Mission
The Environment Community Opportunity (ECO) Charter School will empower students to realize their vast intellectual and social potential by teaching them to think critically and creatively and by guiding them to unite mastered skills and content knowledge to create and pursue their own opportunities. Our students are the children of Camden - they will grow to become adept learners, community leaders and environmental stewards.
TheEnvironment Community Opportunity (ECO) Charter School opened its doors inSeptember 2005. Located in Camden’s central business district and educational corridor, ECO Charter School currently educates students in grades kindergarten through five. The student body is comprised of children who represent each ofCamden’s distinct neighborhoods as well as students from nearby geographic areas. Governed by a devoted Board of Trustees, since the school’s inception,the entire stakeholder community remains dedicated to the fulfillment of the school’s mission.
ECOCharter School remains unapologetically dedicated to “supporting development ofthe whole child” including but not limited to students’ academic achievement, safety,and health. Our students are the children of Camden – they will grow to becomeadept learners, community leaders and environmental stewards.
ECOCharter School sponsors a number of annual activities including but not limitedto the Fall Harvest Farm Festival, Thanks-for-Giving Initiative, Healthy GingerbreadHouse Architecture, Chick Hatching, and Earth Day, to name a few. We hatchbutterflies, chicks, and silk worms. We grow sunflowers in our student-designedand maintained school garden. We recycle. Students watch and nurture frog eggsto jelly babies to tadpoles to froglets.
Ourfamilies are valued members of the school community. ECO parents completetwelve hours of service annually; extended family members also volunteer theirtime to chaperone school trips, execute projects and support Home and SchoolAlliance.
Community partnerships and special affiliations are essential to our program. We work with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, the NJ Tree Foundation, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Art Aware and the Camden Green Team.
ECO Charter School ... where emerging minds develop strong roots, achieving academic excellence through rigor, relevance and reflection.