By Gus Saltonstall
Students, alumni, parents, and teachers are pushing back against the possible relocation of an Upper West Side middle school.
The Center School, comprised of around 250 students in the fifth to eighth grades, is currently located at 100 West 84th Street. While the New York City Department of Education has announced no formal plan to move the school to a new building for the start of the next school year, rumblings of an upcoming relocation have gone on for months, according to parents, teachers, and a petition created earlier in January that has been signed by more than 2,000 people, titled “Protect Center School.”
The possibility of the move was confirmed in recent days by Center School Principal John O’Reilly, who wrote in an email to the community, shared with West Side Rag, about a meeting on Thursday at the school with representatives from New York City School District 3. “The meeting…is focused on the possible move of Center School out of P.S. 9,” the email read.
The possible move would see the Center School relocated from the building it shares with the P.S. 9 elementary school to the P.S./I.S. 191 building at 300 West 61st Street, according to several members of the middle school’s community.
When asked by West Side Rag if the Department of Education planned to move The Center School to the West 61st Street building for the start of next school year, a spokesperson for the Department of Education said that “no formal proposal has been issued at this time.”
The department’s email statement continued: “Authentic community engagement is a cornerstone of any thriving school system, and we strive to provide all schools with facilities that best meet their needs.” According to the statement, the department convened working groups throughout District 3 beginning last school year, to identify those needs and look for ways to meet them.
“While we have begun early conversations with families and school leaders about how best to support long-term planning, no formal proposal has been issued at this time. We will continue to consult closely with families, educators, and local partners,” the statement said.
Nor will a formal proposal to relocate the Center School be presented at the Thursday meeting with education department officials, according to sources familiar with the situation.
“Any decision to disrupt a school in such good working order is a bizarre decision,” wrote Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, parent of a seventh-grade Center School student, in an email to the Rag. “At the very least, it deserves full community input, and a timeline that respects the needs of working families whose children are in a unique generation.” Siddiqi said many of Center’s middle school students had found stability in its academically-centered community. “To radically disrupt this, without a community-driven plan, is wrong.”
Olivia Greer, a parent of a Center School sixth grader, told the Rag, “Parents advocating are asking for the same thing: more time. Time to understand the factors that are driving these proposed changes; time to thoughtfully consider the right outcomes.”
Multiple Center School parents mentioned similar concerns about the possible move to the West 61st Street building, including the loss of a separate gymnasium and auditorium space, the loss of its current large outdoor recess yard, proximity to Central Park, and the effect the move would have on a group of students who already experienced the school disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic.
The Center School, which was founded in 1982, has been in its current home since 2009, when it moved from the P.S. 199 building at 270 West 70th Street. The Center School runs from fifth to eighth grade, instead of the more typical middle school range of sixth to eighth grade, and it puts students from all four grade levels into the same classes. There are also two theater shows during the year in which every student in the school participates.
“Hearing that we were getting moved again, after 16 years in our new home in the PS 9 building, brings about a lot of sadness, uncertainty, and concern,” Michael Veve, who has taught at Center School since 2003, wrote to WSR. “We’ve made a home of this place as a school, and our access to Central Park, The American Museum of Natural History, The New York Historical, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art has enhanced and enriched the educational outcomes for our students. We use New York City as a classroom. It feels terrible to contemplate losing those resources as we face being forced to move again.”
The current Center School students have been told about the possible move and have begun to pen letters to the Department of Education.
Other students weighed in with pleas to keep the school where it is, with its auditorium, recess yard, and other resources. “This school is our home,” wrote one student. “If we move schools, there won’t be the magic of the school that we have today.”
The Rag will cover Thursday’s meeting at the Center School.
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Please keep this school here.
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Advocate for the community to have a voice.
https://www.change.org/p/protect-center-school
What is the problem they are trying to address? It seems like they are creating a problem with this (unproposed) proposal.
I believe that PS 9 needs more space in order ot meet the class size reduction mandates.
PS 9 only needs more space because the District 3 Superintendent wants to put more kids there.
PS9 currently is unable to meet class size mandates for its CURRENT students. This is why more space is desperately needed.
