Sunday, April 19, 2009

Brooklyn Prospect Charter School Will Be in Sunset Park High School Building

The Sunset HS building that the community fought so hard for 40 years to be built, supposed to ease overcrowding in adjacent Brooklyn high schools, and help local high school students avoid long commutes, is now going to include a 6-12 charter school: “Our class size will be twenty-two students, with a student to teacher ratio of 12:1.” http://www.brooklynprospect.org/Facts

The community also fought long and hard that there should be only one principal for the building (though he DOE insisted that there should be three “learning communities”) and that neighborhood kids should get a preference in admissions – though the DOE refused on that count.

Wonder how the community feels about the unilateral placement of a charter school in the building. This is only the first of many of course – esp. if the DOE goes ahead with its plan to produce 100,000 seats for charter schools by 2012.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Brooklyn Prospect Charter School Will Be in Sunset Park High School Building

http://bestviewinbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2009/04/brooklyn-prospect-charter-school-could.html





Daniel Kikuji Rubenstein, the Executive Director of the Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, informed those on the mailing list that the NYC DOE has proposed placing BPCS within the new building on 4th and 35th. Is it a done deal? After a quick phone call, I can tell you that it is definite (other than some administrative hoops).



I wonder if the location will change some people's minds about applying. My understanding was that the hope for the original location was either in downtown Brooklyn (proximity to BAM and other educational/arts organizations) or somewhere decidedly more Park Slope. I, for one, hope the organizers aren't too disappointed. There's plenty of culture to soak up in Sunset Park, and there is definitely a need for the 88 sixth grade seats if others decide they don't want to make the trip.



Reminder for Sunset Park (and all District 15) parents of current 5th graders, the deadline for applications is SUNDAY. See below for more information.



from the email:



We are pleased to inform you that the NYC Department of Education has proposed placing Brooklyn Prospect Charter School within the newly constructed Sunset Park High School building. We are thrilled to potentially locate the school within the Sunset Park neighborhood and to have the opportunity to allow Brooklyn Prospect to begin serving 6th grade students within this new facility.



The Sunset Park High School Facility is a newly constructed building located at 35th Street and 4th Avenue in Sunset Park , Brooklyn . Sunset Park High School will have approximately 400 students in its first year in a building with a capacity of 1600. Brooklyn Prospect Charter School will have fewer than 100 sixth grade students in its first year.



We are grateful to Principal Corinne Vinal, Council Member Sara Gonzalez, the Center for Family Life Co-director, Julie Stein-Brockway, Community Board 7 and the Sunset Park High School Task Force who have worked tremendously hard in the creation of Sunset Park High School. We look forward to working closely with them to ensure a seamless collaboration and strong foundation for both schools.



Please keep in mind the following important information:

April 5th 2009 is the last day to sign up for Brooklyn Prospect Charter School ’s lottery . Please go to our website http://www.brooklynprospect.org/Students to register. Families without internet access and/or Spanish speaking families may leave a message at (718)-289-3174. Note this is an extension of the deadline.

Entering Brooklyn Prospect’s lottery does not affect the NYC Department of Education’s middle school admissions. Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is an additional free public school option; but the student/family must enroll in the lottery by April 5th to have Brooklyn Prospect as an option.




Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-674-7320
classsizematters@gmail.com
www.classsizematters.org
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to know if this charter school located in Sunset Park will invite the Hispanic students that live in the area to enroll in the school. Let's see.

BestViewInBrooklyn said...

Any student in District 15, of which Sunset Park is a part, is invited. I think that had the location been known earlier, it would have been more attractive to parents here. The applications closed a few weeks ago, and hopefully lots of neighborhood 5th graders applied. I believe the charter school is currently slated to stay there for two years; we'll see if that lasts.

Thank you, Norm, for giving this more attention!

Jesmi said...

It would have been more attractive to parents here. The applications closed a few weeks ago, and hopefully lots of neighborhood 5th graders applied. I believe the charter school is currently slated to stay there for two years; we'll see if that lasts.