SCHOOL MOVE TO BE DECIDED JAN. 16
The Department of Education (DOE) has moved its Panel for Educational Policy vote on the relocation of Innovation Diploma Plus (IDP) from Dec. 20 to Jan. 16. The controversial vote will decide whether the high school will remain co-located with four other schools in the Brandeis Education Complex at 145 W. 84th St. or move to a soon-to-be-vacated building in Washington Heights.

The move was condemned by education administrators and local elected officials when it was proposed in October because they believed that the DOE was isolating IDP’s students, who are transferred to the high school because of poor performance elsewhere, to favor Success Academy, the education complex’s one charter school that hopes to expand in the building. DOE maintains that the move would be advantageous to students because they would have shorter commutes and be closer to the school’s partner nonprofit community development organization.

EXPRESS TRAIN DERAILS
Passengers on the A express train recently were stranded near 81st Street Station when the train’s last car derailed. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, an undetected broken section of the rail caused one wheel assembly of the southbound train to jump the tracks around 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22, leaving over 400 straphangers waiting underground as a second train came to their rescue. The accident caused subway delays from uptown Manhattan to Brooklyn throughout the day by forcing the A and D lines to run on the local track. No injuries were reported, and service returned to normal in the evening.

CHRISTMAS TREE CLEAN-UP
The Department of Sanitation (DOS) is currently running a Christmas tree collection for mulching and recycling. Through Saturday, Jan. 19, the department is encouraging residents to leave their trees by the curb in front of their homes for pick-up. Tree stands, tinsel, lights and ornaments should be removed, and the trees should not be placed in plastic bags.

According to DOS, the trees will be chipped into mulch that will be distributed to parks, playing fields and community gardens throughout the city.

The Department of Parks and Recreation is also holding a “Mulchfest” next weekend, Jan. 12 and 13, at designated sites around the city. Residents can bring their trees to be chipped into mulch that will be used as ground cover for the city’s plants, and free mulch will be given to anyone who brings a bag to transport it.

THINKING OF SUICIDE? FREE COUNSELING AVAILABLE
In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings, the Samaritans of New York reminds the New Yorkers that it operates a free, confidential, 24-hour suicide prevention hotline in the city at 212-673-3000.

“The focus on the details of the tragedy, the memorials and the politics of gun control must also be accompanied by the need for greater access to mental health services for those who are depressed, experiencing trauma and/or experiencing some form of mental illness,” Samaritans said in an e-mail, noting that their service alleviates the intensity of the feelings that those in crisis experience and reduces their risk factors for suicide.

Samaritans of New York, part of the international suicide prevention organization that has centers in 42 countries, is the longest-running suicide prevention program in the city. They have answered over 1 million calls from people in crisis, and provide suicide prevention education programs for health providers and support groups.

So despite strict orders from one good friend from the Philadelphia High School for Girls (I tease her that I think of her as “Napoleon”), I never for a moment considered attending the recent reunion at a slick hotel in Philly. I did write a quick essay for the reunion website about my happy memories. I added one sentence about my clueless reaction to an event that took place freshman year. It seems that three of my friends had sex with a youngish, substitute (male) science teacher. One of the three girls told me about it right before French class. Instead of answering her, I opened my textbook and began reading.

My reference to the long ago event in the reunion blog has to do with my current dismay about my numb response to my classmate’s casual confession. I recall having no emotional response whatsoever. Perhaps it was because I didn’t know or speak much about sex in any of its forms.

After the reunion, “Napoleon” grimly reported that my three unnamed former classmates didn’t cop to participating in the sexual event, but created a near riot about my poor taste at referring to it, however briefly.

I was upset, but soon collected myself—a writer must stay a little ahead of conventional morality in order to create the occasional frisson that develops into a ripple.

But here’s the good news: I then picked up the telephone to call Marcia Hoffman Hutchinson, also my former classmate, whom I hadn’t spoken to in years. Marcia had long, strong red hair, usually in a ponytail. She wore white blouses and had old-fashioned curves. She looked like an Italian cameo in her full-length antique cheval mirror. I loved watching her downshift her family’s mid-century Jaguar sedan.

When we were kids, Marcia frequently welcomed me for weeks at a time into her parents’ old Philadelphia mansion—with an elevator, a Delft-tiled fireplace in the breakfast room and a balconied ballroom containing a full-length portrait of Marcia (my family was, shall we say, occasionally unwelcoming to me).

I didn’t get that Marcia was rich. I thought she and her family simply had the most fantastic visual taste in the world. I now see both things are true.

