Schools
School Officials Blast DOE's Decision to Move Fifth School into M.S. 117
The principal of one school that shares the building says that five schools will be too many for the space.
The Department of Education wants the new Urban Dove Charter School for Sports, Health and Fitness to temporarily move into Bed-Stuy’s M.S. 117 for two years, says WNET, despite the fact that the building already houses two high schools and two middle schools.
According to the DOE’s building utilization report, M.S. 117 can accommodate 1,290 students, though it currently houses 850, says the article. A review on Inside Schools, though, says that the “cramped, shared middle school building limits [the] school’s growth and offerings,” referring to Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School, which is one of the schools that shares the building.
“I’m not trying to label or resent this school [Urban Dove] but I’m saying that it’s presence here would create a next to impossible ability to share space,” James O’Brien, the principal of BCAM, said to WNET.
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O’Brien is currently working on a case to present at an April 3 public hearing, and has drafted an open letter to the DOE suggesting that the existing four schools should be allowed more room to grow instead, says the article.
The non-profit Urban Dove School’s charter was approved by New York State in December 2010, and WNET says the organization runs a number of after-school programs in the Bronx and East Harlem. Applications for the school will be accepted until April 15.
