Public School 9

:See also The Anderson SchoolInfobox_nrhp | name =Public School 9
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= 466 W. End Ave., New York, New York
lat_degrees = 40
lat_minutes = 47
lat_seconds = 11
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73
long_minutes = 58
long_seconds = 46
long_direction = W
locmapin = New York
area =
built =1892
architect= Snyder,C.B.J.
architecture= Other
added = August 03, 1987cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Local
refnum=87001258

Public School 9, also known as Livingston School, is a historic building built in 1892 and a school in New York City. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The original PS 9 location at 466 West End Avenue (1830–1965)

The school that became PS 9 was originally organized by the vestry of Saint Michael's Church (Episcopal) in the early 1800s. The vestry continued to operate the School at Bloomingdale until a law was enacted November 19, 1824, barring church schools from participating in public school funding. On May 22, 1826, the Public School Society of New York [In New York City, the Free School Society was chartered in 1805 and changed its name in 1826 to the [http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/renwick/Chap06.html Public School Society of New York] . It was a private corporation that (i) managed schools for immigrants and the poor and (ii) distributed city funding to those schools. It remained private until it was, in effect, disestablished in 1842 and supplanted by an elected Board of Education.] acquired it; and, in July 1827, the Society paid $250 for a 100 x 100 foot tract at 82nd Street between 10th (Amsterdam) and 11th (West End) Avenues. On July 19, 1830, the Society completed the construction of a one-story clapboard school for $1,500, accommodating about 50 children. The Society transferred jurisdiction of PS 9 to the Board of Education in July 1853. [Bourne, William Oland, A.M., "History of the Public School Society of the City of New York," George P. Putnam's Sons, 1873]

In 1889, The New York Times disclosed a letter to Mayor Hugh J. Grant (1857–1910) citing grim conditions of a PS 9 structure in the same location that housed 1,100 children:

::There was no visible plaster in the entire building. The wooden staircases and wood-lined stairways were only 29 inches wide. Large stoves and stovepipes beneath the stairs and elsewhere, used for warming the building, were dangerously close to the woodwork. The so-called passages were 30 inches wide. The building was devoid of any means of escape from the rear and devoid of a fire escape. Means of from the front was insufficient. ["Much Needed Changes Ordered in Public Schoolhouse No. 9," The New York Times, March 8, 1889.]

The next year (1890), the Board of Education demolished the building. In 1894, the BOE erected a modern school building on the same site (466 West End Ave at 82nd St) — equipped with electricity and ventilation — Charles B.J. Snyder, architect. The new building inherited the name "PS 9." Designed to blend with the neighborhood, the ecclesiastical English gothic structure was a style prevalent of schools built by Trinity Church.

On January 26, 1916, during a graduation ceremony, PS 9 was named after the late John Jasper (1837–1915). ["Education Notes," The New York Times, January 26, 1916.] Mr. Jasper was an educator who had served at PS 9 as (i) a teacher in 1857 and (ii) its principal from 1867 to 1897. He went on to become Assistant Superintendent of Schools; then, in 1898, he became Borough Associate Superintendent of Schools for Manhattan and the Bronx.

As a marker for how times have changed, in 1961, David H. Moskowitz (1903–1962), the Deputy Superintendent for Research and Evaluation for NYC Schools, reported a high transient rate at several elementary schools, including PS 9, which ranged from 90 to 99% during the 1959–1960 school year. [’’Pupils’ Turnover Found Here’’, The New York Times, May 25, 1961.] This phenomenon, perhaps, provides insight towards public sentiment on the funding of public schools: When enrollment was highly transient, the public viewed school funding as a minimum legal obligation. Whereas, nowadays, enrollment is highly stable; therefore, funding is likely to be viewed more as an investment in the community.

The former PS 9 building is now the home of The Mickey Mantle School PS 811 [ [http://schools.nycenet.edu/d75/P811M The Mickey Mantle School PS 811] ] , serving children with disabilities.

References