big news for D13 middle school families

By Joyce Szuflita
Two big District 13 middle school announcements came in today.
Dock St. and M.S. OneBrooklyn.
Woo Hoo!!

Dock Street School for STEAM Studies
For immediate release, Jan. 28, 2016
DUMBO – Parents, students, community leaders, teachers and administrators gathered today in DUMBO to launch The Dock Street School for STEAM Studies, which is now taking applications for the fall semester. Housed in a brand-new building on the corner of Dock and Water Streets near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Dock Street School will serve 6th through 8th graders from across Brooklyn’s District 13 (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill and north Park Slope).

The Dock Street School boasts the most modern public middle school facilities in Brooklyn and offers a unique educational experience.  In addition to a traditional academic curriculum, students will engage in hands-on, collaborative projects in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) fields, partnering with the best of DUMBO's cultural institutions and neighborhood anchors: mentoring with DUMBO tech innovators, science and recreational partnerships at Brooklyn Bridge Park, cultural performances and workshops at St. Ann’s Warehouse. The faculty will also emphasize social emotional engagement. Students will participate in a wide array of sports activities, during and after school. And The Dock Street School will offer support for students with disabilities and services as indicated on their IEPs. Twelve-to-one and collaborative teaching classes, as well as ESL, will be available.

The school will be led by inspirational Principal Dr. Melissa Vaughan, an experienced educator, administrator and arts professional who holds a doctorate from New York University and was previously a principal dancer at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

M.S. OneBrooklyn
BROOKLYN, NY, January 28, 2016: This morning, New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña stated that the new Department of Education Facility to be constructed at the Atlantic Yards project will be programmed as a dedicated middle school. The Chancellor spoke at a Brooklyn Newsmakers breakfast hosted by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Organizers behind the M.S. OneBrooklyn vision for an intermediate school to occupy space being built at the Atlantic Yards site expressed enthusiasm over the news. In a statement, the group said, “On behalf of the more than 1,000 people who have signed the M.S. OneBrooklyn petition, we are delighted that the Chancellor has committed that the Atlantic Yards facility will be a dedicated middle school. We look forward to working with the Department of Education to leverage the arts and tech resources of Brooklyn, and incorporate dual-language curricula at this new school. Together, we can deliver an outstanding middle school experience accessible to all students of District 13.”

About M.S. OneBrooklyn: M.S. OneBrooklyn is an initiative by Brooklyn Community Board 8, Community Education Council 13, the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, and the P.S. 9 PTO to address the lack of a dedicated intermediate school for public school students in District 13. The M.S. OneBrooklyn vision is for a learning environment that prioritizes academic excellence and recognizes the potential of every child to achieve. M.S. OneBrooklyn will preserve and extend the diversity of students that exists in and across our District 13 public schools, and will offer a curriculum emphasizing arts, STEM and dual language studies. The community vision has been endorsed by BRIC, 651 ARTS, Roulette, Theater for a New Audience, New York Writers Coalition, The New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education (CSNYC), and the

Good work to one and all!! This stuff doesn't happen by accident.