Schools' leaders learn how to share

Peggy Aronowitz and Michelle Borak, both PS 24 parents, examine items being auctioned during a PS 24 fundraiser held at Riverdale Country School on March 14. Photo by Adam Macchia

By Kate Pastor

At a recent fundraising auction, PS 24 parents milled around plates of hors d’ourves, sipped wine and peeked out of the wall-length windows.

Then they promptly took out their wallets and bid enough for the parents’ association to take in as much as $24,000.

Fundraising is far more profitable if you don’t have to pay rent for your venue, and through the generosity of Riverdale Country School, the PS 24 parents had their event at C.W. Mow Hall, on the Hill Campus, free of charge. It was a loan from one school to another.

Riverdale and Kingsbridge schools, public and private, are cooperating like never before, and it’s due, in large part, to an organization founded a year ago.

CORKS, the Coalition of Riverdale/ Kingsbridge Schools, came together at the urging of City Council hopeful Tony Cassino.

He asked leaders at various schools how willing they would be to help other schools make up for what they lacked. He got an overwhelmingly positive response, but getting the group organized wasn’t simple.

To kick things off, Mr. Cassino held a get together at City Hall for leaders from public schools, private schools and local colleges.

Virtually everyone invited came to the meeting; principals and parent leaders from public schools IN-Tech Academy, MS/HS 368; The David A. Stein Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy, MS/HS 141; PS 24, PS 81 and PS/MS 37; heads of The Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Horace Mann and Riverdale Country School and The College of Mount Saint Vincent. Manhattan College was invited but was unable to attend.

“I think people were just surprised to be sitting around the same table,” Mr. Cassino said.

He took out a map he created with each school marked on it.

“You see all those red dots? That’s all of you on top of each other,” he recalls saying.

There have always been a number of connections between educators and children at the various schools in the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area, but until now, little communication existed between the various leaderships.

It may seem the schools have little to connect them; sprawling campuses on the one side and tarmac playgrounds on the other. But that image can be misleading.

Before the silent auction at Riverdale Country School got under way, facilities director Mike Galligan stood chatting with his wife, Shari Galligan, who’s on staff at PS 81.

“It’s nice to just see the other schools, see what other people are up to and just have open dialogue,” said Nina Velazquez, parent coordinator at PS 81, though she said informal communication has always existed.

Still in it’s nascent stages, Mr. Cassino and the school leaders he’s gotten on board see potential not only for sharing space, but also working together on school activities like arts and athletics, professional development for teachers and college prep for students.

“We’re trying to break down barriers. There are barriers out there that are not intentional but they exist,” he said.

So far, the group has conducted a survey of each school’s needs and areas of possible collaboration. Members have gone on tours of each other’s schools, attended a meeting at Wave Hill to learn about opportunities for collaboration with that cultural institution, and are further trying to put theory into practice.

The group has an internal Web site where members share information and post events and has launched joint projects.

Riverdale Country School opened up staff training on environmental sustainability in schools to all of the members last spring. PS 81 invited members to the school’s annual tree and wreath fundraiser this winter, encouraging teachers, staff and parents to spend money for the holidays at a school instead of at a store.

PS 24 has presented its performance of The Nutcracker at MS/HS 368, and PS 81 held rehearsals at the school when its auditorium was under construction.

Horace Mann donated a free summer at its camp for the PS 24 fundraiser at the Riverdale Country School and PS 81 is talking about borrowing a costume from Horace Mann for an upcoming school play.

Mr. Cassino insists that while the private schools in the coalition may have more to offer in terms facilities and materials, public schools also have a lot to give. MS/HS 368’s tech savvy, for example, could be used to train other teachers. Schools could also share advanced placement and language professors, play each other in sports or in chess tournaments.

Though much of this collaboration still exists only in the minds of members, the organization itself, according to Mr. Cassino, could lead to similar groups throughout the city.

That’s why he held the first meeting at City Hall.

“I thought it was important for the city to see it because we want the support of the city in the long run,” said Mr. Cassino.

He said this group is the first of its kind citywide.

This is part of the March 26, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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