y Plena which delighted the audience.  Bomba y plena, percussion-driven musical traditions from Puerto Rico that move people to dance have rich histories and are the defining musical sounds of the Afro-Puerto Rican population.  Mr. Maldonado invited the scholars to participate by dancing or playing instruments, like hand drums.  He spoke about the different kinds of dance moves and the meanings behind the dance. The scholars enjoyed this wonderful musical experience.

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As a result of the addition of the elementary school, specifically K-2 now and 3rd and 4th grades in the future, Link needed more space to accommodate the school’s growth and to ensure an optimal learning environment for our scholars. Link Education Partners, the non-profit public foundation that helps fund Link’s mission, found a temporary solution by renting a school building at 230 Halsey Street in Teacher’s Village, a planned multi-use neighborhood in the heart of Newark for the next two to three years until a permanent solution is found.

The entire team at Link worked together to relocate the two grade levels and outfit the new site for scholars and staff. Classrooms were thoughtfully planned and decorated to welcome scholars on Tuesday, September 5th to an inviting and stimulating instructional space. The building at 230 Halsey Street is a lovely, modern facility with many spacious, well-lit classrooms, numerous offices, built-in lockers, a large gym, a cafeteria, and an elevator. The administration has been planning all summer for the move, including purchasing furniture and equipment and allocating human resources to support the students.

Maria Pilar Paradiso, Link’s head of school, shared her excitement about Link’s continued expansion and the strengthening of the program with this new space. “It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm on the part of our entire instructional team as they pulled together to prepare and plan for the start of the school year in this great new space. The school is under new leadership with our principal, Hannah Kennedy, who has done a wonderful job this summer to prepare for a strong start to the school year. With a great temporary site, Link Education Partners is now working on a long-term solution–building a second facility to serve as the middle school.”

The Link Community Charter School Board of Trustees announces the promotion of Hannah Marie Kennedy to Principal of Link Community Charter School effective July 1, 2023. Mrs. Kennedy joined Link in 2014, and from the start, she embraced the mission and vision of Link. While serving as the school’s 7th grad social studies/history teacher, she began, over the years, to take on leadership roles in addition to her teaching responsibilities, including School Culture Leader, Summer Academy Director, and Morning Circle and Advisory Leader. In 2019, she was promoted to the position of vice principal.

Mrs. Kennedy graduated from Saint Peter’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Secondary Education and an M.Ed. from the same institution. In her undergraduate career, she spent three years working within the Jersey City Public School System as a lead student intern for the 21st Century Institute of Excellence before accepting full-time employment at Link after graduation. In 2016, Mrs. Kennedy was selected to participate in the highly competitive Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Teacher Seminar, an intensive summer program for teachers. Additionally, in 2019 she was one of 12 New Jersey teachers chosen for Jersey Can’s highly respected NJ Teachers Leader Policy Fellowship, a yearlong program focusing on educational policy and advocacy.

Maria Pilar Paradiso, Link’s Head of School, states, “Mrs. Kennedy is deeply committed to social justice and educational equity, as is Link. She has proven to be an excellent leader in our school community. Throughout the pandemic, she supported students, families, and teachers in many ways, helping the school continue to deliver a high-quality virtual education when necessary and smooth transitions from in-person to virtual and back when needed. There is much work before us, and as principal, Mrs. Kennedy will help us forge a strong path as we move forward during an unprecedented post-pandemic period in education and an exciting time of grade-level growth for Link, always with our scholars and our mission at the center.”