By Joe Anuta
Two underperforming schools in western and southern Queens will be receiving millions of dollars in federal aid but will pay for it with major changes.
Grover Cleveland HS in Ridgewood and John Adams HS in Ozone Park will both be getting $2 million annually as part of the federal government’s School Improvement Grants program.
“To keep these schools open was the first priority,” said state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), whose district encompasses both institutions. “We’re going to make these better schools.”
After both were listed as two of 54 underperforming high schools in the city, the city Department of Education informed them last week that they would be receiving guidance under what is called the restart model.
The federal government, which devised the plan, aims to improve the school’s performance with millions in financial aid and by partnering each school with a nonprofit, which Addabbo said will give each school the individual and tailored attention it needs.
“What I like about it is the input for each school is different,” he said. “It’s not a cookie-cutter program.”
The partnerships will hopefully strengthen the curriculum, develop academic supports for students and help teachers improve practice, according to the DOE.
The city is currently in a request for proposal phase, which means that no specific nonprofits have been selected to help Grover Cleveland, at 21-27 Himrod St., or John Adams, at 101-01 Rockaway Blvd.
“I think it’s a welcome program and it is a relief that they are not trying to close the school,” said City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), whose district encompasses Grover Cleveland High School.
But one part of the plan is set in stone: Teachers and staff will get to keep their jobs.
That was hardly a certainty in the weeks leading up to last week’s decision.
Teachers and students from Grover Cleveland HS had appealed to the DOE to implement the least drastic changes to their school, according to Brian Gavin, the union representative for the school.
Last month it appeared that even the best-case scenario would have ousted the principal and at most 50 percent of the teachers, but this particular type of restart model has exceeded the wishes of the staff.
The principal, Dominick Scarola, who would have been booted under other versions of the restart method, will also stay.
Scarola has already been implementing changes to his school that correspond with some of the suggestions in the restart plan.
He started a ninth-grade academy, which isolates the students in that grade from the rest of the school and gives them more individual instruction. He will be starting a 10th-grade academy next year.
Educators at John Adams have been taking similar measures, as well as pulling up their graduation rates from previous years.
That proved tougher for the two high schools than others in the borough, according to Gavin, because of the diverse makeup of the student bodies.
In an earlier interview, Gavin said that a substantial number of students who do not speak English as a first language typically take five years to graduate, which then makes the school’s rate appear lower.
There is also a high level of absenteeism at the school.
But that is what makes Addabbo a fan of the plan.
“Each school is different. A school might be underperforming for a variety of reasons,” he said. “The restart program evaluates that.”
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
