by Anusha Shrivastava

A placard in her office reads, "Of course I can handle it - I'm a Woman," and you wonder if that is the underlying philosophy of her life. "Sort of," says Sherry J. Gregory, Principal of PS/IS 217. "I am not a feminist, I am an 'equalist.' I have never felt discriminated against, maybe because I am in education. In any case, my philosophy is that one has to spend every day learning and growing, finding answers to questions and how to go from point A to point B. This is exemplified in this school district for we are seen as instructional leaders of the school. We know that we never really know enough and there is always something we can discover. That is what we try to teach our students here in this school."

Ms. Gregory took over as Principal of PS/IS 217 nearly two years ago after a stint as Director at the Harbor School of International Studies in Brooklyn. She has been a teacher since 1971 and gained administrative experience at various stages of her career. She has trained teachers and administrators, developed curriculums and served as Assistant Principal in schools in Brooklyn.

She laughs as she says, "I was born in Brooklyn frighteningly long ago." A product of public schools, she earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English literature and an M.S. in Secondary School Education. "I am not sure that I always thought of myself as a teacher, but I was always interested in language and communication and, when I became a student teacher, I realized that this was my vocation. I worked with struggling readers early in my career and became a reading specialist by developing strategies to unlock the secrets of language for them. For instance, I realized that hearing good language is one of the best ways for someone to appreciate and emulate it. Read-alouds were not part of conventional wisdom at the time."

Breaking with convention is something that Ms. Gregory likes to do. No bells ring in her school. "They are distracting," says Ms. Gregory. "This way we can maintain a nice tone and not fragment the learning. I have stressed a balanced literacy time in the mornings when the focus is on reading, writing and socializing the intelligence, not having to sit in rows and have someone talk at you. I want the children to be actively involved. I want them to enjoy coming to school. If what is in class is exciting, the children will not get into trouble."

The Principal admits that the school has been facing difficult times. "There has been a lack of confidence in the school. We have had bad press and lacked a consistent leader. I am the first permanent principal appointed in the past five years. There has been tremendous staff turnover because of this. There has also been friction between the district and the community in terms of who would run the school and what was best for it. All this caused parents to look elsewhere and scared the staff, for they never knew if they were doing their job right and what the philosophy and expectation was. The school clearly wasn't the best, and so many people left."

Apart from all these administrative issues, Ms. Gregory thinks that the changed demographics of the Island also led to the decline of the school. According to the Board of Education Annual Report for 1997-98, in percentage terms, the school composition is 50 percent black, 22 percent Hispanic, 17 percent white and 10 percent Asian. "Race has also been an underlying issue and I am not sure why," says the Principal.

Ms. Gregory thinks that the diverse nature of the students may have something to do with variance in performance, but rather than blame that, she points out what needs to change among the staff. "There is a certain mindset which needs to be changed. Teachers need to learn how to offer varied instruction and learning packages. In a score-oriented country, we have to see that parents' expectations are met. We need to show that the stick is high for everyone. Teachers have to look out for at-risk children and see what can be done for them on a daily basis. We have to check what we are doing to support them and make sure that every child is progressing every day."

Discipline has been a problem in the school. The annual report points out that there have been nearly three times the number of police department incidents in PS/IS 217 than other city public schools. By way of explanation, Ms. Gregory pointed out that this must be seen in the right context. "Even victimless crimes are reported to the police. If a child brings in a water pistol to school, it has to be reported. Also, children have arguments that are reported. We are trying to introduce conflict-resolution programs to solve that problem. We are training students to become mediators so we have positive peer pressure."

Several Island residents have objected to the groups of students hanging out on the street after school and using foul language. "We are going to introduce character education starting next year," says the Principal. "We want to reinforce good values and tell the children that this kind of bad behavior is not acceptable. Bad language is often not recognized as being bad behavior but we want to educate the children that there is a higher expectation in here. Older kids are often testing the adults. There may not be a lack of moral fiber, it is just that adolescents try to see what they can get away with and we have to control that. I have a twelve-year-old son at home and I am always trying to tell him about tone of voice."

The Principal believes that this change is going to be a team effort. "The same values have to be reinforced at home. We have to work together, especially because we are the neighborhood school. The education of all children on the Island is everyone's responsibility. I want every child who lives on Roosevelt Island to attend this school. I will do everything to ensure that we get all the children in early and retain them through Grade 8. The best kids leave after Grade 5 and that must stop. We are going to introduce an accelerated program in Grade 6 that will be enriched for the higher-achieving children. We are going to send out a needs assessment survey sheet, hold more workshops and make the place more welcoming. The parents should be able to come in, see the place and judge for themselves."

The Principal clearly has an agenda before her. She is trying to achieve a simple goal - that of making PS/IS 217 the Roosevelt Island school.