Brooklyn Amity School:
Evidence of affiliation with Gulen Movement;
Evidence of connections with charter schools


June 26, 2011  last updated July 4, 2011
by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools


Brooklyn Amity School is a private Gulen school (not a publicly-funded charter school) in the New York City area, which is of interest because of its connections to the Gulen charter schools.

Along with Pioneer Academy of Science in New Jersey and Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, it is under the auspices of the Gulenist organization Metropolitan Education.

Connections with Gulen Movement

In his 2003 PhD thesis in the Department of Geography, College of Social Sciences at Florida State University, entitled "Shifting Turkish American Identity Formations in the United States," Ilhan Kaya wrote:

"Both the Brooklyn Amity School and the Pioneer Academy of Science were founded by a religious group that focuses on education. The schools are part of a large movement that opened hundreds of schools in Turkey and Central Asia. The movement is headed by Fethullah Gulen and focuses on education, modernity, and working within the legal system of each country without sacrificing Islamic precepts."

"While the number of his followers is unknown, he has attracted people from all walks of life and his followers have opened hundreds of schools in Turkey and Central Asia. In fact, they have opened schools outside Turkey, including two middle schools in the New York metropolitan area, one in Brooklyn and one in Clifton, New Jersey. During my fieldwork, I visited their schools and participated in some of their activities."
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The name "Amity" is a popular one among Gulenists.  There is also the Amity International School in Yaounde, Cameroon.  The Long Island Amity School, a private Gulen school that is now closed, was also located in New York.


Text strings shared verbatim with other Gulen schools (charter & private)

A number of text strings used in the description of Brooklyn Amity School's mission and educational approach on the Metropolitan Education website metropoledu.com (accessed June 2011) are used in identical form by other Gulen schools, both public (charter) and private.  Specific cases are given below.

The text "The mission of the [Brooklyn Amity School] is to offer a safe, secure, structured and stimulating college-career preparatory educational environment."
has also been used by New Century Charter Public School (a proposed Gulen charter school in New Jersey), Amity International College (a private Gulen school in Cameroon), and Pioneer Academy of Science (a private Gulen school in New Jersey).
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The text "provide our youth with the support necessary to reach their highest [individual] potential intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically"  has also been used by the following Gulen charter schools:
  • Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas
  • Horizon Science Academy Cleveland
  • Horizon Science Academy Cleveland Middle School
  • Horizon Science Academy Columbus
  • Horizon Science Academy Dayton
  • Horizon Science Academy Denison Elementary School, Ohio
  • Horizon Science Academy Springfield
  • Horizon Science Academy Toledo
  • Magnolia Science Academy 6 Palms, California
  • School of Science and Technology, Texas
  • Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School
  • Wisconsin Career Academy
and by the private Gulen school Pioneer Academy of Science.

It is also used by Marblehead Community Charter School in Massachusetts, and Elko Institute for Academic Achievement in Nevada, which are not Gulen schools.   (For another example of a text copied by many Gulen schools from Marblehead Community Charter School, see this page.)
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The text:"will provide a rigorous and relevant, standards-based curriculum in a dynamic, specialized learning community for students who seek a comprehensive, challenging curriculum with emphasis on science, world languages, and technology" has been used by:
  • Brooklyn Amity School
  • New Century Charter Public School  (unsuccessfully attempted Gulen charter school in Parsippany, New Jersey, 2006)
  • Pioneer Academy of Science  (private Gulen school in New Jersey)
  • Zaman International School  (private Gulen school in Cambodia)
  • Amity International School  (private Gulen school in Yaounde, Cameroon)
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The 109-word text beginning with  "The vision for the [Brooklyn Amity School] is based on three tenets..."  is identical to that used by Pioneer Academy of Science, not surprisingly since both are run by Metropolitan Education.
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The text: " Our curriculum includes the grouping and sequencing of specific standards to allow teaching those skills concurrently, while providing students with in-depth experiences to promote conceptual mastery of each standard. To demonstrate mastery, students will be required to apply skills in completing specific tasks to ensure learning is deeper than is required by traditional assessments."  appeared in identical form in the 2003 charter application prospectus for the proposed Indiana Life Science Academy, with lead petitioners Vedat Akgun (a founder of the Horizon Science Academy chain) and Bulent Bayraktar.



Rotating teachers and administrators

Further connections of Brooklyn Amity School with publicly-funded charter schools in the United States, as well as other private Gulen schools and the Gulen Movement, are shown by the multiple affiliations, both past and present, of the following individuals:

Zafer Akin
  • Board member, Brooklyn Amity School
  • Petitioner, Staten Island Fusion Charter School  (proposed Gulen charter school in New York)
  • Universal Foundation  (Gulenist organization)
  • President, Turkish Cultural Center New York  (Gulenist organization)

Gooktug Akkus

Yusuf Akpinar

Yucel Aydos
  • Brooklyn Amity School 
  • Hampden Charter School of Science (Gulen charter school in Massachusetts)

Necmi Coskun

Furkan "Frank" Kosar
  • Brooklyn Amity School
  • Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology (Gulen charter school in New Jersey)
  • Pioneer Academy of Science  (private Gulen school in New Jersey)
  • Petitioner, City Academy of Science (unsuccessful attempt to found new charter school in New York)

Muhammed Ozdemir

Mucahit Polat
  • Brooklyn Amity School 
  • Pioneer Academy of Science  (private Gulen school in New Jersey)

Vahit Sevinc
  • Brooklyn Amity School
  • Member, Turkish Cultural Center Brooklyn
  • From Brooklyn Amity School's website, following the Jan 2010 earthquake in Haiti: "BAS's Principal - Mr. Vahit Sevinc went to Haiti with the Helping Hands Foundation in order to address the crisis that occurred in Haiti."   (The Helping Hands Relief Foundation is a Gulenist organization.)
  • Aside: Mr. Sevinc is also the registrant for a domain name "lastcrusade.info"  No website currently exists at that domain name.  The significance of this is unclear.

Celalettin "Jett" Topbas
  • Brooklyn Amity School 
  • Snowdrop Science Academy  (private Gulen school in Monroeville, Pennsylvania run by West Penn Cultural Center, known to be a Gulenist organization.  School is now closed.)


Borrowed texts

One characteristic of Gulen schools is their tendency to "borrow" texts, not just from other Gulen schools, but also from other established (non-Gulenist) schools.

A 707-word text string beginning with "The academic program incorporates three fundamental goals: learning to solve problems, learning to access information, and learning to present information to others." that appears on the website of Brooklyn Amity School (accessed June 2011) is identical to that appearing in the Statement of Philosophy on the website of the Packer Collegiate Institute, a private college prep school founded in Brooklyn in 1845.

A 59-word string of text beginning with "At Brooklyn Amity School the foundations and tools for the pursuit of learning are developed in interactive, ...."  is also identical to a paragraph from Packer Collegiate Institute's website; only the school name is changed.
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The text "[BAS's] vision is to increase education opportunities for students  by collaborating with community leaders, local businesses and individuals in the community who are equally committed to advancing the quality of education in the community." is identical to that used by the Ayer Educational Foundation, Massachusetts and the Broken Bow Public Schools Foundation, Nebraska.
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The text  "[Brooklyn Amity School] will provide challenges and opportunities for students to instill the necessary skills and knowledge needed for the rest of their lives"  has also been used by Syracuse Academy of Science Charter School (a Gulen charter school in New York), Amity International School (a private Gulen school in Cameroon), Pioneer Academy of Science (a private Gulen school in New Jersey), and The Connecticut Academy of Mathematics and Science Charter School, which is not a Gulen school.