With more than 779 students displaced from private schools that closed, some public schools may see an influx
If you're not on the bus ... you're off the bus.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Students all over Staten Island are picking out their bookbags and rushing to finish their summer reading: It's almost back-to-school time.
Those public school students who don't know just where they'll be reporting for the first day of school -- that's Thursday, Sept. 8, pushed back a day by Chancellor Dennis Walcott earlier this summer -- are in luck.
Parents of new city school students who have not registered their children for class can do so starting today.
And with more than 779 students displaced from Island private schools that closed this year, some public schools may see an influx of students. A Department of Education official said it was too early to tell if that would mean more "over the counter registrations" this week, but said the system would work to accommodate every student who needs a place to learn this year.
Click here for the public school calendar for the upcoming year.
Click here for the Catholic school calendar.
The registration starting this week will be the first opportunity private school students displaced in June have to register for public schools.
Just over 600 of the students whose schools closed attended Catholic schools run by the Archdiocese of New York. Of those, 67 percent had been placed at different Catholic schools as of July 28, spokeswoman Fran Davies said. That number may continue to rise in advance of the first day of school, which is Sept. 7 for Catholic schools.
The late-summer public school registration is aimed at students who have just moved to the city, those who are leaving private schools, and any others who are returning to public school after an absence or starting there for the first time for any other reason.
If a new elementary or middle school student has a zoned school, parents should register them at the zoned school starting Sept. 8. To find out if a child's neighborhood has a zoned school, call 311 or visit www.schools.nyc.gov.
All new high school students, and any new elementary or middle school student who does not have a zoned school or who requires special education placement should visit Staten Island's temporary registration center at the Michael J. Petrides School, Building B, at 715 Ocean Terr. It will be open from today until Sept. 16, five days a week, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will close on Labor Day.
Department of Education enrollment staff at Petrides will meet with students and their parents to help them register for school. Interpretation into nine languages will be available. Parents must bring students with them to register for class.
They must also bring proof of residence, by providing two of the following documents: A residential gas or electric bill in the resident's name from within the last 60 days; written documentation from a federal, state or local government agency of the resident's name and address, from within the last 60 days; an original lease agreement, deed or mortgage statement; a current property tax bill; a water bill from within the last 60 days; official payroll documentation within the last 60 days.
Parents also need to bring their child's birth certificate or passport, immunization records, latest report card or transcript, if available, and an Individualized Education Program or 504 Accommodation Plan, if applicable.