The Caton School Extends to Fourth Grade

The Caton School, otherwise known as PS 249, will be extending to the fourth grade come September 2012.

The extension comes as a series of neighboring schools have closed and placement for displaced students is a priority of the Board of Education, according to Nyoca Mackey, parent coordinator at the Caton School.

Only students entering grades pre-kindergarten through third will be accepted to the school, and third-graders will be allowed to move up to the fourth grade instead of leaving the school, Mackey said.

Then, in September 2013, the school will extend to the fifth grade to allow those who completed the fourth grade to continue on, she said. 

Mackey said that the school currently houses almost 760 students, but the addition is a change that parents have welcomed. "Parents love it," Mackey said. "They're telling us that they want to stay here, so there are no complaints."

To make room and free-up teachers for the additonal grades, the school condensed kindergarten classes from nine units to five. "It makes things a little tighter, but we don't have more than 24 (children) in each class," she said.  

She noted that the school must accept children who live within the school's zone, and then can accept children who live outside the zone. Parents looking to register their children for pre-kindergarten must do so online, she continued.