Roosevelt Island Schools Update
With the weather getting a little bit colder recently and the days getting slightly shorter, summer begins to recede and the upcoming school year comes closer to starting. I thought it might be a good time to revisit one of this blog's earliest post about a reader who was considering moving to Roosevelt Island but was concerned about the Island's schools. She writes:
My husband and I are considering moving to Roosevelt Island with our two kids. We are a bit concerned about schooling there, particularly with the influx of so many more residential units, and the desire to attract families. Would you know where I can get information about existing schools (size, capacity, etc.)and whhat plans they may have to keep up with this growth? Thank you.The NYC Dept. of Education issued a Quality Report Review dated 1/22-23/07 of the Roosevelt Island school. The report states:
This elementary/intermediate school has 463 students on roll from pre-kindergartenThe overall evaluation of the school is:
through grade 8. The majority of students are general education students, 8.4% are
special education students and 11.6% are English language learners.
The school’s population comprises of 41% Black and Native American, 15% White, 23%
Asian and 20% Hispanic students. The percent of enrollment of recent immigrants is three
times as high as New York City schools. The school has no Title 1 funding. Attendance at
the school was 92% in 2005 which is higher than New York City schools. The percent of
utilization of the school’s capacity is lower than that for similar schools. A challenge for the
school is to retain students through to eighth grade.
This is an undeveloped school.I have no personal knowledge or experience with school situation, either public or private, on Roosevelt Island but would welcome any thoughts or comments by those who do.
The principal and assistant principal are new in post and have begun to put procedures in
place which will improve student performance. They are committed to the Public School /
Intermediate School 217 community and recognize the challenges presented by the
uniqueness of Roosevelt Island and its diverse community. Already they have improved
communication and both staff and parents speak very positively of their work. They
recognize the difficulties of managing a transient population where families who work for
the permanent mission to the United Nations are part of the school for three years or less
and also the problems associated with students admitted and discharged at various times
throughout the school year. The school has some systems in place to track student
progress. These are particularly effective in identifying and meeting the needs of the
students who require the greatest support. The performance of subgroups of students is
not measured and there is underperformance by boys in both English language arts and
mathematics at grades four and eight, according to the 2005 School Report Card.
4 comments :
Well, this school is suffering from the Roosevelt Island effect. Just because it is located on RI it must be bad. A lot of parents (including a few teachers at other public schools) I know try everything to avoid sending their kids to PS/IS 217. Many go private (especially the UN folks or the people in middle income housing who have quite a bit coin left for the insane tuition) or try the gifted and talented (G&T) route. Then there are few other good schools in Manhattan that accept kids from all over NYC by application/lottery/etc.
Sometimes I overhear other parents talking about this school and claim that it is a failing school a la No Child Left Behind. But that is bogus. Others claim that the impact of the kids coming from poorer households (like Eastwood) has a negative effect on the education you get at that school. I also heard the rumor that the kids from the project housing in LIC come to this school here.
All that said, I am also going to try to avoid this school. I still have a couple of years to go and will then make final decisions.
The decline of the school is most unfortunate. It's hard to remember that one of the primary reasons we moved here 30 years ago was that our young son would be able to go to public school. He went from first grade through eighth grade here on Roosevelt Island, and then to an excellent public high school in Manhattan.
Very much a self fulfilling prophecy. As the first poster said, parents take their kids out and the result is that some of the brighter kids are gone, so the school's standing goes down. That said, there has been a large turnover in the past couple of years starting with the principal, and my kids have been out for a few years, so I'm not current.
Thank you for the follow-up. it has been helpful.
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