By: Clara Martinez Turco, Umar Muhammad, Camilo Smith, Shlomo Sprung

Amid boisterous protests, the Panel for Educational Policy voted last week to close 10 schools in the Bronx that reportedly received three consecutive low grades on their report cards.

According to the City’s Department of Education, these schools will be phased out over the next three academic years. Starting in September, they will not be enrolling new students.

The panel already started approving the opening of eleven smaller schools, including two charter high schools, that will replace the failing ones. These institutions will open their doors in September with one class. The phase in will be completed by 2014-2015.

Critics of the DOE believe closing schools is abandoning the problem rather than fixing it.  Schools Chancellor Cathie Black defended the panel’s vote by pointing to research that shows smaller schools “are particularly successful with students traditionally considered the most disadvantaged, including minorities, special education students, English Language Learners, and students entering high school with low proficiency levels.”

Confused about which schools are closing and where the new ones are located? Bronx Ink put together a map of the schools slated to close, and those that will open their doors. Those flagged in red are closing. Those in blue are opening.

All new elementary schools will be zoned, which means that priority is given to Bronx residents within a certain geographical location. As for the new high schools, all but one are “limited unscreened,” which means they will give preference to students who attend an information fair or open house. Click on the map to learn more about each school.

View Bronx School Phase-out and Replacement in a larger map