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PHOENIX, May 24,1973 Page 3District 13 Servesr \\ : . _________________ _ r %u00bb lu s v e ib e r o p u ic m o n ;Meets Varied NeedsBY CORR1NE COLEMANCommunity School District 13 extends from the new black culture center of Bedford Stuy vesant to the nearly all-white upper middle class bastion of Brooklyn Heights. It ranges from the southern ends of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, across the Heights and the low-income Farragut Housing Project, to the northern edge of Park Slope; covering the mixed Spanish and English speaking groups in that area. In addition, the district encloses the seemingly integrated reviving Brownstone settlements of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights.Covering a diverse population within neighborhoods in the throes of revitalization, this representative body for the district%u2019s 22 schools confronts a task more complex and no doubt more challenging than the representation of a more homogenous district.Along with the necessity of assuring a situation of overall excellence, of securing a professional staff concerned with the needs of all the children, the Board must relate to the varying needs of the different communities and to the sometimes differing visions of parents who, under the new decentralization procedure are sharing in the school situation.The newly elected District 13 Board includes representatives from all parts of the area, differing considerably from the 1970 groups which was top-heavy with Brooklyn Heights residents. (Only one school in the Heights is included in the district). And it seems after the fits and starts of the first regime with members bowing out along the way, the school district scene is moving toward a semblance of stability.President Claire Pearce, who was re-elected to the Board three weeks ago, as part of a P.T.A. President%u2019s Panel slate, is optimistic about work already in progress in District 13, one of the two city districts noted for its amount of parent participation. %u201cQualified sensitive local people interested in education,%u201d who were hired during the last Board%u2019s term, have already made strides in the schools she says.She is most excited about a bilingual program started as a pilot project in two schools, which will begin on a district-wide basis this fall. The program, begun with Federal Title 7 funds, at P.S. 282 and P.S. 133, both in Park Slope, pairs a class of %u201c Spanish dominant%u201d children with a same grade class of English speaking children.Each group is taught in its nativelanguage and begins instruction at the same time in the second tongue. The amount of instruction in the second language is gradually increased so that by the fifth grade the children should be fluent in the two languages. There have been eight such classes in each of the two schools, with two classes each in kindergarten, first,.second and third grades. The program will expand in those two schools, to the fourth grade next year, and to the fifth, the year following.After appraising the pilot program, its expansion into the entire district was proposed, according to Pearce. Programming is in process, she says, and all schools so desiring will be included. Funding on the districtwide basis will come through tax levy funds and state monies.Feeling that teachers and principals are the key to the implementation of all district programs, Pearce sees the necessity for more intense work with the district staff. The school screening committees formed after decentralization and including parents, members of the communities and some teachers, have been active in the choice of teaching personnel, and as Pearce says, the pre-decentralization situation of tremendous staffContinued on Page 17New Downtown Housing OK'dBy Local Advisory CommitteeThe Citizen%u2019s Advisory Committee for the State-SchermerhornPacific Housing Development has given its unanimous stamp of approval to the newly revised plans for that new housing development in a meeting Monday. First public hearings are set on the new plan on June 11 before the City Planning Commission.The new plans, announced last week by William Hayden, regional director of the Urban Development Corporation, reduce the size of the project to 992 units, and reduces the building site to all or part of the blocks bounded by State, Schermerhorn, Smith and Bond Street, and an adjoining area between State and Atlantic facing Smith St. A second project area, between Atlantic and Pacific, Smith and Court Streets, is being eliminated from present consideration.The new plan, which now must get Planning Commission and Board of Estimate approval before construction can start. However, Jim Robinson, an aide to Hayden, said that the architect is redesigning the project based on the new plans, and negotiations are now in progress with a proposeddeveloper.Among the