The DOE is REQUIRING PS9 to add more students. This is an ongoing mandate, not to accommodate zoned families, but to expand the school. It’s one of their strategies to boost enrollment in NYC public schools overall, in response to enrollment numbers declining since COVID. If you want confirmation of this, just ask the PS9 principal.
The class size mandates don’t come into effect until the beginning of the 2028-2029 school year. There is no desperate need for space, just a desperate desire
That isn’t true. NY is requiring that schools be 60% in compliance this year. Ps9 is one of the only schools that cannot meet that requirement due to space.
Incorrect, several schools in D3 are not able to comply with the mandate due to space. Check the facts and data from D3 and if you have time for all NYC districts.
PS9 has time to come into compliance with the mandate, so while that may explain why a move will be needed, it doesn’t explain the rush or why Center families can’t be given adequate opportunity to find a space that allows Center to continue with its unique program and curriculum intact (even putting aside the other questions about why PS9 would be expanding out-of-zone enrollment if they’re so desperate for space for their current students)
Ps9 is only trying to meet the needs of their current students and meet the current requirements. They are a zoned school that has to take in students from their zone.
Is your suggestion that Center doesn’t have to take in students? Center’s curriculum doesn’t matter because PS 9 has a waitlist, like so many other uws schools (like center, for that matter).
Current students at PS 9 have space and all their facilities. All through this page there are people saying PS 9 should have a new pre K class and kick center out to get it. To add more students, you want to push center into a building that will be noticeably inadequate to its basic curriculum. The very logo of center school on its shirts is stage curtains.
Wait a year and find a building for center that works for its curriculum.
I think this may be misleading. While it is true that PS9 is a zoned school, it is also true that they voluntarily enroll a lot of out-of-zone students, and my understanding is they have been doing so especially in the younger grades to expand enrollment. They are not filled up with students from the zone who they are required to take, which is what the comment implies.
Nobody can accuse the Center School of not having an engaged community.
Keep it where it is.
As a center school parent I am amazed that the DOE would want to disrupt and downgrade the facilities of this great school when also trying to keep parents from leaving the school system. If the 191 move happens it would force parents to look at options outside of the city and outside of public schools. Would be a shame.
I have mixed feelings about this and how it is being handled but you are being really melodramatic. First of all, they are not moving that far away. I would bet that there are some students for whom the new location is actually more convenient. If Center School kids are mature enough to go out to lunch every day (they take over a number of local restaurants), they can manage to commute down to the new location. The facilities might not be ideal or exactly the same, but things could be worse.
Second of all, worst case we are blessed to have several other great middle school options on the UWS. They might not be exactly what you want but they are excellent schools with a variety of learning environments, including several that are quite similar to Center School and/or are very close by. Your child will survive. If this is driving you to private or out of the city, then you already had one foot out the door and are completely overreacting.
I wish I had such tsuris.
@Leon, I’m confused by your comment. Are you suggesting that current Center School families would have the opportunity to transfer into one of the other (full) middle schools in the vicinity? As far as I understand, current families at Center will have to go where the school goes or leave the system, so I’m not sure what your point is for those families, especially since the DOE didn’t share this with them before the application process ended . Not to mention, keeping families in the school system who may have one foot out the door if they don’t get a workable middle school placement is exactly one of the priorities of the DOE, so don’t understand that point either!
I agree with you that there is no need to rush this and that it should be able to wait a year. This admittedly will challenge current 5th and 6th graders at Center but it reduces the impact and gives people time to consider options. No need to rush this.
That being said, if your worst problem in life (which this appears to be for some typical melodramatic Upper West Siders) is that they have to figure out a different way to do their show (they are smart and creative – they can figure it out – they can rehearse in classrooms and then figure something out for the final rehearsals and actual productions) and they don’t have a great recess yard (WESS also has a limited recess facility) then you have a pretty wonderful life.
Go across the street from the potential new location and share your life’s woes with the people living in NYCHA. They will find it hilarious.
