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Walton Struggles With Small Schools

By HEATHER HADDON

During her time at Walton High School, Solangel Pereyra, who graduates this year, stayed focused on her studies, but maintaining that concentration wasn't always easy.

"It's real crazy," said Pereyra of Walton since two smaller schools were established there. "It wasn't like that when I first started."

Walton is just one of several large Bronx high schools now in the process of being 
divided into smaller schools. The city hopes that the massive undertaking will ultimately help high schoolers succeed through more focused environments. Many advocates and parents agree. In the meantime, however, many worry about the growing overcrowding problem and the impact on learning.

"I felt like they were pushing the big school away, and focusing on the small schools," said Luz Milanes, 19, who graduated last year. "I don't think Walton was ready for that."

The Department of Education (DOE) is behind the high school changes, and officials are pushing forward particularly strongly in the Bronx. Even prior to the Bloomberg Administration and its massive restructuring of the school system, a movement was afoot to establish smaller high schools within pre-existing buildings. The themed schools enroll up to 150 students in each grade, and grow by a grade a year.

Walton, sandwiched between PS 86 and Lehman College on Reservoir Avenue, added two small schools -- High School for the Teaching and the Professions, which occupies half the third floor, and Discovery High School, which has a wing on the second -- in 2002. In the next few years, Walton will add more schools -- the number of which the DOE is still determining -- with the intention of completely replacing what used to be a neighborhood school zoned for local students.

The transition has been rocky, many say. Walton was at a staggering 171 percent 
overcapacity this year as space was made for the smaller schools. The hallways are jammed and that fuels tension between students and results in fights, according to Mark Stern, a Walton biology teacher. 

The school also has had to turn amenities and offices into classrooms. "Last September, three classes were going on at the same time É along with kids coming in to use the library," said Walton librarian Rose Veccia.

Coordinating the use of the library -- or the cafeteria, gym or auditorium -- also strains relations between Walton and the smaller schools. "Walton doesn't seem to coexist well with small schools," said Jacquie Wayans, who reviews Bronx schools for the insideschools.org Web site. Some of the large Bronx high schools have been accepting of the new additions, according to Wayans, but Walton's administration "has been very hostile to [them.]".

Stern agreed that there is resentment. "There's a feeling that this is something that's 
being forced on us," he said. 

Cruz leaving Clinton 
Tensions at Walton escalated earlier this year when it was announced that the Celia Cruz High School for Music, which is currently at DeWitt Clinton, would move to Walton in the fall. Cruz parents and students joined Walton faculty at a recent protest, which was organized by Walton's UFT representative, to decry the move.

"When we chose Celia Cruz, we chose Clinton, not Walton," said parent Anna Vega. "We all know Walton is overcrowded and has other problems that they need to work on.

"DOE spokesperson Michele McManus said Clinton isn't moving toward a "campus model" of small schools like Walton. She added that Cruz staff and parents were informed of the move through several meetings with Regional Superintendent Irma Zardoya this year. Robert Esnard, treasurer for Clinton's alumni association and a former deputy mayor, said that Clinton parents, teachers, and students worked together to orchestrate the move. 

"Clinton is very overcrowded, and [Cruz] and ongoing construction take classrooms away," said Esnard, who lives in Norwood. "The DOE did the right thing."

But that's of little consolation to Walton. "We do want to work with the DOE, but not be dictated [by them]," said Ed Armas, one of Walton's deans.

More focused environment
But many advocates see the advent of small schools in general as a blessing. "A lot of parents are very excited about the small schools," said Tanya Dale, who runs the Norwood-based Educational Counseling Center, which coaches parents and students on school choice. "The ratio is just more productive. "Louise Fickens, Discovery High School's parent coordinator, agrees. "If it's not a smaller 
setting, they [the students] are not getting the attention they deserve," said Fickens, 
whose son attends Discovery. "In a larger school you're a number. Here, I know every one of my kids' names."

Test data is still sketchy but attendance rates tend to be better at the small schools. Discovery and High School for Teaching and the Professions average a 95 and 85 percent attendance rate respectively, while Walton's is at 72 percent. 

The city also hopes that students will be more enthusiastic about a school they've picked, and were not just assigned to as a default. "A lot of students didn't get what they wanted, and were put in their zoned school as a last resort," Dale said. 

Dale has watched demand for the small schools swell, as more parents understand their options. But even with more choices, some 14,000 kids citywide didn't get into one of their 12 high school picks this year. "Some students won't know [where they're going] until August or September," Dale said. "That's a problem."

Space concerns
Further complicating the subdivision of larger schools is that there are fewer available seats. With the small schools enrolling a maximum of roughly 500 kids, a total of 2,500 seats are available for a large school carved into five -- falling short of Walton's current population of over 3,000 students. 

This fall, the city will open alternative high school programs that will enroll 2,000 under-performing kids from five large Bronx high schools, including Walton and Evander Childs. McManus emphasized that enrollment in these programs will be voluntary.

"Students are welcome to stay at Walton ... and they will not be forced to leave," she said. "There is space for them." 

But some advocates are worried. "It's kind of scary," said Ronn Jordan, a local parent and president of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. "Not every kid is going to be able to fit into one of these themed schools. And if they don't, are they just going to end up in a GED program?"

Others wonder how special needs students will fare in the small schools. "The DOE has offered no plans for the ESL and special education kids," Armas said. "Are foreign language speakers going to be allowed into the smaller schools?" 

McManus said that there are currently several bilingual small schools, but she wasn't sure how ESL would be incorporated into the other ones. Discovery, however, is currently admitting special needs kids. 

But making sure there are enough resources for these students -- and enough seats for everyone -- is even more important than figuring out the programmatic changes. Former School Board 10 president Sandra Lerner, who now oversees Lehman College's small school partnerships, points out that the lack of facilities makes planning hard. 

"The difficulty in this borough is they haven't built sufficient high schools," said Lerner, noting that the last Bronx high school was built in 1972. "We can dream that every student should be able to get into their school of choice, but we are far from there." 

Gary Pang contributed to this article.

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