Save Shuang Wen School

The District One Coalition to Save Our Schools (the “Coalition”) is a growing coalition comprised of elected representatives from PS 20M Anna Silver School, PS 94M (a District 75 school that is located inside of PS/MS 188M building), PS 184M Shuang Wen, and PS/MS 188M The Island School.

The Coalition held a press briefing on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, at 1:00pm in the first floor community room of Seward Park Housing located at 383 Grand Street, Manhattan, New York City, to discuss the negative impact of the New York City Department of Education’s (“NYC DOE”) plan to displace District One schools, students, and resources in order to create a new charter middle school for Girls Prep.

Elected officials State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Councilwoman Rosie Mendez made remarks at the press briefing. Representatives from the offices of Congresswomen Nydia M. Velázquez and Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer were in attendance.

The Coalition’s press briefing on Tuesday, December, 15, was the second one for this growing Coalition. The first briefing was held on November 18, 2009 prior to CEC1’s hearing on the DOE’s three scenarios.

On Wednesday, November 18, we made our voices heard at the Community Education Committee (CEC) meeting. Here are some speeches from Shuang Wen Parents.

From Susie Kong | President of PS184M, Shuang Wen School’s Parent Association

My name is Susie Kong, President of PS184M, Shuang Wen School’s Parent Association and want to express my thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. I am here tonight representing our parent body of over 600 families strong. Though many of us should be at home helping our children with homework, we are here tonight to tell you that we oppose the DOE plan that will hurt the children and families of our school.
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Please view the following videos of Shuang Wen parents, teachers, other District 1 community members and City Councilmembers Alan Gerson and Rosie Mendez speaking out against the DOE Charter Expansion plan at the CEC meeting on Nov. 18, 2009. The press briefing before the CEC meeting is also there, so you can see the statements made by PS 20 PTA President Monica Harris and Shuang Wen SLT Chair Troy Robinson.

(Use the arrow buttons on the right and left side of the small screen below to browse all video clips)

Dear Shuang Wen families and supporters,

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has worked so hard on saving Shuang Wen.

There are too many people to thank here but here goes: the speakers (Susie, Denise, Ms. McClung, Ms. Phillips, Jeanie, Saultan, Lynn, Ceci, Deborah, Christine, Ann and a few others that I’m forgetting or don’t know their names), the elected officials who spoke in support (especially Rosie Mendez), the folks who worked the media (Julie, Margaret and others), the people who handled mobilization and logistics (Mimi, class parents and many others), all who came to the meeting last night, the people doing the babysitting, the people who delivered the petitions and letters, and our amazing teachers.
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“Mayor Bloomberg,
you have done a formidable job at a Herculean challenge, and I am a big fan. The Shuang Wen (PS 184) school is a shining example of the kind of excellence and diversity in our public school system that you have furthered, and as someone who is begging my friends to stay in the city and seek our common peace and prosperity, I know this school to be an anchor in that endeavor – I have friends who are here because of this school. Thank you for that and for similar schools! My plea is that you not reverse this great endeavor at PS 184 by merging it with another school as is being proposed right now. Again thanks for reading this and for everything you’ve done for our school system and our city.

Best regards,
James”