This isn’t only about Center School. I encourage you to read the petition from the local families currently at PS 191 (the proposed location) who also aren’t being heard or considered by the DOE. They want their school to get the support it needs to improve, not to be pushed out of their location so Center can be inserted. This is the DOE moving deck chairs to hide their failure to support 191, at a disservice to the families at both schools
You clearly do not understand what a rare and extraordinary institution the Center School is. Without exaggeration, what Elaine Schwartz and her staff created over 40 years ago should serve as a model for middle school education across New York City. The years from 5th through 8th grade are among the most formative in a child’s life, and the Center School met that responsibility at an exceptional level. This was not, and is not, just another school—it is exemplary.
The school’s location is not incidental; it is essential. The Center School serves a deeply local population of children who, in large part, walk to school and do not rely on public transportation. Removing it from its current site—or even from the immediate neighborhood—fundamentally undermines its purpose. This is, in every meaningful sense, a neighborhood school, and it must remain one.
For more background on Elaine, see the folloing article from the NYT. fro 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/education/elaine-schwartz-dead.html
I disagree that the schooks’s location is essential. When Center School was in the PS 199 building those families faught hard, and ultimately lost, the move to the current location.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2008/11/14/21100789/backing-her-kid-s-school-actress-cynthia-nixon-joins-uws-war/
Once again the DOE pits families against families to the detriment of all. FWIW, I was actively involved in this identical situation with PS199 at the time and all of the arguments in these comments are identical to those raised by the center school community almost 20 years ago — and it all worked out fine.
It worked out fine because Center said they needed shared space and a theater in the school and DoE listened (and, btw, promised never to move them again).
The move will add as much as 25 minutes to some commutes. When families choose a school, they choose the commute. It’s quite realistic to say that some families (and teachers) won’t return if the school is moved that far away. But hey, at least they won’t be taking up all of the UWS restaurants, right?
Your view seems to be that its ok to destroy one of the top middle schools in the city for political reasons because the kids will be “ok” and anyway other schools are around. If you don’t know anything about the topic, maybe you should think twice before commenting on this topic.
“Destroy,” lol. As others have said, that’s the exact same argument pellet made when Center moved into its current building 20 years ago.
PS 9 parents need to speak up; the Class Size law reduces elementary class size which was desperately needed. Previously, desirable elementary schools had 32 kids in 1st- 5th grade. New law requires 20 students k-3rd & 23 students 4th -8th.
This is better for teachers AND students. Stop fighting FOR overcrowded classrooms, people! Go where the empty space is!
The difference is that the move 20 years ago was a lateral move, into a almost an identical set up with a separate stairway and access to outdoor space, an auditorium and close public transportation, which is in keeping with the Core Curriculum of Center.
The new proposed move is into a facility with fewer classrooms and no auditorium (the DOE is proposing the school ask other local schools and public buildings to borrow theirs when they need them), no outdoor space (use Riverside Park, its lovely), in a school at the very edge of the zone with no meaningful public transportation options.
It is only better for PS9 who are making absolutely zero concessions and will be basking in the glow of their new new music room while the PS191 middle school is disbanded and once again the high risk Amsterdam Houses community is forgotten and every other elementary school have to move their Pre-K’s out and lower their enrollment to meet the targets.
It isn’t political. It is the statewide class size LAW.
Given your aggressive censorship policy I am shocked that WSR published this nasty, aggressive post.
I know Center School very well. I know many kids who have gone there and go there now. I toured it for one of my children.
This will not “destroy it.” Yes, it will dilute some of its core offerings. I agree that they should be giving more notice. But your drama is over the top and unnecessary and doesn’t merit your tone.
The vast majority of children in NYC would give anything for the opportunity to go to any of the schools in this District, including the revised Center School. The core school will still be the same. They survived a move already. Worst case, there are lots of other incredible options. All of which are “better” than 90+% of the middle schools in this city.
Please check your privilege and attitude at the door. And I assume WSR will post my somewhat aggressive e-mail as I am just defending myself.
Center was already moved once, with the express promise that it wouldn’t have to move again. Why should it keep being Center that is moved? The majority of pre k families in this city would love to go to a PS 9 pre k in some other building as well.
