SI School Puts Focus On Community
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Out of the 23 new public schools to open across the city Wednesday, PS/IS 861 in Staten Island is already making a name for itself through its academic mission. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.The doors to PS/IS 861 in Graniteville opened to students for the very first time Wednesday, much to the delight of some and the disappointment of others.
"I'm thinking really good things, like I'm gonna see some of my old friends, I'm really excited," said sixth grader Mia Harvey.
"I really don't wanna come back to school," said first grader Kylie Anderson.
The new school, otherwise known as the Staten Island School of Civic Leadership, is the only new one on Staten Island, and the only one that will have students from prekindergarten to eighth grade.
On Wednesday, it opened to pre-K, kindergarten, first grade and sixth grade classes. The other grades will fill in as the students progress. There's room for 822 students, with 72 seats for special education students. The building will also be the temporary home of the Island's first charter school, John Lavelle Prep.
Education advocates say the school is much needed to help ease overcrowding concerns on a borough with an exploding population whose infrastructure hasn't really kept up.
"Staten Island's population has doubled in the last 40 years. I don't know that anyone could have predicted that as far as building schools; we have old schools, with older infrastructures that are in the process of being renovated, to the best that the DOE can, as far as their funds are concerned, maybe not fast enough for us, but we do keep them on point for that," said Community Education Council President Sam Pirozzolo.
With a focus on civic leadership, officials say students will learn to become public speakers and to really get involved in the community.
"From pre-k they will be learning effective habits of leadership, and effective habits of personhood, and being people in general. That's a very important part of our school," said PS/IS 861 principal Rose Kerr.
The other key part of the curriculum is that students will take an active role in their lessons. For example, if they're learning about planting flowers in a science class, students will actually go out into the community and plant flowers themselves.