Talking to Marcia, who lives in a rural enclave just outside Boston, was like lowering myself into a warming bath. I got the scoop on the reunion—and learned she was mildly irked that she hadn’t heard about the aforementioned potential sex scandal until now.

Here’s a little more background on Marcia. After doing graduate work in anthropology at Berkeley, she studied psychotherapy and wrote several successful books, including 200 Ways To Love The Body You Have. She also designed our superb reunion website.

Her soothing perspective turns out to be an antidote to negativity. I love hearing about walks in her woods with her dog, Roxie. In many ways, her wisdom about the human spirit exceeds my own. I am trying to convince her to come to Manhattan, where we will check each other out in person. She tells me her hair hasn’t grayed, but it’s not as bright. Nonetheless I know she’s brightened and deepened.

Indeed, that weekend in Philadelphia is the best reunion I didn’t attend—ever. 

–
Susan Braudy is the author and journalist whose last book, Family Circle: The Boudins and the Aristocracy of the Left, was nominated for a Pulitzer by publisher Alfred Knopf.

The high school, housed on the Brandeis High School campus at 145 W. 84th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues, will be open to students in all five boroughs. Named after the late Pulitzer Prize-winning author who spent 29 years as a teacher, the new school will focus on communications and civic engagement.

Principal Danielle Salzberg. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

“Either kids that already demonstrated skills in that area, or kids who want to improve their skills in those areas, those are the kinds of kids we’re looking for,” said incoming principal Danielle Salzberg.

In addition to being evaluated on grades and attendance, students interested in enrolling must take part in an interview, which screens for writing ability and collaborative skills. Part of the interview will include an on-demand writing test and a group task to gauge students’ interest in collaboration.

Brandeis is currently being phased out and replaced with other smaller schools. In addition to McCourt High School, those schools include the
Innovation Diploma Plus High School, a “transfer” high school for students who might not earn their credits elsewhere; the Global Learning Collective, which will focus on an international approach to learning; and the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, whose mission is to give students the skills they need for both “green jobs” and college.

McCourt High School is aiming to accept 108 students for this September’s freshman class. Each year, a new grade will be added, and the school will eventually serve 432 students by the 2013-2014 school year.

High school-bound students must send in school preferences to the Department of Education by the end of February. The department will match McCourt High School with desired students who are interested in attending. There will be an opportunity for students to submit additional high school preferences in March and April. McCourt High School will be recruiting throughout the spring.

The department is hosting a “New High Schools Information Fair” Saturday, Feb. 6 and Sunday, Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Emigrant Savings Bank Hall, 51 Chambers St.

Feb. 11 there will be an open house for new high schools with 9th grade classes that will be occupying the Brandeis High School campus, including McCourt High School, Urban Assembly School for Green Careers and Global Learning Collaborative. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the Brandeis campus on West 84th Street.

For more information, parents can contact the office of Council Member Gale Brewer at 212-788-6975.

Danielle Salzberg has helped start 10 new schools. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Q: You’ve been working at the education reform group New Visions for Public Schools, helping them launch schools. How many new schools have you overseen?
A: I’ve helped start 10 new schools. I started a new school once as a teacher early in my career and then did the same thing again five years later and then started at New Visions. I’ve learned about the pitfalls and challenges of starting a school. I don’t think that means there won’t be kinks in the early years of Frank McCourt, but I do have access to a lot of resources.

Q: Can you take us through the steps of the school-launch process, which Frank McCourt is going through now?
A: First there’s an application process, which is a proposal that needs to be submitted to the Department of Education. It includes a mission statement and a vision for the school and a series of documents in which you articulate what the school is about. Once the school is approved, there’s a short recruitment phase, usually in February, during which all students get a second opportunity to look at new schools. So if they want to change, they can apply to a new school. After that, it’s like a marathon to hire staff, develop systems, do training and orientation, meet with students and families, solidify partnerships, ready the space and order supplies. Most schools do training for teachers in summer and have a short bridge for students or orientation in summer to get a jumpstart. And then the school opens with 108 freshmen!

Q: What are your thoughts on working on the Upper West Side?
A: I’ve been a 10-year resident of the Upper West Side. It’s a great, diverse neighborhood. And there are so many organizations that are incredible resources for young people and families who live here. The neighborhood is a great attraction, too, for kids in other parts of the city. There are so many reasons to come there: museums, cultural venues, hospitals and the university.