And this absolutely goes to the core of center—the theater program and the shared space across grades is the core. The logo for the school on all of its PA sold shirts and pajamas, etc, is stage curtains. This is a school that runs on this specific idea of an active community across all grades. They need to be in a school with space for them all to gather.
The school can move but it should be given the chance to find a building that lets it keep going with the special curriculum it has that 1) works and 2) is the reason parents keep choosing it.
Why? Middle schoolers are old enough bro travel on their own tons 60th St. I’m not saying it isn’t a disruption for the families currently enrolled there but why would they habe to go to private schools or move to the suburbs?
Also, can you explain how not is a downgrade to facilities? The IS/PS 191 building is new.
It’s a downgrade to facilities because there is no auditorium, and one of the central aspects of center school is that every single student is in the theater productions that happen twice a year. It builds community and gives public speaking and tech experience, and it’s always been one of the main aspects of the center school curriculum. The room 191 uses as an auditorium doesn’t have physical space to allow for this (or even a permanent seat and stage set up).
Plus there isn’t a place for all the students to have recess together— another huge aspect of the center school focus on building a single community across grades.
As to the distance of the move, it’s less about how far it is from its current location and more that it’s a long way from public transportation, particularly for fifth graders whose legs tend to still be little. (Center starts in fifth grade, not sixth). Center also takes students from outside the district who travel long distances on the train to get there, and would add in a very long walk from the train.
Sure there are other good schools. But this is messing with exactly what makes center school so successful. Why mess with a school that’s working, in a way that fundamentally changes the way it works? Move the school to a place that has an auditorium and access to public transportation.
Here is a solution for all of the drama queen Center School fans here – I’m trying to think creatively. This will upset all of the UWS Anderson parents but who cares. Not sure if the math works on this in terms of headcount but humor me:
Anderson is a CityWide school. So it should be relatively agnostic geographically. It does not need to be taking up prime UWS real estate. That building has a nice auditorium which appears to be the be all and end all for Center School parents, as well as a very large play area, which they are also kvetching about losing.
So move Anderson elsewhere (maybe to the 191 space? Or Harlem? Or Chinatown? I don’t care). It is super desirable for its alleged academic rigor so people would travel regardless. And move Center to that space, which meets the space needs and is very close to its current location. Win-win.
You’re welcome.
Calling parents “dramatic” for advocating for their children’s education is not only dismissive, it’s a textbook example of political detachment, prioritizing convenience and power over empathy and the real needs of children and families.
And respectfully, why are you so invested? Do you have a child at Center School? If not, this isn’t your battle to fight or problem to solve. Decisions about children’s learning environments should be led by the families and school communities directly impact…not outside opinions that have no stake in the outcome
Thank you for ignoring my very helpful, constructive suggestion that would likely solve the problem. What do you think of that?
I am calling “dramatic” the parents who say they have to leave the city because of this. That is dramatic. Calmly advocating for this to be done more intelligently (I have agreed that they should try to delay this a year) I am less offended by.
I’m guessing there are a lot of PS9 parents (I used to be one so I know more about this than most) who are supportive of the plan. And they are very directly impacted so should have just as much say (if not more) than the Center School parents. I’m surprised more of them aren’t speaking up here.
And full disclosure, if WSR had provided more detailed information about exactly what is happening with PS9 and class sizes, I think this would be a much more intelligent, fact-based discussion. Perhaps they can provide a follow-up?
@Leon, I have said the same thing and know there are others who think this as well. It won’t happen because of DOE politics unfortunately, but yes, moving Anderson would have made the most sense during the last rezoning kerfuffle and would make the most sense now.
Also worth adding to Leon’s points that all 3 schools located where Anderson is now will need to meet class size mandates too, which will not be possible with all of them staying, so something is going to have change in that building. It seems so weird for the DOE to rush through these changes to Center and 199 without also considering what else will need to move or change in the district, since a space that doesn’t work for one school’s programmatic needs might be a good fit for another’s and vice versa.
Exactly this! What we learned in the last rezoning was that Anderson has very well-connected families and no one had the power (or will) to move them somewhere else (even though they are a city-wide program and not a district school).
