On my odyssey around the Bronx I often come across teachers, paras, APs and even principals that I worked with, for well over a decade, at a school that is now closing it doors for the final time. This was a vocational school that really got kids into college or onto a career. If the kid had no interest or was a displinary problem he/she was sent to their zoned school. Then after the No Child Left Behind Act students were being sent to our school who had never chosen it. They were put into vocational classes in which they had no interest and the school started going down fast. Zoned, neighborhood schools were closed. Therefor these students remained. Then high need students were sent specifically to this school. Of course, the stats plummeted, the school was slated for closure and most became ATRs. (Now the few remaining teachers will also become ATRs.)
This is the month the school lets out its last breath. In doing so it leaves at its wake much success and happy memories. My best teaching days were spent there and to be honest I couldn't stand to go to the reunion. I'm too sentimental. Those times are past. Schools are now tantamount to fast food restaurants and mangled (or is it managed?) as such. I hope one day that schools become schools again in NYC.
In closing, I want to wish all a wonderful summer.
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Stories herein containing unnamed or invented characters are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.