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Kingsborough Community College (2001 Oriental Boulevard) is one of 10 community colleges from around the country selected to participate in a new initiative focused on civic learning the the humanities.

The program, called “Bridging Cultures to Form a Nation: Difference, Community and Democratic Thinking” brings teams from all 10 colleges together to design a three-year curriculum and faculty development project to strengthen civic engagement.

“We are extraordinarily pleased to have been selected as a national leader for our unswerving dedication and commitment to making civic engagement an integral part of the academic experience at KCC,” said Regina Peruggi, president of KCC. “The preparation of our students to become engaged citizens and leaders of tomorrow is critically important and top priority at KCC.”

Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and co-sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and The Democracy Commitment, the new curriculum will:

• infuse questions about difference, engaged community, and democratic thinking into transfer courses in the humanities
• promote greater adoption of practices that advance important civic learning outcomes
• create a series of humanities-enriched professional development opportunities for full-time and adjunct faculty
• expand the project’s impact through collaboration with additional community colleges and partnerships with state humanities councils

Here’s more about the project, from the college’s press release:

Bridging Cultures was developed as part of AAC&U’s ongoing initiative on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement and builds on the recommendations issued in the report, A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future, released in January 2012 at a White House convening. The key recommendation in A Crucible Moment is to make civic learning in college expected rather than optional for all students, including all those in career and technical programs. Building from this recommendation, Bridging Cultures began in February 2012 with a call for proposals to community colleges across the country, leading to the selection of 10 teams composed of humanities faculty and administrators.

Team members will participate in an intensive summer faculty development institute in August 2012, as well as multiple other faculty development opportunities and partnerships with other community colleges. The project will culminate in a symposium planned for October 2014. Bridging Cultures’ impact will also be strengthened by a partnership with theNew York Times Company education group, which is collaborating with TDC in their national initiative.  Project participants will use the Epsilen online learning platform to develop forums and to share and co-create resources and course materials.

In addition to KCC selected institutions include Chandler-Gilbert Community College (AZ); County College of Morris (NJ); Georgia Perimeter College (GA); Kapi’olani Community College(HI); Miami Dade College (FL);  Middlesex Community College (MA);Mount Wachusett Community College (MA); Lone Star College-Kingwood (TX); and Santa Fe College(FL).

After deciding last month to shutter Sheepshead Bay High School, as well as 23 other high schools, the Department of Education chose a name this week for the new school in the old building: Academy of Career Exploration of Sheepshead Bay.

John Dewey High School – also slated for closure – will be renamed Shorefront High School of Arts and Sciences at John Dewey Campus.

Both schools will close doors in June as part of a federal “turnaround model” – which requires firing at least half the staff. The plan has spurred condemnation from parents, teachers and students as we’ve previously reported.

The schools will reopen under the new names in September, flooded with as much as $1.5 million each in federal funds to get the schools back on track.

We didn’t think the DOE could make it any more difficult to report on school issues, but, alas, they found a way to nearly double the number of characters to type. That’s city efficiency at its very best!

Regardless, we think it’ll be known colloquially as Sheepshead Bay High School and John Dewey High School for years to come. What do you think?

Sheepshead Bay H.S. students protest the DOE's plans before a March hearing (Photo by Robert Fernandez)

Sheepshead Bay High School and John Dewey High School will close doors in June, a city panel decided last night despite objections from those closest to the schools.

The schools are both targeted for reform using a federal “turnaround model” – which requires firing at least half the staff. The plan has spurred condemnation from parents, teachers and students as we’ve previously reported.

The Panel for Education Policy made the final decision last night, when they voted to close all 24 high schools on the agenda at the five-hour meeting.

The schools will reopen under new names in September, flooded with as much as $1.5 million each in federal funds to get the schools back on track.

Chris Llego, a junior at Sheepshead Bay High School, stood before a tribunal of five international criminal court chief justices at the Peace Palace in the Hague, the Netherlands, this past February. In front of an audience of students, teachers, international attorneys, judges and other dignitaries, he delivered an argument in a mock International Court Case (ICC).

The judges, according to Llego, were imposing.

“They looked so wise, advanced and skilled; they were in a whole other league,” he said

Llego was a member of one of two select teams of 16 New York City public high school students in an International Moot Court competition that was held this past February, in the Hague, The Netherlands. Team One from New York City prevailed over teams from around the world, including teams from Russia, Poland, Argentina, The Netherlands, and the home of the eventual second place team, Venezuela.

Llego was a key member of the New York contingent, and was one of three New York City students who participated in the final round.

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Students protest the DOE's plans before a March hearing (Photo by Robert Fernandez)

The plan to reform Sheepshead Bay High School using a “turnaround model” – which requires firing at least half the staff – has spurred condemnation from parents, teachers and students as we’ve previously reported.