Agreed.
What’s also telling is that PS/IS 191 isn’t able to fill the building they are in (and remember they moved 191 into that brand new building partially on the promise that it would be filled after various rezonings….)
How is this relevant? They aren’t talking about putting the Center School kids into PS 191, they are talking about colocating the 2 schools in the same building. This is done routinely in NYC.
It is completely relevant because this is what the DOE does and continues to do. Band-aids for quick fixes and rarely do they look at the bigger picture. It wasn’t that long ago that the rezoning took place which among other things, moved PS 452 into its own building (the old PS/IS 191 space) and moved PS/IS 191 into the new building. At the time the DOE promised all kinds of supports for both schools and now 452 continues to be under enrolled, PS/IS 191 is under enrolled to the point of potentially getting rid of their middle school and moving Center School into the empty space. And based on these comments, it’s not clear to me if PS 9 needs the space to simply comply with the upcoming smaller class sizes or do they need the space because they are adding out-of-zone students (and then satisfying the smaller class size requirements). Plus, if they are adding out-of-zone students which schools will lose students as a result?
This is not actually what is happening – there is a separate proposal to eliminate the PS191 Middle School and redistribute the kids currently enrolled there to other middle schools in the district.
While the building is new, there are fewer classrooms and a smaller combined gym/auditorium and limited outdoor spaces available – which restricts continuation of the current curriculum and core philosophy of the school.
The Center School parents are just asking to have a seat at the table rather than having a rushed decision forced on them.
The article doesn’t mention that the only reason this is being considered is so that PS9, which is a zoned school, can meet the upcoming state requirements for class sizes in its own building. The Center school is not a zoned school – it does not have to accept kids because they live in a certain zone like PS 9 does.
No one wants to move the students at Center School, but PS9 admin has already done all they can to find additional classroom space and they still cannot meet the mandated class sizes. It is not surprising the DOE would then consider moving The Center School to make more space. I do sincerely feel for the community at Center School, but I don’t feel this article explains the situation.
The article also doesn’t mention that PS 9 accepts out of zone students and has been looking to *add* enrichment rooms, and somehow has decided that it’ should be ok to jettison the few enrichment activities Center School has in order to do that. It also didn’t mention that Center School’s prior move was made with these considerations in mind— the ability for all students to have recess together, and an auditorium that can hold all these students and their families together— because these have always been at the heart of Center School’s philosophy and curriculum. So PS 9 “has done all it can,” except making the exact concessions other schools are making, like moving the pre-k, or taking fewer out of zone students, or waiting on *adding* enrichment rooms, or acknowledging that a building they have shared with another school for 17 years is not just PS9’s building.
Move Center School to a building that works for its curriculum. Pause taking in students from out of the zone, wait on building new music rooms for one year so the DoE can find a building that allows Center School to maintain what makes it work.
Center is looking to keep its fundamental characteristics, not to add, not to stay forever. PS9 is looking for all the same things every other school in the district wants to add, that most of them don’t get, and demanding that we do it *right now* no matter what it means for everyone else. Center School is and has always been willing to share and to make concessions and squeeze its students into tiny places to get these foundational items. PS 9 appears to have decided it isn’t even willing to wait one year.
The “problem” that D3 is trying to solve at PS 9 is simply that Kamar Samuels wants to put a lot more kids there, which he can’t do without taking space away from Center School.
It’s not that Kamar Samuels wants to put a lot more kids there, it’s that parents want to send their kids there. Anxiety about the future of G&T is will further increase the demand for schools like PS 9. Parental choice is a priority of the DOE. I’ve heard Kamar repeatedly mention that data shows when parents don’t get their first choice of school, they leave the system. When enrollment dips below 250, it becomes challenging for schools to offer the robust programming kids need. 191 is underenrolled and has serious performance issues, kids aren’t getting the foundational skills they need to be successful. The purposing of truncating 191 isn’t to make space for another school, it’s to allow the administration to focus on the elementary school. 3K-8th grade is a lot. Kids in lower grades deserve to learn to read and do math proficiently, and middle schoolers could be better served by other middle schools in the district. Another perspective to consider is that admitting out of zone students can be a tool for integration, which we know is a priority.
