Quantcast

IS 25, college prep merger enrages District 25 parents

By Cynthia Koons

Designed to help traditionally lower-achieving students prepare themselves for higher education, the Queens School of Inquiry will be accepting applications until March 1 for sixth-grade-bound students from around the borough. Priority for acceptance will be given to students from School District 25 because the school is going to be located in the Flushing-area district when it finds a permanent home.For now, IS 25, a seventh- through ninth-grade school at 34-65 192nd St. that has about 1,000 students, will host the school's 81 students at each grade level as they are introduced at a rate of one grade a year beginning in the fall of 2005. It is one of six new mini high schools planned for the borough, including academies scheduled to open in Hollis, Laurelton, Long Island City and Auburndale. Another academy devoted to young women's leadership will open in a unspecified location.Parents from the elementary schools that feed into IS 25 met Tuesday night to discuss the situation and figure out a way to prevent the high school from entering the Auburndale community.”Our school community had no input in the process,” said Josephine Dicaro, whose son and daughter will both be entering IS 25 in the next two years. “Seventy percent of these students will have standardized test scores at Level 1 and 2. They could be kids who are held back. You could also have kids hanging out on the corner. They're not good, good kids.”Dicaro attended a meeting Tuesday night with nearly 150 other parents from area elementary schools, including PS 184, PS 159, PS 107 and PS 32, who gathered at IS 25 to devise a way to halt the project by reaching out to the Department of Education and local elected officials.Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) responded Wednesday by issuing the following statement.”Concerned parents and I are totally against the proposed mini-school at IS 25 for several reasons,” he said. “First the DOE did not consult with the community, the school, or myself about the educational needs of our community. Secondly, I question how DOE determined that the school is underutilized. Finally, I do not feel it is in the best interest of our children to have a school where 11- and 12-year-olds will be mixing with 18- and 19-year-olds.”Mariechen Walker, a mother whose child attended IS 25, said fellow parents were not adequately informed of the high school's move into the junior high school and have not had a chance to express their concerns to the city Department of Education.”It was announced at the last minute,” she said, adding she heard about the new high school coming to IS 25 at an emergency PTA meeting last week.But the Department of Education said there is not much parents like Walker can do at this point. The new school is scheduled to open in IS 25 this fall regardless of parental opposition.”We are in the process of consulting with the community,” said Alicia Maxey, a Department of Education spokeswoman.Cass Conrad, who works with the CUNY Early College Initiative that helps develop schools such as the Queens School of Inquiry, said the school will offer students the chance to earn as much as two years' worth of college credit while they are in high school.”Early College schools are designed to help support students make the transition between high school and college,” she said. “In order to incorporate the college work in the curriculum, the work starts in 6th grade.”The high school will partner with Queens College to offer these educational opportunities. Ideally, she said the schools will serve students who hope to become the first generation of college graduates from their families.Maxey said the school will likely end up in School District 25 after it leaves IS 25. No specific site has been nailed down, but the Department of Education is tentatively looking at constructing a new facility at the intersection of Woodhaven Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, due to open in 2008.Walker said the three years the school spends in IS 25 is three years too many.”Where are our children supposed to go if we have this other school in here?” she asked. “We don't see how it benefits our community in the least.”Reach reporter Cynthia Koons by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 141.