IS 318 - District 14

Just wanted to add IS 318 to the list as a possible location for a middle school DLP?  I know that the building is under capacity by about 400 students right now, and the administration has been open to offering French in the past.  It's a great school with a lot of resources, and is right on the G / J / M / Z lines.

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    • Yes, that's what we're aiming for!

    • Excellent! Looking forward to your feedback! Thanks so much!

  • Update on PS 110 -- I just found out about a mom who wasn't on our class distribution list!  So here's our updated stats (adding Candace's info re: appeals):

    1.       If your child was offered 318, will you be accepting? – 12 Yes (6 unsuccessful BHS appeals), 1 No

    2.       If French was offered as an elective class at 318, would you be interested? - 13 Yes
    3.       If a French DLP program were to be offered at 318, would you be interested?- 11 Yes, 2 No
     
    I've also been in email discussions with 2 parents from PS84 whose children will be attending 318 and are fluent in French.  They are interested (not committed yet) in a French DLP as well, I'll pass along their information if they express more interest. 
  • Quick update from today's meeting with Alicja Winnicki, D14's superintendent. Also in the room, Anthony Pizzillo and Elsa Nunez. Alicja printed all the emails she received from parents and showed them to Anthony. She also showed a list of 11 names from PS110 who are currently matched with IS318. She says she needs to talk more to IS318's Principal Eric (Leander) Windley to get him on board but says he is interested and we need to give him more time.

    I told them there were other parents from PS20, PS133, and PS58 interested in a French DLP at IS318. But that seemed to trigger some resistance, particularly from Anthony (who represented the North Brooklyn office) because they don't like to see parents go out of district. Also, they still believe that IS136 is a good option.

    This triggered a lengthy, and somewhat tense discussion where I had to reiterate why parents were not happy after the BHS debacle and why IS136 was not going to work. He told me that 15 families had signed up for IS136 which is why they want to go ahead with a French DLP in this school. I pressed him and asked where these families came from as I doubted they came from any French DLP. He responded that he needed to check the data.... The discussion went on and on along these lines, and they concluded that we needed to have more meetings, with more offices, and Anita Skop. At which time I said that there was a time for talking and a time for action. But that I'll come to all the meetings they want if I need to. I repeated that there was a good solution with IS318, that many parents in the group are in favor, and that we can build it nice together.

    I left the meeting exhausted and feeling frustrated, but Alicja grabbed me by the arm and asked me to trust her and give her time to work around the bureaucracy and internal politics. 

    I still believe she can get a DLP started at IS318. 

    Fabrice

    • I can think of three ways you can help at the moment

      1- write individually to Alicja, Anthony, Karen and engage in dialogue if they respond. Particularly Anthony Pizzillo who seem to need more information.

      Alicja Winnicki, District 14, Superintendent.  AWinnic@schools.nyc.gov

      Anthony Pizzillo, Director, Multilingual Learners, North Brooklyn: apizzil@schools.nyc.gov

      Karen Watts, Executive Superintendent North Brooklyn: kwatts@schools.nyc.gov

      2- invite parents to join this group if they are not already there (members can invite).

      3 - gather data for each of the 116 graduates (which school will they go to, is IS318 of interest to them, is MS136, what's their zipcode). I was surprised that Anthony had no data,,,

      PS 133 has 33 graduates

      PS 58 has 54 graduates

      PS110 has 16 graduates

      PS20 has 13 graduates

    • Hello Fabrice and all

      We reached out to all these people and more :)

      Any news regarding IS318 project follow up now that appeals are out for D15?

      By the way, parents: how is the appeal situation in your schools?

      PS58 appealing students (at least the DLP ones, how strange :)), got NOTHING in D15

      Best

      Mallorie

    • Hello Mallorie,

      PS 110 students got their appeals back and nothing for D15 either.

      Candace

    • Fabrice, echoing Mallorie & Samuel's sentiments...I really appreciate the continued follow-up and want to know if there's anything else I can do to help.

      Just a thought, would any of these administrators happen to be coming to the graduation event at the embassy on Tuesday?  I'd love to speak with them in person if so, and I'd really love for them to meet some of the children their decision will impact. 

    • Since BHS isn't using a language assessment anymore, it's not really a continuing program for PS58 and PS133.  As far as I can tell,  PS 133 had just 7 kids get into BHS.   Down from 16 they year before.  No parent should count on BHS.  Two students from 133's Spanish dual language got into BHS this year - because, lottery!

      The fact that they say they have 15 families signed up for 136 is something of a mystery -- are those french speaking kids?  If so, are they now taking language into account?  Because .. they've been pretty adamant that they're not doing that.  

      This whole debacle is of their own making.  But adding a second program within D15 makes no sense -- it's  the one district that refuses to look at language.   Better to have one, central borough-wide program with teachers, books and equipment, programming, IEP providers in the language, family support, etc.   I thought that was what BHS was suppose to be.    

    • Dear Fabrice, I cannot commend you enough for advocating for us and keeping the pressure on the DOE representatives. Giving us insights into the discussions with them has also been very helpful. I was there at the meeting with Mrs Koffer at IS136 on May 7 along with 4-5 other PS58 DLP parents. At the end of the orientation for the incoming 6th graders, the principal mentioned the possibility of creating a French DLP class, which triggered some interest amongst a few parents in the audience who didn’t seem to be involved with an existing French DLP. I will not be surprised if the majority of the parents, who signed up for IS136, don’t come from any French DLP.

      We’ll be patient and stay put, but please don’t hesitate to tell us what we need to do on our end to continue pulling in the same direction.

      Thank you again!

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