I heard they’re just asking for more time to find space that works for the school. Seems reasonable.
That’s actually not true. PS 9 can meet its class size requirements, taking students from within the zone. This expansion is in order to allow in students from outside of the zone.
But in any case, even if center has to be moved it shouldn’t be moved somewhere that doesn’t allow its curriculum to continue.
SAVE RIVERSIDE SCHOOL FOR MAKERS AND ARTIST MIDDLE SCHOOL PS 191
https://www.change.org/p/save-riverside-school-for-makers-and-artist-middle-school?recruiter=1092866555
I hope everyone reading clicks through and reads this petition. What is unsaid in this article is what the DOE is doing to 191 as part of this. Please support the families of PS 191!
A school is its people, not a place. While the Center School community should certainly have a say in where they end up, if PS 9 needs the space to comply with the reduced class size mandates, it seems a move is imminent.
As wonderful as the people are, a school is its program, philosophy and curriculum. The (not yet officially) proposed move is to a facility that would not support the core elements of Center School’s curriculum that has made it work so well. .The class size mandate doesn’t explain the rush especially since PS9 would have enough space if it weren’t trying to expand through (unfairly allocated) out-of-zone seats. Why not involve the families in finding a place for Center that actually lets it keep doing what it does so well? And don’t throw PS191 under the bus when they’ve been asking the DOE for help and are instead going to be pushed out to place Center there. It’s not good for anyone.
PS9 needs the space to expand the number of students it is accepting outside of District 3….it could also move its Pre-K to the new central location on 66th street but is choosing not to
You do realize that every kid in PS 9 pre-k has at least one sibling at PS 9? It is rather difficult to take one 4 year old to 66th street and his 7 year old sister to 84th street.
Other elementary schools in the district are having to do this, moving their preK to the new location on 66th despite siblings in K+. Why does ps9 get special treatment that they can both to keep their preK AND expand with out of zone schools on a super-short timeframe, at the expense of both Center School and the existing school at 191, instead of a more sensible and fair process for all?
I believe Pre-K is one classroom. I don’t think that is impacting this decision. If anything, it would be great if they could add another pre-k as the existing pre-k has historically not even had space to include all siblings, not to mention other in zone students who want to be there.
And having neighborhood pre-k’s is more important than middle schools as it is a lot harder for 4 year olds to get to school than middle school aged kids who should be able to commute on their own within the District (most of them do – check out the dozens of kids bussing to Booker and WESS every day – sorry if this doesn’t work for some people).
Is 300 W. 61st St. considered a worse/less safe neighborhood than 100 W. 84th?
Hard to get to
Probably a bit less desirable. But still fine.
Unsure if this is a serious comment or a troll……but yes it absolutely is considered a less safe neighborhood…and I live in the vicinity of PS191.
Manager’s formula: find something that is working OK or even well, change it so as to impress your own vision and genius on it, and advertise what you “innovated” and “built” in bringing about a “vision.” Then move on and up and repeat.
Big changes are coming to District 3. There are too many under-enrolled schools, while other schools need more space to comply with the class size law. There has already been some shuffling, and trust me, there is more coming. These decisions need to made equitably and fairly , and the needs of ALL children in the district need to be considered. Center School is a wonderful place, and the parents at the school are in the position to be organized and forceful in their advocacy. I don’t blame them for not wanting to move. But I am always concerned that the children at schools where the parent engagement is lower end up getting the short end of the stick. It is the responsibility of the city to not be pressured by the loudest voices, but to look more objectively at both the big picture and the needs of ALL students in the district
If you attended the CEC3 meeting Tuesday evening, you might have seen that the loudest voices are the ones from PS9 parents.
It was so painful and disheartening to see live the disparity between PS9 and PS191 on display at that meeting, and who gets what they want from the DOE vs whose kids get cast aside
Too many under-enrolled schools, yet they’re expanding PS9 at Center School’s expense. It begs the question: why?
I agree. However, Center is actually not asking to not move at this point.
