Real Success Academy! All 8th graders at Harlem charter school pass ‘advanced’ history exam

This Success Academy really lived up to its name.

Every eighth-grader at the Success Academy Harlem West Middle charter school passed an “Advanced Placement” world history exam that is typically only taken by high-performing high school students.

Of the 47 eighth graders at the school, 89% even scored at a higher level 4 or 5, while the remaining 11% got a passing grade of 3.

“I’m really proud of the kids. It’s an incredible accomplishment,” said Success Academy Harlem West history teacher Luke Mitchell, whose students excelled on the exam that’s typically taken in 10th grade.

Some 77% of Mitchell’s students are from low-income families, with 70% black and 28% Hispanic.

Hunter Tittle, 14, who will be moving on to Success Academy high school in The Bronx next fall, aced the world history exam administered by the College Board.

“Scoring a 5 on the AP World Exam as an 8th grader was one of the biggest achievements of my life. As I grow up, I’ll know that I have the skills and ability to succeed in whatever I may attempt,” Tittle said in a statement to The Post.

“I’m grateful for my history teacher, Mr. Mitchell, and the work ethic that he taught me and the rest of my classmates, who all passed. In the end, I will use my own experience to serve as an example to my community that, regardless of where you come from, you can always succeed.”

The AP World History exam, covering the year 1200 to present, includes 55 multiple-choice questions, three short essays or responses and two longer essays. Written answers account for 60% of the grade and require deep knowledge of the content and critical thinking.

Students typically take the exam in the tenth grade, according to the College Board.

At Success Academy’s 59 charter schools, all students are expected to take 18 to 20 Advanced Placement exams before they graduate — including 100% taking AP Calculus, AP Biology, AP Macroeconomics, AP Literature, AP US History and AP Art History.

In May, more than 3,000 SA students alone took a total of nearly 8,000 AP tests – a cohort so large that the tests had to be administered at the Javits Center.

Success Academy reports that 95% of its high school graduating Class of 2026 — the majority of whom are low-income children of color — passed three or more exams; 79% passed five or more, and 60% earned passing scores on seven or more AP tests.

Meanwhile, 51% of its sophomores have already passed four AP exams.

Nationally, less than 25% of all students pass one or more AP exams by the time they graduate high school. In New York City, black and Hispanic students accounted for just 13.4% and 19.6%, respectively, of those who passed at least one AP exam last year.

“We believe so deeply in children and we are profoundly committed to adult excellence,” said Eva Moskowitz, founder and CEO of Success Academy. “These results prove what can be accomplished by any school, district, or state when perseverance triumphs over educational defeatism.”

In total, 1,200 SA eighth graders joined their high school counterparts at the Javits Center to take the AP World History exam — and 70% of them earned a passing score.

In AP Calculus, Success Academy’s passing rate of 61% was slightly lower than the global rate but the percentage of SA students achieving the highest scores of 4 and 5 was 6 points higher.

Success Academy exceeded global passing rates in nine subject areas, with a majority scoring at high level 4 or 5, the charter school network reported.

SA is opening up its fourth high school in the upcoming school year.

Charter schools are publicly funded, but privately run alternatives to traditional public schools. They typically have a longer school day and school year and students on average score higher on state math and English exams than their counterparts.

Success Academy is known for having a more rigorous curriculum. Its world history curriculum starts in the fifth grade.

The city’s largest school network recently issued a withering report citing failures and shortcomings in the New York City public school system, which it concluded was aided and abetted by city and state lawmakers and unions protecting an underwhelming status quo.

Moskowitz has tangled with policy makers for refusing to raise the charter school cap to provide more choice and opportunities for Big Apple families, and for even backing lawsuits to prevent new ones from opening.

There are now 285 charter schools in the city, enrolling 150,500 or 16% of all public school students.