Q: The Frank McCourt School will focus on communications and civic engagement. How will that be reflected in the curriculum, and what will the math and science part look like?
A: There’s going to be a lot of literacy instruction, and also a big commitment to community service. It will appeal to kids who want experience with leadership development and who have an interest in writing or visual art or other kinds of media and communication—and those who are interested in trying a different kind of teaching and assessment. Grades will be done a little differently; we’re going to implement an alternative assessment program that will engage students in measuring their own progress. There will be independent study and an experiential learning requirement before they graduate. They’re going to organize their own project, whether it’s research at science lab or an internship in a newspaper or working with web development. They’ll explore a career path or personal interest in an academic way, which includes reflection and regular meetings with classmates to share what they’re learning. We’re going to have a very strong science and math curriculum. Kids who are most ready for college have experienced a rigorous four years of math and science; we will expect them to take four years of each.

Q: Frank McCourt will be a selective school. How will the admissions process and recruiting work?
A: Admissions will be based on grades, standardized exam scores, attendance and then a group interview to see how students engage with material, which includes an onsite writing sample. The school will accept applicants citywide, and do a lot of recruiting in the neighborhood as well. I’m looking forward to meeting with people at the local middle schools.

Q: How will community involvement continue moving forward?
A: My understanding is there already are committees and groups who have been engaged in this process for a long time. I have been meeting with them individually, and am looking forward to meeting them as groups and sharing ideas. The goal is ultimately to develop an advisory council for this school, a group of community members that meet regularly and work with the school.

Transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

John Kwok
Brooklyn, N.Y.
The writer was a panelist at a recent NYU memorial tribute held in honor of McCourt.

The small, selective school will eventually serve 432 students when all high school grades are added during the 2013-14 school year. McCourt was best known as the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of  Angela’s Ashes, but he also taught for 29 years, mostly at Stuyvesant High School.

As Brandeis is phased out and replaced with smaller schools, the McCourt School will be the selective neighborhood high school that many residents have been clamoring for. Three other schools have already opened on the Brandeis campus this fall: Global Learning Collaborative, focusing on international and multicultural learning; the Urban

Elected officials and community leaders at the official announcement of Frank McCourt High School, on Oct. 6. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Assembly School for Green Careers, which prepares students for the workforce and college; and Innovation Diploma Plus, a transfer school for students who have struggled elsewhere.

The McCourt School will open with a freshman class of 108 and add a grade each year. According to the department, there will be no geographic preference for District 3 students. But advocates hope that its size, focus and curriculum will make it an attractive option for neighborhood students, among others.

Marc Landis is a local Democratic district leader who has been part of the effort to create the school. He described walking past the Brandeis campus with his young daughter and watching her grow excited by the idea of a neighborhood school with a focus on writing.

“It definitely doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t be limited to the Upper West Side,” he said. “But isn’t it every parent’s dream to be able to send their kid to great school a few blocks away?”

When the department announced in February that Brandeis would be phased out, residents and elected officials, led by Council Member Gale Brewer, formed an ad hoc committee supporting the creation of the McCourt School. Members included noted education writer Clara Hemphill and West Side parent Tom Allon, president and CEO of the company that publishes West Side Spirit and a former colleague of McCourt’s at Stuyvesant High School.

“The most exciting part of it is was a group of West Side- and Harlem-based parents who came together. It’s a real ground-up school,” Brewer said. “I don’t think this has happened in a long time.”

A Facebook “cause” website supporting the high school attracted nearly 600 members and kept the public abreast of it’s progress.

“The process was highly collaborative and drew on the insight and effort of local parents, elected officials and more,” said Micah Lasher, director for public affairs at the department. “We think the product is going to be outstanding.”

At a public meeting in June, some expressed concern that the school’s “selective” nature would lead to de facto segregation. But supporters noted that diversity would be a cornerstone of the admissions policy. Hemphill, who has visited hundreds of schools while writing her series of popular books, says she hopes the school will be able to serve a neglected population.

“There aren’t a lot of attractive options for kids who aren’t going to go to Stuyvesant but don’t need remediation either, and I hope this can help with that,” she said.

Admission criteria and curriculum specifics will likely be defined once a principal is selected. But the school’s educational theme, according to Lasher, has already been determined: communication and civic engagement. It’s fitting tribute to McCourt, who was an active participant in conversations about education.

“It’s so sad that he died, but I’m glad that he knew we were planning the school in his name,” Brewer said. “I think he was one of the best teachers ever, and I hope the school will live up to his standards.”