Frank McCourt school gets go-ahead from Klein
In July we wrote about community efforts to open a selective high school on the Upper West Side to be named after the late educator and writer Frank McCourt. Yesterday, Chancellor Joel Klein gave an official nod to the new school, announcing its proposed opening with a freshman class in 2010 in the Brandeis High School building.
The Frank McCourt school would be a small selective school, joining three other schools that opened this fall in the building, as Brandeis itself is being closed. The three new schools are Global Learning Collaborative, the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, and Innovation Diploma Plus, a transfer school for older students; like most new small schools, and unlike the proposed Frank McCourt school, they do not admit students based on their academic record.
According to Department of Education spokesperson Will Havemann, the enrollment policy for the school has not yet been determined; we anticipate that there will be some vigorous debate over the admissions policy. Parents on the Upper West Side have long lamented the lack of selective high schools in the neighborhood, especially as compared with District 2 on the East Side, which has many high-performing small schools that give preference to district residents.
In addition, school organizers hoped for a population of between 800-1000 students. But yesterday’s press release calls for a small school — which generally means an enrollment of 500 or fewer students. (Update: The DOE says the expected enrollment will be 430 students for grades 9-12.)
The school’s opening will not be confirmed in time for this year’s 8th-graders to list it on their high school application. According to Havemann, students will be able to apply in February when the DOE traditionally announces the opening of new schools.
The school’s principal, Diane Danielle Salzberg, was formerly an assistant principal at Millennium High School, a popular selective school in Manhattan noted for its strong humanities curriculum.
Numerous elected officials, including US Representative Charles Rangel, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, and City Council member Gale Brewer, joined Kein for the official announcement at Brandeis yesterday, lending their support to the school. Brewer said “the school’s mission will be to prepare students for college, while reflecting the community’s literary voice, and offering students and parents a language arts school with unique strengths and a creative environment.”According to the press release, the school’s opening is contingent upon a community hearing to receive public feedback and a vote by the Panel for Educational Policy. The DOE has been criticized frequently for opening public schools without first getting input from the surrounding communities. No word yet on when the public hearings will be held or when the PEP vote will take place. We’ll let you know when we find out.
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In a nutshell, it does not make sense to give a district 3-only school the name of a famous teacher who taught at a city-wide school. What made his story special is that he and his students benefitted from meeting others outside their neighborhood. If this is to be a restrictive school, then name it after someone who taught on the Upper West Side. Don’t let this be a half-baked tribute to Frank McCourt.
Comment by CEB — October 13, 2009 @ 3:56 am
Has it been confirmed that this is a District 3-only school? Will that priority be in place in the first year, when the applications my be limited by the February sign up?
Comment by Joyce Szuflita — October 21, 2009 @ 11:10 am
What about Eleanor Roosevelt High school? That is a District 2 school. Should their admissions be open to the entire country because it is named for a national figure? Is that school a “half-baked” tribute to her? The truth is, D3 needs more district-priority high schools. The students have none at the moment. I don’t think it matters for whom the school is named. As long as it fufills its mission and serves its community–whatever that community is it is a tribute to its namesake.
Comment by jgs — November 6, 2009 @ 10:57 am
jgs: Of course you would like to have a really nice school nearby that only kids in your district can get into. We all would. If it were in my district, I would like the school to be my-district only. There are many of us out there that have no acceptable schools anywhere near us, and are shut out of many good schools because of geography. Please understand that we, too, are desperate for good school options, and are hoping that Frank McCourt will be open to our children also.
Comment by Anonymous — November 9, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Thank you Anonymous. I completely agree.
Comment by cgmom — November 10, 2009 @ 9:04 am