The message was pretty clear last night at the CDEC 22 meeting. The Marine Park Community, the parent community, and the IS 278 administration, does not want a secondary High School in the IS 278 building.
The issue at hand is that IS 278 Marine Park, and most area schools have empty seats. IS 278 Marine Park is no exception as they have about empty 300 seats. The Department of Education wants to fill those empty seats for the next upcoming school year.
If you remember the DOE wanted to put a Hebrew Language charter school two years ago to fill that space. That was swiftly defeated due to protests and the benefit of an election year. Then the community wanted a seemless 6-12 high school. The 6 – 12 school idea was shot down by the DOE when they cruhced the numbers that it would need more than seats than what was currently avaiable.
As of right now the DOE says there is NO proposal or plan on the table and that they are looking for community input on what to place inside IS 278.
The solution proposed by the audience was an ASD Nest program which is the New York City Department of Education’s Collaborative Team Teaching program for higher functioning children with autism spectrum disorders. They made their case with a few compelling arugments. First, the nearest ASD schools are very far from this area. One school in rockaway and the other in downtown brooklyn. Which would translate into a three hour a day commute for ASD kids. Secondly, The nest program can be run by the existing IS 278 administration not a seperate administration which would be needed for a High School. Which is a very big deal as Mrs. Garofalo has turned around IS 278 and is constantly praised for her skills.
Ideally what the community invisions is a Marine Park 6 through 12 ASD Nest program which would allow the same age group to stay in the same school through High School. Instead of traveling to schools which are more than an hour away.
ASD Nest is place Within supportive neighborhood schools, the ASD Nest program helps children with autism learn how to function well academically, behaviorally and socially in school and in their community.
Each classroom has two teachers with training in the specialized curricula and instructional strategies used in the program. In addition to the standard academic curriculum, specialized curricula and instructional strategies to foster relationship development, adaptive skills, language and communication development and sensory/motor development are infused throughout the day, thus minimizing the need to service children outside the classroom. Staff receive pre and in-service training in these curricula and strategies.
Large Meeting Crowd for Hebrew Language School in Marine Park Junior High
You may or may not be aware that the City is planning on placing a charter secondary high school within Marine Park Junior High by September 2011. Since Marine Park Junior High is our zoned school, this could have a significant impact on future education. While this might be considered to be a good thing, because it would provide our children with another potential high school option. That is not the initial plan, it appears to involve starting the school with 300+ students from undisclosed locations which mightl change the delicate dynamics of the middle school’s population and administrative philosophy.
An alternative program was proposed by local parents to open up spaces for a specialized program that would educate high performing, middle school aged autistic children, which is apparently in great need. It is imperative that our voices be heard before a plan is forced upon us without our input.
A District 22 Education Council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 2nd at 7:00 at P.S. 312, 7103 Avenue T. Please make every effort to attend to hear the City’s plan and to insure that we have our say in determining the option that will best meet the needs of our community.
Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Marine Park will be putting on free concerts through October, November and December — Every concert will be Sunday at 6 p.m. at Good Shepherd Catholic Church Avenue S between Brown and Batchelder Streets Brooklyn NY 11235
The music series offers a variety of music ranging from light classics, popular favorites and instrumental features to classical transcriptions and original works for bands.
Check out our Community Calendar\ for Dates otherwise it’s every Sunday at 6 pm.
October 10 – The Zinkali Trio
October 17 – Tom Piercy
October 24 – Roger Verdi
October 31 – Akiko Kobayashi
November 7 – 8 Strings and a Whistle
November 14 – Dan Lippel
November 21 – Threeds
November 28 – Joe Brent and Friends
December 5 – Duo Cantabile
December 12 – Handel’s Messiah and Good Shepherd Chancel Chior
LOST DOG!! WHITE RAT TERRIER “HARLEY”. HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE THURSDAY. (3/18) IF YOU HAVE SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW. FOR ALL YOU ANIMAL LOVERS PLEASE COPY AND PASTE TO YOUR STATUS. OWNER IS HEARTBROKEN, KIDS ARE CRYING! REWARD
A few kind people did try to coral him @3:25 in Marine Park. But he was scared and kept running
Harley was last seen in front of Michaels Bakery (Avenue R) And two kids on bike roped him and were seen walking towards Gerritsen Avenue on Friday 3/19. He has been missing since Thursday 3/18 @(3:17 pm).. 8′
2 boys (on bikes) were seen roping his neck and walking towards Gerritsen Ave on 3/19 Fri morn. I only pray they see the flyers!(
Children and families gathered in Marine Park Saturday, March 27, for an afternoon of rides, hot dogs, cotton candy and egg hunting.
At least colored 2,000 Easter eggs nestled in the grass drew a crowd of about 1,500 youths and parents for the community’s yearly Easter Egg Hunt at Marine Park.
The Easter egg’s contained “tickets for prizes” which were “hidden” by Fort Hamilton High School Army JROTC Volunteers. Groups of about 500 people were let into an empty Marine Park and all at once made a dash for eggs. Since there was a 5 egg limit, kids would quickly grab 5 eggs then get in line for their prize which ranged from small toys to full bags of candy.
Other than the Damage that Hit Gerritsen Beach, and other than Stewart Street which had 4 trees down when I was there, then a few more in the morning, the actual Marine Park was DEVASTATED by the storm.
There are somewhere around 50 trees down in and around Marine Park
Apparently, a pair of quads thought it was a good idea to tear up the center of Marine Park after the snow storm. NYPD aviation buzzed them literally on top of them. They were forced off their bikes and walked their bikes of the park to a patrol.
McGuinness Irish Gift Shop, a family operated business at 3609 Avenue S Brooklyn, NY., is planning to close its doors after 23 years.
Currently, There is no set date for when they plan to close their doors. However this will be their last holiday season. They are holding a 30% off sale in the meantime.
“We have no regrets, the community has been great” said John McGuninness. “I never knew how great of a location this was.”
When we asked John about the reasons for the closing. He explained that it’s mostly the economy, the parking situation and that it’s now just the time to go.
The parking is an interesting monster in that area. There is now a zero tolerance policy for double parking in that area of Avenue S. Violators are receiving fines in the range of $150. Although the parking enforcement is a good thing, McGuninness felt the hit, hard. John explained that people used to look for a spot for 25 minutes then would understandably “move on”, and this would happen more often than not.
McGuninness’ and their customers are one big family. Their customers would usually buy items a few times a year. They have a large base of customers in the Gerritsen Beach, Rockaway, and Marine Park area. Personally when I walked in they knew me and my whole family just by sight. That’s the kind of store McGuinness is.
Someone ven recently drove in from Pennsylvania, after hearing of the closing, to pick up a few items and to say thank you and goodbye.
The family still plans to be very much involved in the community. The family still lives in and around the community.
We will be writing more about McGuinness as the time draws near.
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