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Error Leaves Brooklyn School With No 6th Graders For The Year

By Nikhita Venugopal | February 12, 2016 2:45pm | Updated on February 14, 2016 7:11pm
 Sixth graders at the School for International Studies play chess during the school day in an undated photo. The school, co-located with Brooklyn School for Global Studies, received sixth-grade students who were supposed to be enrolled at Global Studies.
Sixth graders at the School for International Studies play chess during the school day in an undated photo. The school, co-located with Brooklyn School for Global Studies, received sixth-grade students who were supposed to be enrolled at Global Studies.
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School for International Studies

BOERUM HILL — After an enrollment blunder left Brooklyn School For Global Studies without a sixth grade this year, the Department of Education is proposing completely eliminating sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes at the Boerum Hill school.

The school at 284 Baltic St. would phase out middle school over the next two years and morph from a sixth- through 12th-grade school into a high school serving grades nine, 10, 11 and 12, according to a new DOE proposal.

The Brooklyn School for Global Studies is currently co-located with three other schools — School for International Studies, Success Academy Cobble Hill and P.S. 368, a District 75 high school for students with special needs.

 The building at 284 Baltic St. that houses Global Studies, International Studies, Success Academy Cobble Hill and P.S. 368.
The building at 284 Baltic St. that houses Global Studies, International Studies, Success Academy Cobble Hill and P.S. 368.
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DNAinfo/Nikhita Venugopal

"Due to an error, students who were admitted to Global Studies for sixth grade for the 2015-2016 school year were enrolled at International Studies and other district schools. To minimize disruption, sixth grade students were not transferred back to Global Studies’ roster for the 2015- 2016 school year," according to the proposal released Feb. 5. 

"As such, Global Studies does not serve any sixth grade students in the current school year."

According to the DOE, the proposal was developed in collaboration with the Brooklyn High Schools Superintendent and Global Studies’ school leadership. The agency declined to comment on the enrollment error. 

The middle and elementary school grades at School for International Studies had a 78 percent pass rate by its students in math, English, social studies and science, according to the DOE's 2014-15 report. By comparison, the Brooklyn School for Global Studies's elementary and middle school students had a 93 percent pass rate for the same subjects in the same time period. 

If the proposal is approved, Brooklyn School for Global Studies will cut seventh grade in the 2016-2017 school year so it will teach grades eight through 12. (Sixth grade was effectively eliminated because of the enrollment error.)

The following year, eighth grade will be cut as well, turning Global Studies into a grades nine through 12 high school. 

Success Academy Cobble Hill, which currently teaches pre-k and kindergarten through fourth grade, plans to add a fifth grade class next school year. 

"The DOE believes there is a sufficient amount of middle school seats in District 15 to accommodate any middle school students who would have been served at Global Studies in the 2016-2017 school year or subsequent school years," according to the proposal.

The Baltic Street school building, between Court and Smith streets, has a target capacity of 1,476 students. This year, it serves 1,156 — putting it at about 78 percent utilization.

If the proposal is approved, it's expected that the building will hold 1,308 to 1,543 students in 2018-2019.

The School for International Studies and Success Academy Cobble Hill are both expected to grow their enrollment in the building.

The School for International Studies, a sixth- through 12th-grade school, currently serves 477 students. By 2018-2019, it will expand its student population within the range of 630 to 700.

Success Academy Cobble Hill, which will add a fifth grade next school year, currently has 432 students and is projected to reach 468 to 588 students in 2018-2019. 

Enrollment at Global Studies and P.S. 368 may dip slightly by 2018-2019, but will remain largely the same through the next three years, projections show. 

If the proposal is not approved, Global Studies will continue to offer grades six through 12. Sixth graders who were sent to other schools will have the option of transferring back to Global Studies's middle school.

A public hearing on the proposal will take place March 14 at 6 p.m. at 284 Baltic St. in Boerum Hill. The Panel for Education Policy will vote on the proposal on March 23 at 6 p.m. at Murry Bergtraum High School, located at 411 Pearl St. in Manhattan.