Just to have more time and more thought put into the site selected.
Some individuals may ask not to leave but overall that is not the request of the school community, who supports the goals of reducing class size and increasing opportunities for all students.
Families were not informed of the move until after middle school applications for next year were closed (and have still not been informed officially as far as I know).
Commuting to 61st street is not possible for all of our families.
Major components of the core curriculum are not possible to implement in the 191 space and will need to be reworked.
As you know, many schools were granted exemptions from needing to comply with the class size law. There isn’t an urgent need for ps9 to have the rooms in September 2026.
Why not give the school staff and the families more time to plan for such an upheaval?
For transparency: I have a child at Center School, another at a d3 title 1 school, and I am currently teaching in a d3 UPK after over a decade in Special Ed. I also went to public middle school in d3 myself (not at Center). I remember middle school as a truly hellish experience. I had a few amazing teachers and some good friends but it was terrible overall. I didn’t know middle school could be such a joyful place. Rather than causing harm to a curriculum that is currently working well for a select few,
Why not take what works and see if it can be replicated so more students in our district can benefit?
Instead of dismantling the enderenrolled middle schools at 191 and 333, why not implement a pilot program with a performing-arts and community-focused mixed-age model?
I agree. My biggest frustration with this article is that it really only shares one side of the story. While it’s important to hear from people at the Center School , I wish the article also included other voices, such as the perspective of the PS9 community. The article fails to mention the reason the Center school has to move is because of the class size mandate at PS9 (as explained in the comments) and instead makes it sound like the DOE just made an arbitrarily cruel decision to move the Center School. It’s a difficult situation all around and it sounds like the proposed move wasn’t handled in the best way for the Center School community but I just wish the article added a little more nuance and some other perspectives.
Agree with this and hope you will help amplify the voice of the families at PS 191 who also will be affected by and oppose this change!!
Families at both schools are concerned by the rushed process, lack of transparency, withheld information about the bigger picture, fairness across schools, and lack of real family engagement. From all I’ve heard and read, families accept that changes may be needed but are objecting to how this is being handled
This is why we need school vouchers.
Why do I get the sense these comments are disproportionately older folks whose children have grown and left the city.
Save this school please! It’s really important!
Why doesn’t the city condemn the shelter across the street so that School Construction Authority can build a school there?
300 West 61st the amenities are listed in the link below.
https://www.rsma.nyc/place
there is no way this school should move. It is a gem. It is a working gem. And any plan to move it should be thoroughly vetted with the entire community, not made by a group of oligarchs in the Department of Education..
I am a current NYCPS teacher and parent to district 3 public school kids. I’m also a former PS 452 mom who was there through the big move. The folks at Center school seem to come off similarly to the ones at 452 that did not want to move. I think their rationale seems entitled much like the 452 parents that chose not to move with the school. In middle school kids travel by themselves and begin to separate from their families. I’m sure Center school can obtain bussing for the younger grade children as part of the plan. I formed community at my bus stop much like I did at school drop off after the move. One thing that bothers me as a public school educator is the admissions process of the Center School. When we were looking about 10 years ago it was a huge turnoff. There were families from the west village in our admissions session who were hoping to butter up the head of school and gain entry as their public school options looked bleak. It felt like an independent school with some celebrity kids- no admissions transparency whatsoever like the regular DOE middle school process (which I know isn’t ideal either). A school with such admissions processes, I think deserves to move anywhere as if the parents are so involved and bought into the philosophy they will travel for the right fit for their kid. Center is different – why isn’t this mentioned anywhere in the thread? Don’t all kids deserve such a middle school experience? Surly, a school with such clout can collaborate with the DOE and co-design an amazing auditorium space for the 191 building that they can all share. Not bitch/moan/gripe that they can’t possibly move because the building doesn’t serve them.
Unfortunately this is a misinformed post that does a real disservice to both the Center School families and PS191 families based on decade-old information and bias . Whatever it may have been a decade ago, Center School’s admissions are 100% lottery and have been for all the families currently in the school. And Center parents aren’t demanding not to move; they are just asking for reasonable time to see if there’s a location that can accommodate its curriculum, AND to avoid displacing another school that also doesn’t want to move, has been given no voice or notice, and deserves to be involved in the decision. There are very powerful, privileged and connected families making entitled demands for their kids in this equation, but it isn’t the families at Center or at 191.
