Brooklyn Generation School has committed teachers, but a 50 percent graduation rate. It was created to replace a massive, troubled school, but its statistics still lag far behind the city average. It has long tried to help students cope with their out-of-school problems, but trauma at home still finds its way into classrooms.

The school’s struggles raise a question that has stymied districts across the country: Can a low-performing schools where most students arrive ill-prepared to learn become a high-performing school? And if so, how?

Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to improve schools centered on shutting down struggling schools and replacing them with new ones. Now, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s new “Renewal” program for Brooklyn Generation and 93 other low-performing schools is designed to show that there can be another way, offering a combination of academic help and resources to meet students’ non-academic needs alongside a mandate to improve by 2017.

Chalkbeat reported from inside Brooklyn Generation as the Renewal program rolled out over the past five months. During that time, various city and state officials visited the school, consuming the time and energy of administrators who desperately wanted good reviews. New funding for student counseling and arts programs was put to quick use, but hands-on help for teachers has yet to materialize.

Meanwhile, two sophomores, Iszzy and Elodie Oriental, are counting on their school to help rocket them from Canarsie, Brooklyn, to the elite universities of their dreams. For Brooklyn Generation and the 15-year-old twins, will all their hard work be enough? And will they get the help they need to reach their goals by 2017?

Reporting by Patrick Wall • Photography and video by Stephanie Snyder • Editing by Sarah Darville

A pivotal moment for a school and the program designed to improve it

As the Renewal program rolls out in February, Brooklyn Generation’s leaders and teachers get a sense of the tests ahead, while the twins continue their uphill climb to college.

Waiting for help and worn out by the status quo

By March, Brooklyn Generation is in the middle of a series of high-stakes reviews, each one concluding the school’s academics must improve. But as the teachers keep working with the same needy students, they have yet to receive clear direction.

A community grows stronger

As the year winds down, the school has found new ways to help students deal with trauma but little has changed in the classroom, raising questions about how the program will deliver on its long-term promises. And as the twins head into their junior year, their future remains tied to their school’s.

Meet the sophomores of Brooklyn Generation

More about the Renewal program

Support for this series was provided by The Equity Reporting Project: Restoring the Promise of Education, which was developed by Renaissance Journalism with funding from the Ford Foundation.