Dear PS 321 Parents,
As most of you know, District 15 has been working all year on a community-based middle school diversity plan. A working group comprised of parents, teachers and administrators from all over District 15 was created and led by urban planning and design firm WXY Studio along with representatives from the DOE. The goal was to create a plan to promote diversity and equity in District 15’s middle schools. As part of the process, three public workshops were held that were open to all parents and educators in District 15.
Many PS 321 parents, teachers, and administrators participated (along with parents and educators from Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, Sunset Park, Red Hook and Windsor Terrace) in the public workshops held in February, March, and May.
On Wednesday, June 20th, a public meeting was held to announce the proposal. The working group unanimously voted to propose the elimination of all screens (test scores, report card grades, attendance, behavior, auditions, interviews) from the middle school admissions process. Families will remain able to rank their choices of middle schools, but selection will be done by lottery through the Department of Education (similar to the way in which MS 839 currently selects students). You can see the full proposal HERE.
We do not yet know if this will affect rising 5th or 4th graders. The Schools Chancellor will review the proposal, and then a final plan will be announced later this summer. At that time we will have more information regarding the timeline.
The PS 321 School Leadership Team is very supportive of the proposed changes. We feel that the current admissions process is flawed, as you can read about in our SLT Letter on Middle School Admissions from last year. We believe strongly that moving to a lottery based admissions process will alleviate families and children of unnecessary anxiety and help alleviate biases that the current process encourages. We do not know yet if the elimination of screens will dramatically affect the patterns of where children historically apply, but the plan includes strategies to make all of our district’s middle schools more racially, economically, and academically diverse. Research shows that all children perform better in diverse environments, and we at PS 321 believe this to be true. The proposal includes suggestions to give teachers and schools professional development and trainings to better support a diverse student body that is meaningfully integrated.
We acknowledge that some families may find change difficult, but we ask that we all move forward hoping for the best possible public education not only for our own children, but all the children in our city and our world.
Have a wonderful summer.
The PS 321 School Leadership Team