Higher West Facet mother and father are talking out as a controversial plan to relocate a beloved public center college is starting to take form.
The Heart Faculty, often known as M.S. 243, on the Higher West Facet, will relocate to a different location inside District 3 if a plan from the Division of Training (DOE) turns into a actuality.
Mother and father and academics on the college, which shares a constructing with P.S. 9, at 100 W. 84th St., are outraged and anxious in regards to the proposal, which might dismantle a mixed-grade pupil physique of grades 5 to eight and disrupt its curriculum. Mum or dad group leaders instructed New York News the college system needs to maneuver Heart Faculty to P.S. 191, a 3K by means of 8 college positioned a few mile south.
The Heart Faculty’s curriculum is closely arts-based and makes use of a large auditorium that may accommodate its 250 college students—one thing P.S. 191 lacks. Its proximity to museums and cultural establishments round Central Park additionally helps college students’ historical past and social research classes.
Whereas the DOE has not introduced formal plans, officers have instructed mother and father and academics that class measurement and pupil enrollment are concerns within the transfer. Mike Veve, a trainer at Heart Faculty, stated that plans to uproot college students, households, and employees must be rigorously thought out.
“While we would prefer not to move, it’s important to us as a school community that if we have to move that we have access to a real auditorium for our all-school theater shows, a safe outdoor play space for all of our students to gather at recess, that we’re near transit hubs, that our current families are able to come along with us, and that they have the time to have a voice in the process,” he stated.
Mother and father and academics at P.S. 243 on the Higher West Facet, which shares a constructing with P.S. 9, at 100 W. 84th St., are outraged and anxious in regards to the proposal, which might dismantle a mixed-grade pupil physique of grades 5 to eight and disrupt its curriculum.Picture by way of Google Maps
Tekle Eckrich, one other trainer on the college and the guardian of a Heart pupil, echoed related sentiments, telling New York News that its present location is right as a result of it helps college students from all elements of District 3.
“We want a good landing spot, and the one that they offered us [at P.S. 191] is not really a great landing spot,” he stated. It’s nonetheless technically on the West Facet, within the nook of the district. For our faculty, what we do curriculum-wise, it actually helps to be centrally positioned throughout the district. We take children from all around the district.”
Households are already ‘looking to move’
Eckrich added {that a} transfer can be an obstacle to folks who must drop off and decide up their kids earlier than and after work. The closest practice station is a few 20-minute stroll away from P.S. 191.
“We already have families who are looking to leave if we move,” he stated. “They banked on this location at 84th and Columbus [Avenue], which is right between three or four subway stations. It’s centrally located and on bus lines.”
Olivia Greer, whose son is in sixth grade on the Heart Faculty, defined that there was a scarcity of curiosity from District 3 in sustaining the kindergarten by means of eighth-grade college fashions. Much like Eckrich’s ideas, she stated shuffling the faculties throughout the district might be disruptive to folks and college students.
“You have impacts here on younger siblings. Families faced with the position of having to drop off a child at one school and a sibling at another,” she stated. “I think that has been minimized by the district. You have parents trying to get their kids to school every day.”
Mother and father, nonetheless, stated their considerations lengthen past relocation, because the proposed district plan would additionally considerably influence P.S. 191, positioned at 300 W. 61st St. The plan would shuffle college students and households throughout the district, altering P.S. 191 from a 3K by means of eighth-grade college to 1 that solely serves college students by means of fifth grade.
An ‘injustice’ to P.S. 191
P.S. 191 has confronted challenges of its personal lately, following a fast enhance in its non-English-speaking migrant inhabitants. Over the earlier three years, the college has enrolled greater than 300 migrant kids, whose integration challenges have impacted the whole pupil physique.
Tiffany Rodriguez identified that the present training method — the place half of every topic interval is devoted to tech-based translated classes—has confirmed detrimental, resulting in educational regression for each American-born and migrant college students.
“It would be an injustice to close this school,” she stated, including that P.S. 191 was as soon as a thriving college. “We’ve had a turnover of 50 teachers within the last two years. Teachers who were with us for years.”
The scholars get together with one another, Rodriguez stated, however the district’s plan to uproot the center college college students to different faculties can be one more problem.
“This is not a merger,” she stated. “The Center School won’t be able to take any of our [middle school] students. There’s not another school that is waiting for our students.”
She feels that the scholars shall be separated from one another and positioned in varied faculties all through the district, additional compounding educational challenges.
“The school directly across the street can only take two or three of our students,” Rodriguez added. “The rest would be chartered around a mile or further into Harlem.”
Greer emphasised the potential unfavourable influence on college students at P.S. 191, who can be displaced and compelled to attend courses elsewhere.
“It’s extremely important to the Center School community that we acknowledge there is a school there,” Greer stated. “There are children, faculty and families in that building who would be displaced by this move.”
“The proposed relocation process has lacked transparency, timely communication, and regard for students’ academic and emotional well-being,” the petition states. “Families first learned of it through rumors in fall 2025, and not from the DOE.”
DOE says it has been in contact with mother and father
Faculties Chancellor Kamar Samuels, beforehand the superintendent of District 3, was appointed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed him to run the whole NYC public college system. New York News contacted the DOE for remark relating to the plans to maneuver the center faculties and the transparency points.
“Authentic community engagement is a cornerstone of any thriving school system, and we strive to provide all schools with facilities that best meet their needs,” a NYC Public Faculties spokesperson stated.
She confirmed that working teams had been convened all through District 3 final yr to determine pupil wants and discover potential options.
Each the college system and oldsters agree that no formal plan has been introduced but.
“While we have begun early conversations with families and school leaders about how best to support long-term planning, no formal proposal has been issued at this time,” the spokesperson stated. “We will continue to consult closely with families, educators, and local partners.”
Mother and father are urging the DOE to pause any relocation plans till not less than the 2028-2029 college yr — and to maintain them totally knowledgeable all through the method.
