Harlem's Wadleigh Middle School Wins Last Minute Reprieve

HARLEM, NY — Students, teachers and parents of Harlem's Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts rallied with elected officials and community advocates Thursday with a message for the city Department of Education: Wadleigh forever.

The mood of the rally was celebratory and hopeful. A city proposal to cut Wadleigh's middle school grades was pulled from the Panel for Educational Policy Wednesday after city officials met with community leaders to discuss a new solution to improve the school, city officials announced.

"The community spoke, and the city heard -Wadleigh Secondary School was pulled from the April 25th Panel for Educational Policy meeting agenda and it will remain open and intact" State Senator Brian Benjamin said.

"As a historic arts incubator, Harlem deserves a first class public school where students can be educated in the arts from middle school through high school."

Benjamin suggested Wadleigh's middle school collaborate with Frederick Douglas Academy II, which shares the same West 114th Street school building, in order to improve the school's academic performance. New School Chancellor Richard Carranza said in a letter to Harlem officials that bringing the two middle schools together has "enormous potential."

Despite seeing the potential of collaboration between the two schools, no decisions regarding Wadleigh's future have been made, city officials said Thursday.

This article will be updated with more details.

Photo by Brendan Krisel/Patch