There are a lot of schools in New York City. Some doing well. Others... not so well. What happens to these schools? When can a faltering school be salvaged and when should it be shuttered? How does the Department of Education make decisions about what schools get closed? What does 'doing well' even mean? And who decides?

To get answers to these questions, a group of students from College Now at Hostos Community College in the Bronx worked with CUP staff and teaching artist Vivianne Njoku. They interviewed parents, advocates, and representatives from the Department of Education to get a variety of perspectives. They created Up Closed and Personal, a short film that examines this thorny issue and looks at the decision-making process for closing schools.

Students debuted their work on October 29th sharing their experiences investigating school closings through film and interviews. They were also joined in conversation by Pamela Wheaton from Insideschools.