By Bret Nolan Collazzi
Beginning in the fall, sixth-graders who would normally enroll at I.S. 192 will attend one of two new schools in the same building on Hollywood Avenue, as the Department of Education phases out the larger middle school for good, officials announced last week.
I.S. 192 will officially dissolve in the summer of 2009 after the current sixth-grade class graduates, but will immediately stop accepting new students, the officials said. Instead, parents of current fifth-graders at P.S. 14, P.S. 71, P.S. 72 and P.S. 304 will be able to choose between two new schools, each with separate principals and themes.
Dov Rokeach, local instructional superintendent for the former School District 8, said the reorganization comes because I.S. 192 has failed to lift test scores despite progress in attendance and student behavior, and because parents regularly report anxiety about sending their children to the school.
Only 33% of students in grades six through eight met city standards in English last year; that number was only 26% for math. The pass rate for math among eighth-graders was only 17%. The dismal numbers come despite scores at local elementary schools that are among the highest in Region 2, Rokeach said.