It’s not a matter of whether the school needs work or not – most agree it does – but rather that the school was already enrolled in a reform process and had made great strides. Now the change in direction is wreaking havoc on the progress made, and teachers are losing faith in a system that has already pulled the rug out from under them.

Such undermining of teacher morale is setting any future reforms up for failure, one teacher told Gotham Schools:

Robin Kovat, social studies teacher at Sheepshead Bay High School

What changes have the School Improvement Grants brought to your school so far?

“Well, they instituted [the "restart" reform model], and we started it, and then they threw this wrench into our works, so the morale now is really going down because part of it involves a buy-in for the staff but nobody knows if they’re going to be here next year. I think dividing it into academies would really be wonderful if we keep the people here who can actually make a difference, who have been shown to make a difference, who have already made a difference.”

Gotham Schools has been asking a set of questions of teachers and students at some of the 26 high schools slated for closure. Here’s what another Sheepshead Bay High School teacher had to say about how the additional funds from reform have helped in the past year:

Alona Geller, English teacher and Cheerleading coach at Sheepshead Bay High School

What changes have the School Improvement Grants brought to your school so far?

“I started here when I was 22 years old. And I’ve been teaching for seven [years]. I think a lot of improvements have taken place. Any money granted to us is used for trips and programs and supplies, the kids have everything tha they need, and I know friends of mine in other schools don’t have those things.

This year in particular, we have City Year in the building, the ninth graders have a lot of support, and they’re thriving in away I haven’t seen before. City Year greets the kids at the door, they provide tutoring services, they’re in our classrooms, they follow the kids all day long and see what subjects they’re struggling with. They really keep up the morale for the students and for the teachers.”

Those funds will continue to flow while half the staff that have helped find the most efficient use for them will be dismissed if the turnaround model gets approved, as is widely expected.The Department of Education will decide whether to close the schools on April 26.

The application deadline for public school pre-kindergarten programs for the 2012-13 school year has been extended to April 10, 2012. According to the Department of Education’s Elementary School Enrollment Team, you can apply to public school pre-k programs online or in person:

• Online: If you would like to apply online, you must submit your application by 11:59 p.m. on April 10.
• In Person: Visit your local enrollment office to fill out a paper application or work with a counselor to complete the online application. The deadline to apply in person at an enrollment office is April 10 at 3:00 p.m.

Community-based organization (CBO) pre-kindergarten programs have no specific application deadline. If you’d like to apply to CBO programs, deliver the CBO application directly to each CBO site to which you would like to apply.

To learn more about pre-kindergarten admissions — and for a list of public school and CBO pre-kindergarten programs — go to www.nyc.gov/schools/prek or review the 2012-2013 Pre-Kindergarten Directory.

Grady High School (Source: GothamSchools.org)

Earlier today we reported on Sheepshead Bay High School’s ongoing fight for survival from the Department of Education’s ax. Meanwhile, another local high school threatened with the same fate has been granted a reprieve.

The Department of Education has announced that seven of the 33 schools slated for closure under the “turnaround” reform model have escaped the measure, having improved sufficiently over the past year to warrant removal from the list. Brighton Beach’s William E. Grady High School (25 Brighton 4th Road) is one of the seven.

Grady High School students and faculty led a spirited fight against the plans, including student walk-outs and protests that highlighted the school’s achievements, including jumping from a D grade to a B in the latest school progress reports.

All of the seven schools on the list have received A’s and B’s on their progress report. The six other schools saved are Harlem Renaissance High School, Intermediate School 136 Charles O. Dewey, School for Global Studies, Cobble Hill School Of American Studies, W.H. Maxwell Career and Tech High School and Franklin D Roosevelt High School.

Sheepshead Bay High School and John Dewey High School remain slated for closure. The Department of Education will decide whether to close the schools on April 26.

Councilman Lew Fidler took to the microphone at a mandatory hearing on the impending closure of Sheepshead Bay High School last week, slamming the Bloomberg Administration’s proposal as an example of failed education policy and arguing instead that the school should become a testing ground for a new high school improvement model.

Several hundred Sheepshead Bay High School teachers, parents and students attended the March 28 hearing, with more than 50 people testifying before a panel that included Deputy Schools Chancellor Marc Sternberg that the school is a success despite the odds. The hearing itself is a legally required formality before implementing any major restructuring, in this case a plan to enroll the school in a “turnaround” model that would rename the school and replace 50 percent or more of its teachers.

Students and administrators of Sheepshead Bay High School (3000 Avenue X) decried the closure plan and the Department of Education’s assertion that it’s failing, saying the school has made major strides in its success rate despite having a higher rate of non-traditional students.

Gotham Schools reports:

They emphasized the school’s strengths: dedicated teachers, diverse students who come from all corners of the globe, and celebrated mock trial and track and field teams. The city should improve the school, not close it, they argued.

