As dozens of students, faculty, supporters and alumni stepped to the microphone during Grover Cleveland High School’s public hearing last month — determined to have their voices heard — many were resigned to the fact that their shouts would fall on deaf ears.
But their raucous rallies were heard loud and clear.
Hours before the Panel for Educational Policy meeting to decide the fate of 26 city schools, Grover
Cleveland was removed from the list of Turnaround.
“I’m just glad the DOE listened to us for once,” said Nicole, a junior at the school. “We were devastated when we heard the news we might close; now, we can go back to being students.”
Under the Turnaround model the Ridgewood school would have closed and reopened under a new name with up to half the teachers being replaced.
In a statement, Chancellor Dennis Walcott said that the school’s performance and quality of instruction have shown positive signs and an ability to continue these improvements.
In recent years, the school has shown signs of betterment, increasing its graduation rate and being rated as proficient on a quality review.
“We always had hope and we knew what the city wanted for us and we were doing it right,” said Mirit Jakab, an English teacher at the school. “We were worried the DOE was just following protocol, but through all the turmoil, we never gave up.”
The four-hour long public hearing and the passion and comments received that night played a role in the DOE’s decision to save the school.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” Jakab said. “They went above and beyond; they really fought for their school.”
Grover Cleveland, which was in the three-year restart program, lost out on the federal funds from the program when the DOE and teachers’ union failed to come to an agreement on a new teacher evaluation system. The school would have received additional School Improvement Grant funds if it entered the Turnaround program.
Though Cleveland has been removed from the list, its work is not done, said Jakab, who has been there for 10 years.
“Now, we have to roll up our sleeves and even go beyond what we were doing. I’m excited and ready to work.”
