Long Island students commute to the city

Like many Long Islanders trekking into Manhattan, Victoria Grempel's day starts early: She rises at 4:45 a.m. in her Wantagh home, showers, dresses and, weather permitting, walks to the Long Island Rail Road station to catch the 6:13 train. When it arrives in Penn Station 46 minutes later, business-suited commuters grab their briefcases and smartphones and head to their offices.

Grempel grabs her backpack and ballet shoes and heads to high school.

And she's not the only one. Long Island's 124 public school districts educate thousands of students at more than 650 elementary, middle and high schools, yet more than 100 students leave the Island each day to commute miles to classes in Manhattan.

Grempel, 17, is a senior at the Professional Children's School on West 60th Street. Her 12-hour-plus days are longer than the average workday for most adults, but she's not complaining.

"Regardless of whether you're hungry or exhausted, the ride is worth it," she said.

The school day starts much the same way for Nicholas Vernice, 15, of Garden City. After waking at 6 a.m., he gets a ride to the New Hyde Park station from his mother, RoseAnn. Aboard the 6:41 train, which gets to Manhattan at 7:11, the Regis High School sophomore reads his English coursework because he thinks it's important to "make the commute work to your advantage," he said.

Commuting together

Grempel treks to the city with the other teenage commuter in her household; her brother Jarrett, 16, is a junior at the same school and plays the bassoon.

"We're glad that our children commute together," said their mother, Michele. "They look out for each other."

Though Grempel usually gets less than four hours of sleep on school nights, she's alert and energized during the commute, studying Spanish with her brother or, when necessary, stitching up her ballet shoes. At about 7 a.m. their train pulls into Penn Station, where they make their way through the crowd and head toward the subway to catch the No. 1 train. They take it three stops to 59th Street (Columbus Circle) and, from there, walk down 60th Street, where they stop at the same coffee truck every morning.

Grempel asks for her usual -- a large coffee, with milk and three sugars -- and gets it, along with a muffin on the house to share with her brother. They then cross Columbus Avenue, continue for half a block and are usually the first students to arrive at the modest, seven-story building that houses the Professional Children's School.

The Grempels are two of 10 Long Island students who attend PCS, which has 198 students and is two blocks from Lincoln Center. The school was founded in 1914 to educate the children of vaudeville performers. Students in grades six through 12 work and study for careers in the performing and visual arts, competitive sports and modeling. Notable alumni include Vera Wang, Macaulay and Kieran Culkin, Savion Glover, Scarlett Johansson and Yo-Yo Ma.

"Our mission is to be an academic school for those doing something outside of school," said Sherrie Hinkle, director of admissions. "Our students don't have to make the choice of 'You're either a student or a dancer,' for example."

Grempel, who started dancing at age 2 because she wanted to wear a tutu, began traveling to Manhattan with her mother when she was 8 to attend a Saturday program at The School at Steps. She still frequents the dance school, spending at least two hours a day there after finishing classes at PCS, which include statistics, Spanish IV, and war and society.

"By the time I was a Wantagh Middle School sixth-grader my dad would drive me into the city every day after school, plus on weekends, to attend Steps," Grempel said, adding that she loves the excitement and culture of the city.

"I did this for two years, then my parents began researching schools in the city that would accommodate my dance. PCS was the perfect fit. We're all serious kids trying to do something we love. With that, I started commuting when I was 13."

A school for leaders

Vernice began commuting to the Upper East Side at the same age to attend Regis, a private, all-boys, tuition-free Jesuit high school located two blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Regis was also founded in 1914, by an anonymous benefactor. The Ivy League-style high school sits between Park and Madison avenues and has 530 students, 97 of whom commute from Long Island.

For nearly a century the school has been able to uphold its tradition of free education in an expensive city, with students from affluent households sharing the classroom with those from middle- and lower-income families.

"This is a Catholic leadership school, and leaders are going to come from a range of backgrounds," said admissions director Eric DiMichele, "which means we want to be inclusive in terms of class and ethnic background."

But something else about the school attracted Vernice.

"Regis seemed like the best place to give me an academic challenge," said Vernice, who graduated first in his Garden City Middle School class with a 100 average. "All classes are on the Advanced Placement level. It's not only difficult material, but a lot of it."

Vernice's classes require an average of at least 95 pages of reading per night -- not including chemistry labs, math problems and Spanish writing assignments. After arriving at Penn Station with backpack and trumpet in tow, the student who grew up idolizing Louis Armstrong then takes three subways and walks two blocks to arrive at Regis in time for his 45-minute jazz band practice.

After school from 3 to 4 p.m., Vernice attends debate club. The Hearn Speech and Debate Society, headed by DiMichele, is the largest extracurricular activity at Regis. It has won 23 state championships in the past 29 years, and five Hearn members in the past 20 years have gone on to win the college national debate championship.

After the Hearn, Vernice walks to Marymount School, an all-girls school on Fifth Avenue, where he attends practice for a production of "Beauty and the Beast" until 6:30 p.m., the last stop of the day before his train ride home and four hours of homework.

Despite his commute, Vernice, who said he considers himself "an artsy person and a huge musical theater geek," maintains ties with hometown friends by dropping by Garden City's community theater three times a week.

Vernice takes advantage of many offerings at Regis, but he cites "the accessibility of teachers" as one of his favorite aspects of the school. Grempel feels likewise. She meets her former history teacher, Erika Petersen, every Thursday morning for tea. James Dawson, head of the school, leaves his office open and couch free for venting sessions and naps.

"PCS is much like a family," Dawson said. "It's not uncommon for a student to come into my office, cry for 15 minutes because an audition didn't go so well and get a hug."

At the boys-only Regis, the word "brotherhood" springs to mind.

"You not only learn a lot," said Vernice, "but you build friendships through knowing that you're all on the same boat. . . . There are no cliques at Regis. Everyone is concerned with academics and with their future, but is so willing to help one another. It's not a competitive environment. We don't even have a valedictorian."

Allaying parents' fears

RoseAnn Vernice initially worried about her son's safety in the city and academic competition at Regis, but time and the school's environment allayed those fears.

"My biggest concern was that Regis would be too competitive and stressful, with students clawing their way to the top," she said. But the students "understand each other and share the common thread of being bright and on the same level."

Shane Regan, 19, of East Quogue, a 2011 Regis graduate who had the longest commute in the school's history, said such camaraderie is key, especially for commuting students.

"Regians are used to working at 110 percent, and instead of breaking down, we throw ourselves further into it," said Regan, a freshman at Georgetown University who commuted nearly three hours each way to attend Regis. "Public schools are more concerned with everyone having the education they need, rather than challenging and stretching you beyond your limits."

Admission to Regis is a competitive, multistep process. Based on applications, school records and recommendations and the school's nationally standardized examination, Regis selects 230 boys, who undergo three interviews with faculty and alumni. The result: a freshmen class of 135.

Unlike Regis, PCS accepts students at all grade levels, including seniors. Tuition is about $34,000 a year. Upon review of applications, teacher evaluations and transcripts, the school accepts about 90 percent of applicants. There are 56 seniors in the Class of 2012.

"Our students really pick us," said Hinkle. "Most already know what they want to do and have already auditioned and, for the most part, been accepted to the programs they want, whether at the American Academy of Ballet, Juilliard, and so on."

When she graduates from PCS, Grempel said she hopes to apply her art to academics. She wants to stay in Manhattan and is considering a double major in political science and dance.

She said her experiences in public suburban schools and the "artsy private school" have made her more well-rounded and appreciative of her hometown. Plus, Long Island has something the city doesn't: Grandma's house is nearby.