Thanks to all who signed and supported the Spruce Street School’s petition to let Chancellor Farina, Mayor de Blasio, and the DOE know the community overwhelmingly wants to move forward with the Spruce Street Middle School and open in 2015. We collected an astounding 412 signatures on our online petition in just 7 days and more than 700 names on our paper petition in just 3 days! We would like to thank Principal Nancy Harris, Chancellor Farina, and Mayor de Blasio for making it clear that family engagement and community input is indeed a priority in the DOE with the current administration. We know that Superintendent Mariano Guzman and Drew Patterson from the Office of Portfolio Management met with our principal resulting in swift clarification and rapid communication to the families and we are very grateful they recognized and acted upon the distress of the community. Many officials have shown unwavering support since Spruce Street School was just an idea and in particular, we would like to acknowledge Speaker Sheldon Silver for always making it clear that he would do everything he could to fulfill the promise of a K-8 school. Many thanks to Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council Member Margaret Chin, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, and Senator Daniel Squadron for their support of the Spruce Street Middle School and their ongoing advocacy to address the shortage of public school seats in Lower Manhattan. The recent passage of the school overcrowding legislation sponsored by Speaker Silver and Senator Squadron is an encouraging and important step in addressing the ongoing problem of school overcrowding in Lower Manhattan and other parts of New York City. Community Board 1’s Youth and Education Committee Co-Chairs Paul Hovitz and Tricia Joyce’s leadership in advocating for the students in Lower Manhattan was the inspiration for many who decided to become an active member of the community and participate. We would like to give a special thanks to Paul Hovitz for his extraordinary dedication to the students in the Community Board 1 area throughout the years. Thank you to Build Schools Now, an organization created by downtown parent leaders to draw attention and address the problem of Lower Manhattan overcrowding, for practical advice and promoting a positive and community building approach to advocating for our school. Finally, we would like to thank the downtown community and especially the Spruce families who in some way participated or provided support. We are not going to name any particular person because every person was vital and helped provide the fuel for our incredible momentum. Because we came together as a community we were successful in getting our voices heard.