other changes proposed in the project, is a reduction of the height on the new building between State and Atlantic, which had originally been planned for 39 stories; it will now be a 16-19 floor building.The new plan calls for five buildings which will range from 8- 21 stories high along Schermerhorn St, and a sixth which will rise in steps from 29 to 32 stories at the Smith St. end of the project area. A row of four-story town houses will be built facing State Street.PHOENIX Photo by Francois DumaineStudents from grades one through six dance around the Maypole at the annual Country Fair held on the grounds of Packer Collegiate Instituted 70 Joralemon Street,(last Thursday for the benefit of the school%u2019s Scholarship Fund. Arts and crafts, games, contests and country-style foods were other highlights of the event which was sponsored' by the Packer Parent-Teacher Association.Signing of purchase contract for new South Brooklyn Health Center property in Red Hook. Left to right are: (seated) Jose Sanchez, Board of Directors; Abraham Goldstein, representing the seller of the Pioneer Theatre; (standing) A.D. Castano, Project Director; and Phillip O%u2019Hara, Title Closer. (Photo by Rocco Galatioto)Health CenterBuys Building ToExpand ServicesJose Sanchez, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the South Brooklyn Health Center, has announced the purchase of a 6,500 square foot building in Red Hook that will be renovated and, when completed, will serve as the new home of the Center.The purchase initiates a $700,000 capital construction and equipment investment by O.E.O. and the Board of Directors for the expansion of neighborhood health services in South Brooklyn.The firm of Greenfield, Sommer and Associates has been engagedCobble Hill MeetingThe Cobble Hill Association will hold its annual spring meeting on Wednesday, May 30, at 8 p.m. in the auditorium of P.S. 29, (Henry St., between Baltic and Kane).A new slate of officers will be elected for the coming year and a review of the affairs of the Association will be given. A discussion of the Long Island College Hospital and its various plans for expansion will be presented.All residents of Cobble Hill are invited to attend the meeting and to join the Association. Dues are only$3 per year.as architects. The architectural plan calls for a second floor to be added to the new facility to provide a grand total of 12,000 square feet. The new facility is located at Pioneer and Richards Streets in Red Hook and will feature a complete suite of examining rooms for adults and children.Internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics will be the primary services offered. The Center will also provide dental services and such sub-specialties as allergy, ear, nose and throat and opthalmology. X-ray, laboratory and pharmacy services will be provided right on the premises of the new facility and the Center plans to expand its present home health and social and community services programs.The Center currently provides health and medical services at 100 Clinton Street. New offices for patient pick up, registration and information will be opened in the near future in Columbia StreetWaterfront and Gowanus.The South Brooklyn Health Center is now able to provide services to all residents of South Brooklyn. For patients lacking Medicaid, Medicare or other third party coverage, fees are set according to the patient%u2019s ability to pay. Call 834-8202 for more information.$3% Million GrantTo Senior CitizensMayor John V. Lindsay announced last week that South Brooklyn Community Corporation, Colony-South Brooklyn Houses and the Internationa! Longshoreman%u2019s Association Local 1814 are among the 30 community groups receiving funds under the $3,750,000 program to establish and operate senior citizen centers in areas with large numbers of poor, elderly residents.The program, announced in the PHOENIX last month nnr*%u00bbv> Autothe services of the 63 senior citizen centers operated by the Human Resources Administration. Each center will receive a maximum of $100,000 for operating expenses plus the cost of renting the senior citizen facility. The organizations %u25a0will receive the funds from City tax revenues during the next fiscal year.The new centers will provide at least four basic services to the elderly: one meal daily; group and recreational activities; a general public information service; help with individual problems and with securing needed services from other agencies. In addition, the centers will provide some limited part-time employment opportunities for senior citizens.The new senior citizen service groups are located at the following locations: the Atlantic Avenue Older Adults Center at 460 Atlantic Ave. (already in operation under different sponsorship); the Carroll Park Senior Citizens Center at 378- 380 Court St.; and the South Brooklyn Senior Citizens Center at 7th Ave. and 7th St.