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Williamsburg and Greenpoint may be filling up with affluent families lured by the recent condo boom, but the well-heeled new residents are hardly beating a path to local schools. According to an article in this week’s Crain’s (sub. req’d), enrollment is plummeting in the neighborhoods’ public schools–it’s down 12 percent in elementary schools over the past two years, with middle schools operating at 56 percent capacity, on average. The classrooms are emptying as older residents priced out of the neighborhoods are forced to leave and newer residents put off by what they consider to be conservative education practices decide to send their kids to schools farther afield. The trend is exposing chinks in the armor of the Bloomberg administration’s rezoning of northern Brooklyn, which was supposed to create a community where rich and poor (and their offspring) rubbed shoulders. On top of that, it could spell trouble ahead for developers who are marketing Williamsburg and Greenpoint buildings to young professionals with families. And developers are keenly aware of the areas’ lack of pull on the education front. “We have thought about it,” said Ron Moelis, a principal with L&M Equities, which is developing Schaefer Landing. “I don’t have an answer for you. There’s talk of a charter school, a new magnet school or maybe even a new private school. It would be great if that occurs.”
Photo by specmotors.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The comment about Park Slope’s high school, above, apparently refers to John Jay High School, which has been phased out by the DOE. It was indeed avoided by the vast majority of local parents, for the simple reason that other high schools (Stuy, Bronx Science, Tech, Midwood, Murrow, etc.) were far better. High school kids are more mobile and will go to where the quality is. John Jay’s failure was more a reflection on the old Board of Education than on Park Slope. That said, John Jay was a lot better than the worst high schools in Brooklyn (remember Thomas Jefferson HS?), which is why some kids came from far and wide to attend John Jay.

  2. I read the whole article. Although I don’t see what it has to do with the topic, it is a great article. I like the part about the chores. Now I don’t feel like such a bad mom when I make my 5 year old feed our pets every night or yell at her if she pulls their tails.