The Michael J. Petrides School is a
public school
Public school may refer to:
* State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government
* Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
located at 715 Ocean Terrace in
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
,
New York. It was created by Board of Education officials and named for their late colleague and
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studie ...
professor, Michael J. Petrides (1941–1994). The school opened on November 13, 1995, on the former campus of the
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studie ...
. Students apply to attend the school through a lottery system. 8th graders going into high school, receive auto-admission if Petrides is the first choice on their application. The current principal is Joanne Buckheit.
Petrides educates students from pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade, or senior year in high school. It has an assistant principal for each grade category (elementary, middle school, high school). They are:
* Jennifer Ponzi - Elementary School (Grades pre-K - 5)
* BettyAnn Souffrin - Middle School (Grades 6-8)
* Anthony Tabbitas - High School (Grades 9-12)
The Petrides School, like many other New York City public schools, also has paraprofessionals, speech therapists, occupational and physical therapists, deans, school aides, and a widely used bus transportation system.
Overview
Set on what was once was the
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studie ...
campus, P.S. 80 serves students from
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
through high-school. The school opened in 1995, had its first graduating class in 2001. Its first group to complete all 13 years of schooling graduated in 2008.
The school enrolls about 90-100 pupils per grade from kindergarten through middle school and about 125 per grade in high school. Close to 1,000 students apply for about 75-90 kindergarten seats, and the school receives more than 1,200 applications for the 40 to 50 seats that open in 9th grade. Teachers work at every academic level, from the youngest grades through high school, and the "seamless" curriculum promises a smooth progression from year to year, with ample opportunity for arts, music,
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...
classes, and electives. Students in grades 6 through 12 are assigned personal laptops, and can take advantage of the school’s technology resources. The school features hallways named with street signs for famous artists, architects, and inventors.
High-school students have the opportunity to travel overseas. Destinations have included
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
were also destinations. Fundraisers are also held to help finance the high school's annual trip
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...
. In addition, high school students can work with younger students in the elementary school, as classroom student mentors.
Special education
"All classes contain a mix of students of different abilities. District 75, which enrolls children with severe disabilities, has a separate program at the Petrides complex, as part of PS 37."
Admissions
Admissions are by lottery for grades K-8. For kindergarten, the school typically receives more than 800 applications for 75-90 seats, of which 15 are reserved for siblings of current students (separate lottery). The handful of open seats in the upper grades are filled by lottery, as well. In 9th grade, class sizes get larger and an extra class is added to the grade. Thousands of students apply for a total of 40 to 55 new seats. These seats are filled through the city's "educational option" formula, designed to achieve a mix of low, average, and high-performing students.
Controversy
Within the past, there had been certain discrepancies according to the school's enrollment policy under the past principal. This was highlighted by a noticeable prevalence to kin relations within the student body and noted recommendations within an alleged random basis lottery system for enrollment. These were recorded in a 1998 investigation report. The report also recorded the absence of critical records that would determine the extent of the irregularities.
In November 2017, a student posed with a gun in a children's bathroom and uploaded the picture to social media. The school closed while authorities investigated, and afterwards several security measures were put in place.
From January 2018 to March 2018, several rape cases have been reported as having taken place at the school.
Extracurricular activities, clubs, and athletics
*
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...
*
SING!
''SING!'' is an annual student-run musical production put on by some high schools in New York City. It is a theater competition between the various grades, with the setup between grades differing from school to school (such as sophomore-freshman vs ...
*
Student Government
A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...
*
Council For Unity
Council for Unity is a national non-profit organization founded in 1975 at John Dewey High School, in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Council for Unity provides curriculum in schools, and programs in correctional facilities. "Its aim is to give ...
* Petrides Against Cancer Society (PACS)
* Petrides Anime Club
* Astronomy Club
*
Billion Oyster Project
The Billion Oyster Project is a New York City-based nonprofit organization with the goal of restoring one billion live oysters to New York Harbor by 2035 through education initiatives. Because oysters are filter feeders, they serve as a natura ...
*
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
* Chess Club
* Cooking Club
* Dungeons and Dragons Club
*
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...
* History Club
* Nintendo Club
* LGBTQ Club
* Math Team
* Media and Tech Club
* My Brother's Keeper
* My Sister's Keeper
* Newspaper
* Passport Club
* Pokémon, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh Club
*
Spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
*
Yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
* Crochet Club
* Spring Musical
* Winter Concert
* Spring Concert
*
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
* Cross-Country Track
* Indoor Track
* Outdoor Track
*
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
*
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
*
Handball
Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
*
Fencing
Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...
*
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
*
Soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
*
Softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
*
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
*
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
*
Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
*
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
*
Bowling
Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...
*
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
PSAL Championships
Football Team
*2019
Baseball Team
*2017
Boys' Wrestling Team
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
Girls' Bowling Team
* 2008
Boys' Golf Team
* 2009
Notable alumni
*
Tristan Wilds
Tristan Paul Mack Wilds (born July 15, 1989) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series, ''The Wire'', and as Dixon Wilson on the CW teen drama seri ...
, Actor
*
Christine Evangelista
Christine Evangelista (born October 27, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for her supporting role as Sherry in the AMC zombie apocalypse horror television series '' The Walking Dead'', along with her later reprising her role in the ...
, Actress,
The Walking Dead
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrides, Michael J.
Public high schools in Staten Island
Public elementary schools in Staten Island
Public middle schools in Staten Island
Todt Hill, Staten Island
K-12 schools in New York City