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Free or Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) Briefing
Across Achievement First
PRIMARY TALKING POINTS
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“The vast majority of Achievement First students receive free or reduced-price lunch (FRL). In
the 2013-14 school year, 85 percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.”

FACT: Our FRL population is nearly twice that of the states we serve. In Connecticut and
New York, only 41 percent of students, on average, qualify for free or reduced price-lunch.

FACT: In New York, 85 percent of our students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, their
statewide peers.

FACT: In Connecticut, 89 percent qualify in comparison to 35 percent of their statewide
peers.
“Our free and reduced-price lunch population has increased by 9 percentage points since 201011.”

FACT: Our FRL population has increased from 76 percent in 2010-11 to 85 percent in 201314. We are moving in the right direction toward serving more low-income students, though
we still have more work to do.

FACT: At individual schools, this increase has been even more dramatic. For example, the
free and reduced-price lunch population at AF Bushwick Elementary was 74 percent in 20102011, nearly a 20 percentage point jump from the prior year. In the 2011-2012 school year,
the free and reduced-price lunch percentage at the school rose by another 10 percentage
points to 84 percent. The 2013-2014 has seen an 8 percentage point increase to 92 percent.
“We support granting lottery preference to low-income students, and we are committed to
increasing our FRL percentages until they equal or surpass our host districts’. We are also
recruiting more students from low-income backgrounds to enter our lottery.”

FACT: Our first school in Rhode Island grants lottery preference to students from lowincome neighborhoods based on U.S. Census tracts.

FACT: In Connecticut and New York, it is not legal for Achievement First to grant preference
to students from low-income backgrounds, but we support legislation that would allow FRL
preference.

FACT: At some of our Connecticut schools, there is a lottery preference for students who live
in the low-income neighborhoods in which our schools are located. For example, Amistad
Academy grants neighborhood preference to students living in the Dwight neighborhood,
one of New Haven’s lowest-income neighborhoods. As a partial result, Amistad Academy
Achievement First Talking Points | FRL Across AF
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Elementary now serves a greater percentage of free and reduced-price lunch students than
New Haven Public Schools.

FACT: Publicly reported FRL percentages may not be accurately represent our host districts’
true FRL populations. The districts in which Achievement First operates qualify for “Provision
2,” a federal policy that simplifies meal counting and claiming procedures by allowing
schools to give all students free lunch regardless of their qualification status. Those who
elect to give all students free lunch must pay the difference between the federal
reimbursement and the cost of free meals provided—effectively paying for those students
who received free meals but did not qualify as FRL. Therefore, publicly reported percentages
are often not an accurate representation of the percentage of students qualifying for FRL.

FACT: Street teams of current Achievement First parents visit low-income neighborhoods
near our schools to distribute recruitment materials and speak with families. In New York,
we also emphasize our FRL preference at info sessions to encourage low-income families to
enter our lottery.
Achievement First Talking Points | FRL Across AF
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DATA
Free and Reduced-Price Lunch
Achievement First
Geography*
AF % FRL
AF Network
85%
Host District
Host District % FRL
Combined NY and CT
41%
Traditional Public Schools
AF Connecticut Schools
89%
Connecticut Traditional
35%
Public Schools
AF New York Schools
85%
New York Traditional Public 48%
Schools
*While our data is from 2013-14, Connecticut host district data is from 2011-12 and New York host
district data is from 2009-10.
Connecticut
AF School
AF % FRL
Host District
Host District* % FRL
AF Bridgeport Academy
81%
Bridgeport Public Schools
99%
Elementary
AF Bridgeport Academy
80%
Bridgeport Public Schools
99%
Middle
AF Hartford Academy
100%
Hartford Public Schools
90%
Elementary
AF Hartford Academy
100%
Hartford Public Schools
90%
Middle
AF Hartford High
100%
Hartford Public Schools
90%
Amistad Academy
91%
New Haven Public Schools
69%
Elementary
Amistad Academy Middle
80%
New Haven Public Schools
69%
AF Amistad High School
75%
New Haven Public Schools
69%
Elm City College Prep
80%
New Haven Public Schools
69%
Elementary
Elm City College Prep
74.%
New Haven Public Schools
69%
Middle
**All Achievement First statistics are for 2013-14 unless otherwise stated. Connecticut figures are from
2011-12, the most recent data publicly available.
New York
AF School
AF % FRL
Host District
Host District % FRL
AF Apollo Elementary
88%
CSD 19
90%
AF Aspire Elementary
89%
CSD 19
90%
AF Brooklyn High School
71%
CSD 17
87%
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AF Brownsville Elementary
91%
CSD 23
89%
AF Brownsville Middle
80%
CSD 23
89%
AF Bushwick Elementary
92%
CSD 32
94%
AF Bushwick Middle
87%
CSD 32
94%
AF Crown Heights
Elementary
81%
CSD 17
87%
AF Crown Heights Middle
78%
CSD 17
87%
AF East New York
Elementary
90%
CSD 19
90%
AF East New York Middle
80%
CSD 19
90%
AF Endeavor Elementary
81%
CSD 13/16
74%
AF Endeavor Middle
85%
CSD 13/16
74%
AF University Prep High
88%
CSD 17
87%
*While our data is from 2013-14, New York host district data is from 2011-12.
Rhode Island
AF School
AF % FRL
Host District
Achievement First
86%
Providence Public Schools
Providence Mayoral
Academy Elementary
*While our data is from 2013-14, New York host district data is from 2012-13.
Host District % FRL
83%
Achievement First Talking Points | FRL Across AF
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