By Gus Saltonstall
Last June, a group of schools across New York City, including a pair of middle schools on the Upper West Side, learned they would lose their longtime, beloved after-school provider — Manhattan Youth.
A petition at the time garnered nearly 7,000 signatures urging the city to reconsider canceling Manhattan Youth’s contract to provide after-hours services for those schools, including The Computer School at 100 West 77th Street and West End Secondary at 227 West 61st Street.
“[Student] have been working with a lot of the same adults who organize the programs and coaches who work with all the sports teams,” Martha Sciaraffo, president of the parent association at The Computer School, told West Side Rag about Manhattan Youth in May. “They’ve built a lot of trust and really a strong relationship with these grown-ups.”
Manhattan Youth had worked with The Computer School for more than a decade.
The petition failed to change the decision, as Manhattan Youth lost their contracts, and the city selected the YMCA of Greater New York as the new after-school provider at The Computer School and West End Secondary for the 2026-27 calendar year.
- Read More: Parents Lament a City Decision to Replace the After-School Provider at an UWS Middle School
Now, less than a month into the new school year, the YMCA has withdrawn from its contracts serving the two Upper West Side schools, and Manhattan Youth is stepping back in, as confirmed by the city’s Department of Youth & Community Development, Upper West Side Councilmember Gale Brewer, and an email obtained by West Side Rag from Upper West Side District 3 Superintendent Reginald Higgins.
The YMCA’s decision to withdraw from its contract serving the two Upper West Side schools follows a meeting on September 21, organized by Brewer, between the after-school providers, the school’s principals, and Higgins.
“The issue centered around the want for competitive sports. The YMCA doesn’t do that. They do other great programs, but not that,” Brewer told the Rag, in a phone call. “I’m very happy the change is happening and again it’s not the Y’s fault. Thank God it’s Manhattan Youth coming back in.”
When asked about its decision to withdraw from its contracts to serve the pair of UWS schools, a spokesperson from the YMCA told Chalkbeat – “We were asked to provide comprehensive, multi-faceted programs that included leadership development, academic supports, arts, sports and more – not a singular competitive sports program or a musical theater program, but a comprehensive program.”
In notes from Higgins sent to families at both The Computer School and West End Secondary, he confirmed that the Department of Youth & Community Development had identified Manhattan Youth “as the next highest-ranked eligible CBO [Community-Based Organization] in that process” for the two schools.
The YMCA will remain as the after-school provider for the two Upper West Side schools until October 2, and “in the following weeks, school personnel will bridge services for families until the new provider transition,” according to Higgins.
Manhattan Youth will take over after-school services starting on October 19.
“Our priority is making sure young people are served, families have clear information, and these school communities have strong, stable after-school programs,” a Department of Youth & Community Development spokesperson told WSR. “It is what families deserve and what we will deliver.”
All of the students who already have a seat in the after-school programs at The Computer School and West End Secondary will continue to have a seat, Higgins reassured in his note.
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Manhattan youth is great!