“The teachers go above and beyond. They’re tutoring us during their lunches and breaks,” testified Yuri Ostrozhynskyy, a senior who helped create a mock-trial video opposing the turnaround plan. “The teachers push us because they have a personal relationship with us, they know what to expect of us.”

“Our parent coordinator accepts children, families almost every day who are not in any school system in this country, and we gladly show the families around this wonderful school,” said Thaddeus Russell, a School Leadership Team member and the father of three graduates and a current student.

Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg acknowledged that the school has had “some success” graduating English Language Learners in four years, and can count its slowly climbing graduation rate among its strengths.

Fidler added to those arguments – which focused on the school’s strength in extracurricular activities and its ability to serve a unique student population of ESL children and kids from broken homes – noting that the successes have been made in the face of continuous Department of Education interference.

“In 2008 you started picking on Sheepshead Bay High School,” Fidler said, referring to the DOE’s earlier attempts to shutter the school. “In spite of that fact, these very same teachers that you want to get rid of half of have improved the graduation rate even though you are telling them that you are coming for their jobs.”

The school’s overall grade dropped from a C to a D in the most recent progress reports. However, the school has demonstrated steady improvements over the past three school years in its first-year student achievements, graduation rates, regent diploma rates and attendance.

These achievements were made in the face of repeated threats of closure, as well as a public campaign to portray the school as failing. Administrators at the school testified that anxiety over the school’s future and its performance has kept strong-performing Junior High School students from applying, and gave the school a potentially weaker student body to work from.

Fidler suggested an alternative to closure – turn the school into a laboratory for high school improvement based on a model used at P.S. 114.

At the Canarsie-based elementary school, Councilman Fidler, Assemblyman Alan Maisel, other elected officials and community leaders rallied with parents and school administrators when city ordered the school shut down. Surprisingly, DOE officials reversed course, negotiating a compromise with school administrators and local elected. The facility would co-locate a small charter school, while the electeds directed more funds for after school programs, and administrators worked with parents and teachers to ensure deeper involvment.

Fidler told Sheepshead Bites that the turnaround has been a huge success. In terms of enrollment, P.S. 114 is now over-performing while the charter school can’t fill its seats.

“It’s an indication that parents want their kids in 114,” he said. “They liked what they saw.”

A rally to save Sheepshead Bay High School when it faced closure in 2010.

Parents, teachers and students at Sheepshead Bay High School are poised to fight back tonight against the Department of Education’s plans to close the school and fire up to half the teachers, as the school’s supporters organize a rally in front of the building before heading into a public hearing on the matter.

The Department of Education is proposing to reform the Sheepshead Bay High School using the “turnaround” model. This means the city will rename the school and replace the principal and 50 percent of its teachers. The school stands to gain $1.55 million in federal funding from the School Improvement Grant program using this model. William E. Grady High School, Franklin D. Roosevelt High School and John Dewey High School are other local schools slated for turnaround.

The turnaround model has been criticized by opponents as a politically motivated stab at the teacher’s union, after negotiations to implement a new teacher evaluation system stalled. Reforming teacher evaluations was a prerequisite to receive federal Race to the Top grants, and the failure to strike a deal cost the city a chance at hundreds of millions of dollars.

It’s not the first time the school has been on the chopping block, most recently protesting in November 2010 to stay open – a battle it won. The school’s principal also vowed to fight for her job.

Today’s rally kicks off at 4:00 p.m. The public hearing begins at 6:00 p.m. at the school (3000 Avenue X). Written comments can be submitted via e-mail to D22Proposals@schools.nyc.gov, and oral comments can be left at 212-374-0208.

The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on the proposal on April 26.

Last week, Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch came out against the city’s “turnaround” plan for schools, in which 33 high schools will be closed, renamed and see at least 50 percent new faculty. Tisch blasted the Bloomberg Administration proposal as being political strategy and not about improving children’s education.

“There’s a fight going on here that has nothing to do with what’s going on at the school,” she told GothamSchools. “It’s a labor dispute between labor and management and has nothing to do with the kids.”

Among the schools slated for turnaround measures are Sheepshead Bay High School, John Dewey High School, William E. Grady High School and Franklin D. Roosevelt High School – the last two of which have seen major improvements in performance in recent years, scoring B’s.

Tisch visited Grady last week, and praised the school’s growth under previous reform efforts, and expressed concern about the  city’s new change in direction, which appears to undermine any achievements.

“This is a school that is moving in a really fine direction,” Tisch said of Grady. ”This is the wrong message to this school at this time. Don’t be so dismissive of the efforts going on in that building.”

That’s not to say Tisch is a proponent of saving all schools. She has previously advocated for the closing of schools that struggled to improve despite additional measures and resources, including Automotive High School – which is also slated for turnaround.

What do you think? Is the city’s turnaround plan a politically-motivated end-run around the teachers’ union? Or does Bloomberg have the students’ best interests at heart?