ED Covering Ed EBC

LEVEL 1 - 2 OF 46 STORIES

The New York Times

January 21, 2006 Saturday

Late Edition - Final

SECTION: Section B; Column 5; Metropolitan Desk; Pg. 3

LENGTH: 456 words

HEADLINE: List of City Schools at Risk Of Being Closed Grows by 10

BYLINE: By SUSAN SAULNY

BODY:

The number of city schools put on a list for strict scrutiny by the state for

poor academic performance went up slightly this year, and the number of city

schools taken off the list by showing improvement dropped, the state's

commissioner of education announced yesterday.

Ten city schools -- now at risk of being shut down -- were added to the

list of Schools Under Registration Review, known as SURR, bringing the total in

the city to 40. Statewide, 61 schools are under review, said the commissioner,

Richard Mills.

The addition of 10 city schools reverses what had been a trend in the past

few years: the number of schools on the list had been falling. There were 55

schools in 2003, 46 in 2004 and 35 last year, an all-time low.

But this year a new factor was at work: The state raised the level of

performance required to pass its standards. In addition, 6 of the 10 newly named

schools are middle schools -- and those schools have for years confounded

educators by resisting the improvements that have worked in lower grades and

even in high schools. Three city schools were removed from the list this year

for improvement in academic performance, but that number was significantly lower

than the number removed in each of the past several years. For instance, 16

schools were taken off the list last year.

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein observed that the number of endangered

schools still remains at a near-record low.

''Nevertheless, we cannot accept failing performance by any of our schools

for any reason,'' he said. ''If a school proves incapable of providing a

high-quality education to our students despite efforts to improve it, it will be

closed.'' He said 8 of the 40 schools that have been on the list were scheduled

to be closed this year and 5 more will be closed next year. The state also

expanded its review process for the first time this year to District 75, which

covers special education schools, and one District 75 school, Public School 12

in the Bronx, was put on the list.

Despite the additions, Mr. Mills said he was pleased. ''I think it's

impressive since we have been raising the bar,'' he said. ''The city has

essentially been staying ahead of a moving locomotive.''

Elsewhere in the state, three schools in Buffalo and two in Syracuse were

added to the list.

The 10 New York City schools on the list are LegacySchool for Integrated

Studies in Manhattan; P.S. 220, P.S. 12, Junior High School 123 and Middle

School 302 in the Bronx; J.H.S. 265, J.H.S. 57, M.S. 143, IntermediateSchool

291 and P.S. 12 in Brooklyn.

The three schools removed from the list are P.S. 140 in the Bronx,

RepertoryCompanyHigh School in Manhattan and EBC/ENY High School for Public

Safety and Law in Brooklyn.

URL:

LOAD-DATE: January 21, 2006

LEVEL 1 - 1 OF 55 STORIES

Daily News (New York)

December 27, 2007 Thursday

SPORTS FINAL EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 25

LENGTH: 579 words

HEADLINE: IT'S SLOW DEATH FOR B'KLYN HS TROUBLED NABE'S BEACON OF HOPE TO CLOSE

BYLINE: BY CARRIE MELAGO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

BODY:

IT WAS SUPPOSED to be an antidote to the violence and failure of east

Brooklyn's large high schools.

But 14 years after it opened in an old sewing factory with so much promise,

EBC/ East New York High School for Public Safety and Law is closing - a dismal

failure, disowned even by its earliest advocates.

Teachers, former staff and founders attribute the decline to an unattractive

setting, high teacher turnover and a community-based organization's decision to

pull out of the foundering project.

"There was hope that something could happen," said Carmelia Goffe, a school

founder. "You really have to have that commitment from parents, teachers,

everyone. I don't feel that was happening toward the end."

In the early 1990s, East Brooklyn Congregations wanted to create smaller

schools to combat problems in the area's larger high schools.

The idea gained traction one winter morning in 1992, when two students were

shot dead inside nearby ThomasJeffersonHigh School hours before former Mayor

David Dinkins was to visit.

Founding Principal Genevieve Richards-Wright remembers the excitement when

the school, which has 538 students, opened in 1993.

"We turned a lot of lives around of kids who would have fallen through the

cracks," said Richards-Wright, who left in 1999. But the school was housed in a

dark, drab old factory surrounded by parking lots, car services and warehouses.

"It didn't jump out at you, it didn't have any park or field in front," said

Richard Organisciak, then superintendent of District 79, which oversaw the

school.

By 2003, when the school's low math scores put it on the state's failing

list, cracks had begun to show. A state report said a third of the teachers were

either uncertified or had less than two years' experience.

Soon fewer criminal-justice courses were offered, and partnerships with the

NYPD and JohnJayCollege fizzled. The school made headlines in 2004, when its

then-principal was accused of naming failing kids over the loudspeaker.