That might have been true ten years ago. Center School’s admissions are lottery now, and have been for at least five years.
I live on W 83rd and i’m zoned for ps166 on W 89th st. Funny business going on. Rezone the whole district again.
I’m not sure what the controversy is here. PS 9 occupies most of the building (two of the three floors) and is a long-established, neighborhood-zoned elementary school. With the class size reduction mandate, classrooms are going from 30+ students down to 23, which necessarily means they need more space.
Center School is a much smaller middle school, relatively new to this location, and serves older students. Logistically, it makes far more sense for Center School to relocate. Delaying the move only prolongs overcrowded conditions for PS 9 students, which is unfair and unnecessary.
And if the new commute isn’t ideal, there are plenty of other strong middle school options in the district.
No regard for the PS 191 families whatsoever, very nice. They are getting completely gaslit and discarded and even as of yesterday night’s meeting are not being told the full story. You’re not sure what the controversy is about that though?
No regard for the current fifth grade families at Center who were misled about the potential move until after the application deadline for them to apply out to one of those other strong middle school options if the extra commute is too much for them (even if they would prefer to stay at Center otherwise)? Who cares about them, right?
No regard for family engagement in finding a suitable space for Center so that its core curriculum, which works exceptionally well for the many families who choose it, can continue? Better to evict them NOW, what’s the controversy?
No concern about the rushed, misleading, and non-transparent DOE’s process here? This will bite the other strong middle school options as well because many changes will be needed and there either is no overall plan or there is one and DOE is hiding the ball.
You’re not sure what the controversy is because you’re only looking at what works for PS9. It’s really not hard to understand the issues otherwise.
As was stated there are other middle school options in the area. The facilities are not adequate to meet the state mandate, another location has been identified.
Children are guaranteed a spot in the district if not the specific zone school.
I suppose they could do a reverse lottery to reduce capacity and reallocate per zoned and district schools or move the school as the prescribed alternative.
There seems to be the thought of a right to remain in a location once attendance has been established, that does not seem to be the case in terms of what is defined as one of guarantees.
Current fifth graders cannot go to another middle school now, they found out too late to apply. Center is not looking for a “right to remain” it’s just looking for a right to continue the program it was created to run. PS 9 has been expanding enrollment and enrolling students from out of the zone, so you could just freeze out of zone enrollments as other schools have had to do, and/or move the pre-k as other schools have had to do, and pretty much cover next year— or the district could allow the time of the year to get to compliance, knowing Center will leave and there will be plenty of space. And, most importantly, the state mandate does not require compliance by September, so Center should have that time to find it.
We really do not need schools anymore all children can learn from home via web. Then all school properties can be converted to housing a win win for the city.
PS9 is the only school in the district which doesn’t have housing projects in its footprint. Center School serves the whole district. This is a big step backwards for equality.
Hmm.. lets start from square one. Let’s pragmatically maintain 84th as is keep the existing location (stay with me we’re large language model concept for you Loraxes in the bleacher seats here) where it is and alternatively transfer the overage of new students to 61st st. Gee, was that win win hard wired solution at no cost (maybe even for the for the snippy diehard condescending collectivist sidebars.. Leon.. Hello!). God bless nyc & is all everyone.
Did you cover Thursday’s meeting?
There’s a print article because a WSR reporter slipped in, but press was barred from the meeting by the deputy superintendent. My understanding is that is illegal since meetings are open to all, though I don’t know what can be done if it was illegal of her.
Never mind what one thinks of the details about the specific proposal, I am shocked that ANYONE here would be ok with the DOE’s approach to all of this. Secrecy, gaslighting, favoritism, performative engagement at best, withholding information from families and the broader community. It’s disgraceful and isn’t school- or issue-specific..
Thanks you WSR for covering it because the DOE sure isnt doing their part to make the affected communities aware .