New Hyde Park-Garden City Park to Partner with Long Beach Schools

The New Hyde Park-Garden City Park School District will be partnering with Long Beach Middle School as part of a state initiative to boost failing middle school grades.

According to the New York State Education Department, Long Beach will be awarded about $150,000 each in “replication” grants to pay for cooperative projects with New Hyde Park-Garden City Park.

The program was designed to be used by schools in need of academic improvement to be partnered with more successful districts with the intent of raising achievement by borrowing practices from their more successful counterpart.

Long Beach Middle School was cited as being in need of improvement by the state in the 2011-12 school year due to low English and math scores in the school’s African-American and special needs student populations. The majority of students passed state tests in both test areas.

According to Newsday:

Long Beach will use much of its grant money to buy electronic blackboards and notepads to improve learning at the district’s 900-student middle school, Superintendent David Weiss said. Funding also will go to staff training. The idea is to borrow from technological techniques used successfully in New Hyde Park-Garden City Park schools.

“The greatest thing in education is when you don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Weiss said.

A total of $2.2 million will be awarded to 15 public schools throughout the state. About 25 schools applied for the program.

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