Save Shuang Wen School

We hope that the DOE can revise its options and exclude the PS 184M building from being impacted in its search for potential sites for the expansion plan of Girls Prep Charter School.

1. What is the issue here?
2. What is the projected number of students in the next couple of years?
3. What does this mean in terms of space needs?
4. So what, then, precisely is the current problem?
5. What would be the impact on PS184M if space were reallocated to another school?
6. What else would be lost?
7. What is PS 184M’s building utilization rate?
8. Is PS 184M a zoned school?

What is the issue here?

The Shuang Wen School, also known as PS 184M, is a successful public school that offers a rigorous dual-language and dual-culture program in English and Mandarin Chinese. The Department of Education (DOE) is considering a plan that would jeopardize the education of the students of PS 184M. The DOE has decided to allow the Girls Prep Charter School to add a middle school at PS 188. As a result, the DOE wants to displace students of a District 75 program (MO94), currently housed at PS 188, and shoehorn them into the Shuang Wen building. This decision was made without consideration for the rapid growth trend occurring at Shuang Wen. If another school is placed in our building, Shuang Wen’s 644 children will be deprived of essential educational resources, and the school will become overcrowded. As a recipient of the 2008 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award, Shuang Wen serves essential needs in the community. Beginning with the 2005-2006 academic year, all new students have come solely from District 1. As the school’s reputation has grown, so has the waiting list. It is because of the DOE’s laudable attempts to allow Shuang Wen to serve more community families that we have a space shortage that is exacerbated each year. In our judgment, the only viable solution to the space problem presented by Girls Prep Middle School, and the hundreds of charter schools to follow, is for the DOE to address the matter comprehensively. Until that time, the DOE should find temporary facilities for the Girls Prep Middle School in the same way that it has and continues to accommodate other schools at its Tweed headquarters. We are united in our belief that no charter school should be favored over an established DOE community-based school like Shuang Wen.
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What is the projected number of students in the next couple of years?

PS 184M has a mandate from District 1 and a request from the DOE to expand the school to allow more children to enter the Pre-K and Kindergarten. This means that our numbers will increase in the next couple of years to over 700, and more after that.
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What does this mean in terms of space needs?

It means we will need more rooms to accommodate these students as they progress through the grades. Right now, we will need an extra classroom for each of the coming five years just to accommodate the four third grades, which will then collapse into three classes up through 8thgrade. Currently, there are just two classes each for grades four through eight.
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So what, then, precisely is the current problem?

During a recent walk through of the PS 184M building, it was assessed that there were actually five fewer rooms than the DOE originally thought there were in the room count – that is, 38 rooms instead of 43. This assessment also revealed that half the amount of underutilized rooms that the DOE came prepared to find did not actually exist because of faulty numbers. We hope that these revised figures AND the knowledge that PS 184M will need room for its continued growth in the coming years will convince the DOE Portfolio Planning Office not to consider this location as an option to accommodate another school or part of a school. The destruction of recently renovated school property (in 2006 the DOE conversion of the PS 134 and PS 137 buildings cost over $6 million each), and the disruption that would ensue would also result in a loss of hard-won learning resources for our students and teachers that cannot be replaced easily. It would be detrimental to the children’s learning and devastating to the efforts of parents who have worked hard for them.
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What would be the impact on PS184M if space were reallocated to another school?

If any other school’s classes are placed into PS184M at this point, it will mean disruption of needed facilities that are critical for middle school learning. These include the science lab, which the DOE requires, and the computer/language lab, which is critical to our dual-language program. Dismantling these facilities would mean throwing away the funding that was invested by the DOE, other City agencies and parents. It would also mean that in the next couple of years, as PS 184M needs the rooms for its increasing student population, they would not be available. Without these rooms, there will be overcrowding.
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What else would be lost?

Resources such as like the art room, music room, library and dance studio would also face dismantling and would not have the chance to be replaced if this proposed move is carried out. PS 184M does not have a gym, hence the dance studio plays a critical role in the promotion of physical education and exercise for all our students. The potential loss of what has been invested into the school would be unthinkable. If these facilities were to be dismantled, it would have a seriously debilitating impact on our students’ learning.
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What is PS 184M’s building utilization rate?

PS 184M is one of the few schools in District 1 that has had consistent increasing enrollment and continues to do so. Using the DOE’s archaic formula which does not take into account the additional beneficial resources that students need, we have closer to a 75% utilization rate in the building compared to school buildings with a lesser utilization rate and consistent diminishing enrollment. PS 184M will grow into full utilization of the building. We moved into this building in 2006 and need the rooms in the years ahead to accommodate our projected growth.
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Is PS 184M a zoned school?

Yes, it is. As a zoned school, DOE policy is for PS 184M to serve the local community. Our zoned school should be allowed to grow and serve the local community as intended by the DOE and in accordance with the wishes of District 1 itself. Our population consists of a vast percentage of immigrant families, ELL or ESL students, and the school provides intervention services for many students needing a separate setting for their services. PS 184M also provides CTT classes.
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In light of the above, it is hoped that the DOE can revise its options and exclude the PS 184M building from being impacted in its search for potential sites for the expansion plan of Girls Prep.