CSI High School Will Relocate to New Springville
Three schools to open in fall 2008 at complex with $120M price tag 

Staten Island Advance - Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Students at the High School for International Studies at the College of Staten Island won't be attending classes on the Willowbrook campus next year -- they're getting a brand-new facility in New Springville, the city Department of Education announced yesterday.

Despite the move, the innovative small-scale secondary school's name and relationship with CSI will be maintained.

"The school and the college are completely committed to the partnership," said department spokeswoman Debra Wexler.

Parents have long complained that the school, which opened in 2005, was short on space. It currently has about 200 students, a number that is expected to rise next year when all four grade levels are filled.

The department verified yesterday that the complex under construction between Marsh Avenue and Essex Drive will house the school.

Tutoring and teaching programs between students and staff at the college will be maintained, and a bus connection will be established between CSI and the new facility, Wexler said.

But Katie McSherry, 15, of Great Kills, a sophomore at the school, was less than thrilled by the announcement.

"I don't think there's really a point of being a part of CSI if we're not going to be on the campus," she said. "Other than the kids who are going there to take courses, no one else will go."

Her brother Michael, a 16-year-old junior, disagreed, praising the relocation for the improved facilities and abundance of space.

"I enjoy being at the college, but I think I'm going to enjoy the new building," he said. While the current arrangement is not "too cramped," it can be difficult to change classes because of the crowded hallways, he said.

Their mother, Lisa McSherry, said the move is a mixed blessing, because parents expected a state-of-the-art facility from the get-to.

"I'm thrilled that we're moving, to get the dream that we were promised," she said. "This is what the DOE and CUNY should have been giving us."

High school Principal Aimee Horowitz could not be reached for comment.

The new complex, currently under construction and known in its preliminary stages as IS/HS 43, will open to students for the start of the September 2008 school year and cost about $120 million to finish.

It's slated to feature an intermediate school for about 650 students, and another small high school. The two high schools would hold about 500 students each. The Department of Education is still in the process of selecting the other two schools.

The school will have state-of-the-art science and technology labs, and spaces shared by all three schools in the complex will include a 9,000-square-foot-gymnasium, a library and media center and special education activity rooms, as well as sports fields.

By Rob Hart
Reprinted here with permission from the