Ghost Town

On October 28th, students of the John Jay Educational Complex gathered in the building’s basement gym for the first campus’s ever building-wide party. Students were dressed as M&M’s, pirates, skeletons, devils, superheroes, professional athletes, and, in one particularly spooky case, American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

Students who purchased tickets in advance shelled out $5 for the privilege of saving $2 off the entry (the door price was $7). The event, organized by Park Slope Collegiate’s student government, welcomed students from Millennium Brooklyn, John Jay School for Law, Cyberarts Studio Academy (CASA), and Park Slope Collegiate (PSC) to attend, including the middle schoolers who attend PSC, although with restrictions. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders were only welcome to stay until 7, while the high schoolers could stay until the late hour of 10pm. 

The vibes before and after the 7pm cutoff time were very different. Before 7, the majority of students in attendance were middle schoolers—and the music blasting from the speakers was reminiscent of that of 2017 pop radio. The DJ, a PSC alumnus, chose PG friendly tracks like “Havana” by Camila Cabello and “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen for the younger crowd. As one might expect at a middle school function, students were jumping around, tossing balloons, running in circles and chasing each other.

 After the middle school exodus, however, the DJ pivoted to ear-splitting music more suitable for high school students. “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert and “Munch” by Ice Spice echoed through the gym. Students began dancing with their friends and the games of tag and balloon tossing went out the door with the middle school attendees. 

While Millennium Brooklyn High School is the largest school in John Jay Campus, with 691 students, few from the school were in attendance. Ms. Barclay, who was in charge of selling tickets to MBHS students, reported only selling about 15 tickets to members of the MBHS student body. Some chose not to attend because other schools were there. “I don’t wanna be with the John Jay kids,” said a 9th grader who wished to remain anonymous. This sentiment, not exclusive to this ninth grader, reveals lingering distrust between the student bodies at the co-housed schools like those that were detailed in last year’s “Keeping Score” podcast.

The whole premise of the dance was to bring the schools together to “come together and have fun,” says Sonai Duval, a junior from the PSC student government who helped organize the event. “It was important to make the dance campus wide because the schools used to compete with their sports teams so they weren’t really together until last year.” 

But despite these efforts, why were Millennium students so hesitant to attend? “A lot of people didn’t go because the other schools were there,” said a freshman who wished to remain anonymous. “Millennium is ranked significantly higher than the other schools so I see why people were so reluctant.” According to U.S. News, Millennium Brooklyn is ranked 35th in the city while John Jay School for Law, for example, is ranked 558th. A school’s ranking is one of the first links that comes up when you search by its name, so many students’ impressions of a school are likely based on these rankings, especially when the schools have historically been kept separate.

“There’s not a big sense of school spirit here in this school,” says senior Anthony Russo, “There’s a sense of separation between the schools.” Even though the schools have become less separate with the joining together of sports teams, students are still hesitant to interact with those in other schools. 

Several students also expressed that they were not aware of the dance until the day before, which likely also plays a role in the lack of attendance from the MBHS student body. “I only heard about the party from my friend who’s in the PSC student government, but I didn’t hear anything from anyone in Millennium,” said senior Agatha Ryan. “I didn’t know the party was happening, but even if I did, I would’ve been skating anyway” says junior Pablo Goldberg. 

Another junior, who goes by ‘Vega’, actually went to the dance and had a good time. “I would like for there to be more campus wide events, next time, maybe without the Domino’s vegetable pizza.”