New Roots Charter School is the first school in the United States to be certified as a Human Rights Friendly School by the Dorothy Cotton Institute (DCI) and Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA) using criteria established by Amnesty International.
Principal Tina Nilsen-Hodges and founding members of the Students of Color Unity Club accepted the recognition on behalf at the school at the Dorothy Cotton Institute’s annual Gala at Cornell University on December 9, 2016.
New Roots has aligned its school environment, relationships, curriculum, and governance to Amnesty International’s rubric for human rights friendly schools with the support of the Dorothy Cotton Institute. “This process was a natural fit for New Roots, supporting our evolution into the type of school community we wanted to be,” said principal and founder Tina Nilsen-Hodges. “DCI gave us practical guidance for turning our values and vision into a lived reality day to day.”
A video about New Roots as a Human Rights Friendly School was featured at the National Summit on the Universal Periodic Review held in Washington, D.C. on December 1.
Dorothy Cotton with New Roots Charter School Students
Located in the historic Clinton House in downtown Ithaca, New Roots opened its doors in September 2009 as a tuition-free, regional public high school. Students from 20 area school districts have chosen to join the New Roots learning community. New Roots was chartered to provide students with a real-world, college preparatory education focusing on leadership for justice and ecological sustainability. This innovative small school immerses students in authentic experiences that support their development as community leaders and entrepreneurial thinkers ready to face the challenges of the 21st century.