Schools of Lower Manhattan by Kevin Ju
The schools of the Lower Manhattan community reflect the community as a whole very well. Whereas schools in Flushing and Corona are steadily increasing in enrollment, Chinatown schools have experienced a pervasive decline in enrollments since 9/11. The New York City Board of Education said Community District 2 which encompasses most of Chinatown experienced a “significant enrollment drop in 2001 – 2002 primarily because of enrollment losses suffered by schools in Lower Manhattan” after the terror attacks and that the trend was to continue for the foreseeable future. In fact, the trend did continue, as enrollment dropped every year from 2001 to today at P.S. 1 Alfred E. Smith Elementary School, and it shows no sign of letting up:
This is reflective of the larger Lower Manhattan Chinese community, as it has been seriously damaged by Twin Tower bombings:
- The area directly affected by the smog and smoke covers almost all of Chinatown.
The loss of many garment jobs which allowed flexible hours for parents to bring their kids to school meant that many families had to consider sending their children overseas to their relatives and seek a livelihood elsewhere. As the steadily decreasing enrollment in public schools show, with the loss of thousands of garment and restaurant jobs, families were slowly but surely forced out of Chinatown through a combination of loss of income, the failure of the ethnic enclave to provide services with so many of its members leaving, and the stark realization that they had very little hope of a brighter future where they were.
The untold story through this process of attrition was the story of those young Chinese children who were born here or overseas and attended the P.S. 1 elementary school during their formative years. The zone that P.S. 1 serves is heavily Chinese, and it is reflected clearly in its demographics:
Here in P.S. 1 it is clear that Chinese culture dominates. You can hear Hispanic and black children speaking Mandarin with no discernable accent and playing along with Chinese students without any regard to race or ethnicity. Chinese culture is prominently displayed in the artwork as well with murals of dragons and Chinese characters and paintings and drawings with Chinese themes on display for passersby to see. The proportion of English Language Learners (ELL) students is more than thirty five percent, a figure much higher than the average school, and a major target listed in P.S. 1’s Comprehensive Education Plan (CEP) is to make further progress turning those ELL students into students without need for additional English services. The Asian culture is so prevalent in fact that the schools are even aware of the phenomena of many Asian parents taking their children back to visit their roots during the Lunar New Year, and then coming back with additional children whom they left their under the guardianship of their parents. In fact, the principle of nearby P.S. 2 said he was prepared to take at least a dozen of these newcomers and that schools had adjusted to this phenomena.
While it is clear that P.S. 1is dominated by Chinese culture, one can still easily see the western influences that could provide the foundation for future conflicts with their parents. Many children have cell phones and other electronic devices even if they do not bring it with them to school and many children are adapting into the American culture by imitating older siblings’ or role models’ behaviors. One can clearly see that the Lower Manhattan Chinese community, while being an ethnic enclave with a minority majority, is still a minority in the city at large. They are exposed to many American influences from consumerism to the latest fashions to trends in social media and television. While a walk around P.S. 1 can demonstrate that Chinese culture is still revered and important, a walk around Chinatown will serve to show the clashes at the edges of each culture:
[Unfinished, still need to insert last picture here]
