M.S. 571

MS School 571, a tiny middle school located in the PS 9 building in Prospect Heights, closed in 2013 just eight years after it opened as the Upper Bergen school. The Department of Education marked it for closure in 2010 because of its poor performance. MS 571 had three principals in eight years and despite the efforts of its last principal, Santosha Troutman, to invigorate the curriculum with a math coach, computer lab, science lab and library, the school failed to improve. Community members expressed concerns about inconsistent school policies, student safety, and low attendance. The second floor space occupied by MS 571 now houses  a charter middle school, Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter School. (Judy Baum, July 2013)