Brooklyn Heights parents angling for new middle school

Posted by Philissa at 3:23 PM

Happy with PS 8, their neighborhood school, parents in Brooklyn Heights are hoping to get a middle school just for themselves, the Times reported in the City section yesterday.

Last month the real estate site Curbed reported that Two Trees development company was using the promise of a 300-seat neighborhood school to convince DUMBO residents to support the controversial 20-story residential tower it's planning to build in the area. Curbed commenters called the plan a ploy to get support for a project that doesn't fit into the neighborhood; one wrote, "With 8,000 new people moving into the neighborhood we will need new public schools. But to basically claim we can only get a school if we agree to this proposed monstrosity sounds like blackmail to me."

The Times article doesn't make it sound like the DUMBO school is a done deal at all -- a DOE spokeswoman said District 15, home to PS 8, has more middle school seats than students. But if the district does get a new middle school, it might not be the only option tailored to serve middle-class families opting into secondary public education in the city for the first time. Over in Park Slope, parents have proposed a charter middle school to open in the fall of 2008.