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Michael J. Petrides School, The

Grades: Pre-K, K-12
Staff Pick

Our Insights

What’s Special

Pre-k to 12 program

The Downside

Concerns about school environment

One of the very few pre-K to 12 schools in the city, Michael J. Petrides is a highly sought-after school that, despite a rather remote location, has a diverse student body and draws children from across Staten Island.

Housed on the grassy campus of what was once the College of Staten Island, Petrides is surrounded by trees and nature trails. The site is also home to the Borough President’s Hall of Science, a two-story science lab for k-12 students. 

Petrides gets high marks on the Quality Review for its teaching and efforts to engage students. Overall, Petrides students do well on the elementary and middle school standardized tests. Students in special education, however, lag far behind, and school officials acknowledge, on the comprehensive educational plan (CEP), that they must do more to address the needs of students with disabilities and those from low-income families. Petrides can point to a high graduation and college readiness rate, although its student struggle with the state high school Regents tests.

With about 1,300 students spread across 13 grades, there are relatively few students in each grade. Despite that Petrides offers a number of high-school credit classes in its middle school and advanced placement courses for high school students, fields a variety of sports teams and offers an array of extracurricular activities. Students may take Spanish or Italian.

School survey results, parent comments and press accounts indicate problems with behavior, discipline and bullying at the school.

Many families find the k-12 school attractive because it spares them from having to apply for middle and high school. At the same time, long-time principal Joanna Buckheit, a Staten Island native, tries to ensure that students don’t miss out on milestones marking the passage from one level to the next. Since students remain at the school for so many years Petrides offers a sense of community, with older students tutoring or mentoring younger ones, according to the Quality Review. According to the principal, a third of the school’s staff attended Petrides. 

Special education: Petrides has a high percentage of students with special needs and offers a range of services, including team teaching classes with two teachers and a mix of general and special education students.

Admissions: Students must be Staten Island residents and are selected by lottery. Almost 1,000 students apply for the approximately 90 kindergarten slots. Continuing 8th graders have priority for high school admissions, meaning that there are many applicants for the open slots. (Gail Robinson, web reports, September 2018)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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School Stats

Academics

School
Citywide
How many students graduate in 4 years?
 
95%
How many students with disabilities graduate in 4 years?
 
96%
Average daily attendance
 
86%
How many students miss 18 or more days of school?
 
48%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school offers enough activities and services for their children's needs?
 
81%
How many parents of students with disabilities say this school works to achive the goals of their students' IEPs?
 
88%
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide and 2020-21 NYC School Survey

Students

1471
Number of students
875 Citywide Average

Race/Ethnicity


School
Citywide
Low-income students
 
56%
Students with disabilities
 
30%
Multilingual learners
 
2%
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot

Safety & Vibe

School
Citywide
How many students were suspended?
 
0%
How many students say they feel safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms?
 
79%
How many students think bullying happens most or all of the time at this school?
 
67%
How many students say that some are bullied at their school because of their gender or sexual orientation?
 
46%
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey and 2019-20 NY State Report Card

Faculty & Staff

School
Citywide
How many teachers say the principal is an effective manager?
 
85%
18.5
Years of principal experience at this school
7 Citywide Average
669
Number of students for each guidance counselor or social worker
313 Citywide Average

Teachers’ Race/Ethnicity


How many teachers have 3 or more years of experience teaching?
 
88%
Are teachers effective?
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey, 2021-22 School Quality Guide, 2019-20 Report on School-Based Staff Demographics, 2021 Guidance Counselor Report, and this school's most recent Quality Review Report

Advanced Courses

Which students have access to advanced courses at this school? Learn more

Calculus

 
4%

Computer Science

 
18%

Physics

 
24%

Advanced Foreign Language

Not offered in 2019-20

AP/IB Arts, English, History or Social Science

 
47%

AP/IB Math or Science

 
14%

Music

 
20%
From unpublished, anonymized data from the 2021-22 school year provided by the New York State Education Department, brought to you by

College Readiness

School
Citywide
How many students graduate with test scores high enough to enroll at CUNY without remedial help?
 
65%
How many students take a college-level course or earn a professional certificate?
 
83%
From the 2020-21 and 2021-22 School Quality Guide
How many students filled out a FAFSA form by the end of their senior year?
 
69%
From the 2022-23 FAFSA data released by Federal Student Aid, brought you by
How many graduates of this school received Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funding to attend a NYS college?
 
37%
How many of those TAP recipients made it through college? Learn more
From unpublished, anonymized student-level data for the class of 2014 provided by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) in coordination with the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), brought to you by
For more information about our data sources, see About Our Data · More DOE statistics for this school

Programs & Admissions

From the 2021 High School Directory

Comprehensive Academic

Admissions Method: Ed. Opt.

Program Description:

Comprehensive academic curriculum with an emphasis on performing arts and technology.

The Michael J. Petrides School D75 Inclusion Program

Admissions Method: D75 Special Education Inclusive Services

Offerings

From the 2021 High School Directory

Language Courses

Italian, Spanish

Advanced Placement (AP) courses

AP Statistics, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP United States History, AP Biology, AP Comparative Government and Politics, AP World History: Modern, AP Calculus AB

Boys PSAL teams

Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Fencing, Football, Handball, Indoor Track, Outdoor Track, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Wrestling

Girls PSAL teams

Basketball, Bowling, Golf, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Volleyball

Coed PSAL teams

Golf

Read about admissions, academics, and more at this school on NYCDOE’s MySchools

NYC Department of Education: MySchools

Contact & Location

Location

715 Ocean Terrace
Staten Island NY 10301

Trains: N/A

Buses: S53, S66, S78, S93, X14


Contact

Principal: Joanne Buckheit

Website

Other Details

Shared campus? Yes

This school shares a building with Bridge Preparatory Charter School

Uniforms required? No
Metal detectors? No

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