A controversial charter school run by the teachers' union is shutting down its elementary and middle grades.
Kindergarten through eighth grade at the UFT charter school in Brooklyn will be closed at the end of this school year.
The teachers' union, which has always opposed charter schools, opened the facility in East New York in 2005.
Since then, the school has consistently been one of the lowest-performing in the city, charter or otherwise.
Nearly 700 students in grades K-8 will be affected by the shutdown.
Many parents are concerned about what will happen next.
"Very devastated," said parent Atiya Williams. "It happened so suddenly. We just got a call that they was having an emergency meeting and that the school was closing. So it was like, 'Now what?'"
"Sad, because since I've been there from kindergarten, and now I'm leaving my teachers," said student Tatiana Williams.
The union said it will work with the Department of Education to place them in other schools.
The union is asking the state to renew the charter for grades 9 through 12.