NYC- On Wednesday, May 24th at 5:30 pm the families, friends, supporters and staff of New Explorations in Science Technology and Math School (NEST+m) will rally in opposition to Chancellor Joel Klein and his effort to force an unproven charter school into the NEST+m school building. The rally will be held outside the Cipriani Wall Street Restaurant, 55 Wall Street, in Manhattan.

Chancellor Klein's action threatens the future of New York City's most successful new school. In four years, the K-12 scholars at NEST+m, who make up the student population of the separate lower, middle and upper schools in the building, have achieved perfect or near perfect scores on every standardized test at every grade level* and a 100 percent graduation rate in its high school, which subsequently has had students admitted to Columbia, UPenn, Wesleyan, Yale and other outstanding post-secondary schools. The effort to interpolate another school in the NEST+m building threatens the very success that has been achieved by taking away necessary classrooms and office space from the three programs. In addition, the shared library, dining hall, gym, playground, etc. will be stretched to the point of breaking point. We ask please, don't mess with success.

Ironically, the rally to defend the educational excellence enjoyed by NEST+m's diverse student population, which speaks 29 different languages and represents every major ethnic group in New York City, is scheduled to coincide with the Graham Windham Bicentennial Ball, which benefits that historic and successful organization's child welfare programs. Chancellor Klein is scheduled to be a guest at the affair.

*ECLAS, NYS Standardized Tests, 8th Grade ELA and Mat Tests, Regents and AP's