By 2006, East Brooklyn Congregations' board had voted to sever its ties,

telling education officials the relationship with the school was "limited and

one-sided."

"It became clear to us that the school was not going to improve," said Ray

Domanico, senior education adviser to East Brooklyn Congregations. "There wasn't

a successful effort to create a team, and there wasn't a real vision."

From EBC's perspective, school staffers weren't treating them as partners

and resisted new strategies and change.

Richards-Wright, the first principal, believes education officials made a

mistake by not grooming principals from among staffers who knew EBC's "ethics

and values."

She also faults EBC for not seeing the project through.

"The people and the community who founded a school should always help to keep

the vision alive and make sure that is the cornerstone," she said.

There were some bright spots, but school attendance is a dismal 71.4% and 37

staffers have left in the past three years.

Last month, the school got a D on the city's first-ever progress reports, and

the Dec. 4 closing notice has totally demoralized students.

"They didn't give the school enough of a chance," said 18-year-old Sable

McGee, a senior. Organisciak, now the superintendent in New Rochelle, sees

EBC/ East New York as a cautionary tale for new small schools. "If you have an

external partner, are they willing to stay with you in the bad times and the

good times?" he asked. "And are you willing to change?"

LOAD-DATE: December 27, 2007

HEADLINE: SCHOOLS OUT!. CITY ZAPS 6 THAT FLUNKED ON NEW REPORT CARDS, SAYS MORE

FACE THE AX

BYLINE: BY ERIN EINHORN, OREN YANIV and CARRIE MELAGO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

BODY:

PARENTS AND students from six schools that bombed on the city's first report

cards were told yesterday their schools will get the ax - and more will learn

their fate this week.

Three schools in Manhattan, two in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn sent letters

home yesterday alerting parents that they'll either close next year or be slowly

phased out.

Each were branded with either a D or F on the controversial new report cards,

and the list of shuttered schools will grow in the coming days.

"Where we think a new beginning is appropriate, we're going to do it,"

Chancellor Joel Klein told the Daily News yesterday, putting the total number of

schools expected to be closed at "less than 20."

The news came as a shock to some parents and students, even though Klein and

Mayor Bloomberg warned of repercussions when the report cards were issued last

month.

"We're sad because it's a good school. There are good people here," said

Iasia Williams 12, a seventh-grader at the Tito Puente Education Complex in East

Harlem. "I still feel I get a good education."

Elementary schools on the list will close next year and reopen under new

names and changed administrations.

Middle and high schools will stop accepting new students and will be phased

out over several years.

Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said in a

statement that she's worried about the "concern and apprehension" caused by the

closures.

"These closings represent a major upheaval for all involved, and it is

important that every effort is made to ensure that everyone affected is treated

with care, dignity and respect," she said.

Though the six closed schools earned low grades on the report cards, they

aren't all among the worst of the worst - even by the city's standards.

At Public School 79 in the Bronx, about 50% of students scored proficient or

higher on state math and English exams. And EBC/ East New York High School for

Public Safety and Law outperforms about a quarter of city high schools in

graduation rate, with 48.2% graduating in four years.

Klein said the closure process wasn't "mechanical," relying on more than the

report cards. Past test scores and evaluations were considered, and

superintendents and school leadership were consulted, he said.

Still, the closures disappointed parents who formed relationships with school

staff.

"I think it's a good school," said Sia George, whose daughter attends third

grade at PS 101. "When I had problems, they were taken care of the right way."

Graphic: DIDN'T MAKE THE GRADE

Here are the six schools that were informed yesterday that they will be shut

or phased out.

Tito Puente Education Complex, 240 E. 109th St., Manhattan

The school received a D on the report card and an unsatisfactory rating on

its quality review.

Academy of Environmental ScienceSecondary School,

410 E. 100th St., Manhattan

Academy's middle school received an F on the report card and an

unsatisfactory rating on its quality review.

Public School 79,

125 E. 181st St., the Bronx

The school received an F on its report card and a proficient rating on its

quality review.

BusinessSchool for Entrepreneurship,

977 Fox St., the Bronx

The school received a D on its report card and a proficient rating on its

quality review.

EBC/ East New York High School for Public Safety & Law, 1495 Herkimer St.,

Brooklyn

The school received a D on its report card and an unsatisfactory rating on

its quality review.

Public School 101,

141 E.111th St., Manhattan

The school received an F on its report card and a proficient rating on its

quality review.

GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC;INFOGRAPHIC, ROBERT SABO/DAILY NEWS Public School 101 and PS 79

(bottom) received F grades on the first report cards. Photos by Brian McDermott

(main) and Alfred Giancarli

LOAD-DATE: December 5, 2007