KENSINGTON — When the new M.S. 839 opens its doors Wednesday, it may be welcoming the most diverse middle school student body in District 15 — meeting a long-sought goal for local parents, principal Michael Perlberg told DNAinfo New York.
About 106 sixth graders are expected to be in the school's inaugural classes when it opens Sept. 9 at 713 Caton Ave., on the border of Kensington and Windsor Terrace, Perlberg said.
They'll come from about 10 elementary schools in all corners of the sprawling District 15, which includes parts of Red Hook, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Sunset Park and a sliver of Fort Greene.
"We really got a snapshot of the district," Perlberg said.
"We have a really diverse population academically, ethnically and in terms of languages spoken. Each class is very evenly mixed, from high achieving students to those who are struggling."
Final enrollment figures, including the demographic breakdown, will be calculated later in the fall.
The blended student body is intentional. The Department of Education created M.S. 839 with community input and local families told DOE officials they wanted a school that reflected the district's varied population.
To cultivate that diversity, the school didn't screen students with interviews or auditions. Students were admitted based on a random lottery system open to anyone in District 15.
The school is one of nine citywide to debut this fall and the only one in Brooklyn, a DOE spokesman said.
It's inside a freshly constructed building on Caton Avenue and East Seventh Street. The four-story facility will also house a pre-K center with four classes, some District 75 students and the third through fifth grades from nearby P.S. 130.
The gleaming building has spacious rooms flooded with natural light. Skylights and windows abound.
The auditorium seats 339 and has built-in stripes on the floor that show where to place folding chairs in evenly spaced rows. Drinking fountains are designed to fill water bottles and elevators are speedy.
"There's no public school with what we have," Perlberg said. "We're kind of pinching ourselves with the resources we have. It's really beautiful."