Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania
Charter School:
Evidence of affiliation with the Gulen Movement
Page created October 14, 2010 last updated Mar 6, 2013
by C.A.S.I.L.I.P.S. - Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in Public Schools
Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania (YSCP) is a publicly-funded charter school in State College, Pennsylvania. A sister school, Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania (YSWP) is scheduled to open in fall 2011 in the Baldwin-Whitehall area.
On March 18, 2010, the South Hills Record reported that "A nonprofit, Dream Schools, plans to purchase the building and Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania, also a nonprofit, would lease the facility."
On March 29, 2011 the Baldwin-Whitehall Patch published an article on YSWP, with the quote:
“Other than the relationship of landlord and tenant,” Brown said, “there is no relationship between Newport Drive Properties and Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania." Newport Drive Properties is owned by Dream Schools, Inc. In the article, YSWP founder Melih Demirkan is quoted as saying "that Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania does not have any formal or official affiliation with any other schools," and further, "But a charter school in State College (Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania), we consider it as our sister school."
The Pennsylvania Department of State shows a "registered office address" for Dream Schools, Inc. of 1530 Westerly Pkwy, State College PA 16801. This is the street address of Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania.
Like all Gulen schools in the U.S., YSCP hires personnel on H-1B visas.
Further connections to the Gulen Movement are shown by the multiple affiliations, both past and present, of the following individuals.
Feridun Ayata, a.k.a. Frank Ayata
- Business Manager, YSCP
- Affiliated with Penn State Dialog Forum, a Gulenist club
- Red Rose Foundation, Pennsylvania (Gulenist non-profit)
- Petitioner for Capital Academy Charter School, a.k.a. Capital Academy of Harrisburg, an attempted Gulen charter school that never materialized
Ali Demirci
- YSCP Founder
- Advisor, Penn State Dialog Forum (Gulenist club)
Osman Dulgeroglu
- Dream Schools
- Pioneer Academy of Science (private Gulen school)
Omer Gul
- Board of Trustees, Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania
- Dream Schools, Inc
Isa Emin Hafalir
- Board, Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania
- Founder, Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania
- Nova Education Foundation, Pennsylvania, operator of Magnolia Kids Academy
- President, Dialog Forum at Penn State University (Gulenist)
- Advisory Board, ABECS - Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter School (proposed Gulen charter school in PA)
Suleyman Karaman, a.k.a. S. Gem Karaman, Soloman Karaman, Suleyman Cem Karaman, S. Cem Karaman, Cem Karaman
- Officer of Dream Schools, a Gulenist non-profit involved in establishing YSCP's sister school, Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania
- Principal, Magnolia Science Academy
- Petitioner for Pioneer Technology Charter School, Oregon, a proposed Gulen school that never materialized
- Lead applicant for City College-Prep Charter School, a proposed Gulen school that never materialized
Levent Kaya
- CEO, Principal, YSCP
- Former Director, Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, a Gulen charter school
- Worked at Fatih University, an institution run by the Gulen Movement
Burcin Ogrenir
- Co-Founder, Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania charter school
- Teacher, Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology (Gulen charter school)
- Speaker at Turkish Cultural Center Queens (Gulenist organization)
- Speaker at Turkish Cultural Center New Jersey (Gulenist organization)
- Participant at Interfaith Dialog Center New Jersey (Gulenist organization) events
- “Likes” Pioneer Academy of Science (private Gulen school in NJ) on Facebook
Sait Onal
- Secretary, Dream Schools
- Petitioner, Capital Academy of Harrisburg, a.k.a. Capital Academy Charter School, Pennsylvania, 2008 (Sezai "Steve" Sablak was a co-petitioner; Sablak is a board member of the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center where Fethullah Gulen resides)
- Petitioner, Lancaster Science Academy, a.k.a. Lancaster Academy of Science charter school, Pennsylvania, 2008 (Sezai "Steve" Sablak was a co-petitioner)
- President, Red Rose Intercultural and Educational Foundation (Gulenist non-profit)
- President, Turkish Cultural Center Pennsylvania (Gulenist non-profit)
- Principal Officer, Wyoming Educational Foundation (this organization runs religious camps near the town of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. Note that the Gulen Movement was known for running religious summer camps for students in Turkey.)
- Author, Fountain Magazine (major publication of Gulen Movement in U.S.; Fethullah Gulen writes lead article for each issue)
Hasan Ozcan
- Officer, Dream Schools
- Director of Marketing, Nema Food (a.k.a. Rendulic Packing, a Gulenist corporation)
Alpaslan Ozdogan, a.k.a. Al Ozdogan, Al Oz
- Dean of Academics, Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania, under assumed name "Al Oz"
- Future head of Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania
- Former Head, Math and Science Departments, Central Jersey College Prep (Gulen charter school)
- Former teacher, Head of Math Dept, Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology (Gulen charter school)
- Former math teacher, Pioneer Academy of Science (private Gulen school)
Riza Ulker
- Founding Member, Board of Trustees, YSCP
- Head, Dream Schools
- Petitioner, Allentown Science Academy, PA 2010 (proposed Gulen charter school)
- Lead petitioner, Camden Charter School of Achievement, NJ 2009 (proposed Gulen charter school)
- CEO/Principal Truebright Science Academy (Gulen charter school)
- Founder, Snowdrop Science Academy, Monroeville PA (private Gulen school no longer in operation)
- Returned to Turkey, now on faculty of Zirve University (Gulenist institution)
Ammar Unal
- Math teacher, YSCP
- Former math teacher, Pioneer Academy of Science (a private Gulenist school)
- One of the founders of Snowdrop Science Academy, Pennsylvania, a private school run by the Gulen Movement
- Former math and character education teacher, Snowdrop Science Academy
- Member, West Penn Cultural Center (Gulenist non-profit)
Abdullah Yavas
- Board Member, Treasurer, YSCP
- Appointed to position at Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey in 2008
- First Rector of Antalya International University (Gulenist institution in Turkey)
- TACC-Madison (Turkish American Cultural Center Madison) (Gulenist non-profit)
- Visiting Scholar, International Black Sea University, Georgia (the country) 1998
- Editorial Board, Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics (Gulenist)