Optimism, Skepticism as Two East Harlem Schools Merge

Two administrations running one middle school brings mixed feelings among teachers, parents and administrators.

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By Lisbeth Perez and May Mengyao Li

Earlier this school year, PS 7 Principal David Graeber watched as a seventh-grade boy from Global Technology Preparatory placed his arms around two PS 7 sixth graders and led them to their classrooms. “In that one moment I was so happy because I saw what was happening,” Graeber said. “It was just the concept of kids being nice to each other.”

Under two new principals, two schools sharing a building on East 120th Street — PS 7 Samuel Stern and Global Technology Preparatory — have essentially merged their middle grades this school year.

Sixth through eighth graders take all classes together, though the schools retain two separate administrations, said Maggie Abraham, PS 7 parent coordinator. “The goal is to operate as a community rather than just two schools that share a building,” she said.

PS 7, a pre-K through eighth-grade public school, has shared its building with middle school Global Tech since 2009. Global Tech used the third floor while PS 7 was spread out through the other floors.

“They were very much separate; there were a lot of problems between the two schools,” said Graeber, citing fights and animosity between students from each school.

“We were trying to build a sense of community in a school that takes kids from the same community,”he said. Now he and Global Tech Principal Robert Perales “work very closely. We make no decisions separately, we have a united front. He manages his staff and I manage my staff, but we also communicate.”

With the merger, middle school students use the third and fourth floors, leaving the first and second floor for elementary students. Global Tech has about 134 students; PS 7 has 363,  of which about 124 are middle schoolers. The school will average 25 students per class.

The merger has created mixed feelings among parents and teachers, said Stanley Maxi, PS 7 community assistant liaison, who supports the change. “At the end of the day it’s for the good of the kids,” he said.

Sema Mollaoglu, a new Global Tech seventh and eighth-grade math teacher, has about 28 students in her class. “I think it’s a good idea; they are combining resources,” she said. “So both schools, both bodies of students can get more from the school.”

“They get to share the classrooms; they are not separated by the floors,” said Glendalez Acevedo, 38,  mother of two middle school students in PS 7. “They have friends in Global Tech Prep, so now they get to spend time with them, share a list of classes, do homework together, have the same teachers. It’s better for them.”

“We are two separate places, but we are integrating as much as we can together so that we can maximize all those resources,” said Graeber.

However, some are skeptical of the sudden combination. Maria Albino, whose 13-year-old daughter attends Global Tech, said that she is open to the change but believes that when schools combine, it means that one or both were underperforming.

According to published test scores, PS 7 was doing better. In 2016, only 18 percent of Global Tech students scored a three through four on the state English Language Arts exam, compared to 31 percent for PS 7. Eight percent of Global Tech students scored a three through four on the state math exam versus 28 percent for PS 7.

“All you want to know when your child is going to school is that she is learning something,” said Albino.

The missing element that would help the merger succeed is a better-organized system, said William A. Crockett, a dean at Global Tech. For example, Crockett said, the merged schools lack a master schedule. “Students just walk wherever they want to,” he said. “Kids hide in the bathrooms, take their time going out of class.”

In addition, Crockett said that some newly hired teachers need stronger skills. “I’m going to multiple courses in a single day, from just one teacher, to come constantly help them to manage the class, because they cannot manage the class.”

“It’s two different mentalities, two different cultures with different schools; we are trying to navigate and unite the kids,” said a PS 7  teacher who asked to be identified as “Ms. G” for fear of disciplinary action. She has about 25 students in her class.

“Everybody is struggling with it. It’s an adaptation,” she said. Some difficulties have arisen with the merger, she said, like kids hiding, walking more slowly to classes and working at different levels academically.

“There was one school that had a stronger academic reputation and a reputation for better teaching, and I think some of those students are upset,” said Cameron Maxwell, a new seventh- and eighth-grade English  teacher at Global Tech. “But it has helped them understand people not by reputation, but by actually having to work with each other.”

(Photo by May Mengyao Li)

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