Hundreds of parents, teachers, students and supportive residents from the Harlem community – as well as a who’s who of local and citywide elected officials – came out to a Jan. 26 press conference and contentious hearing at Wadleigh Secondary School where they confronted the DOE’s chief academic officer, Shael Polakow-Suransky, forcing him to admit by the end of the evening that he had “heard loud and clear” the strong opposition to the Department’s plan to truncate the school’s middle grades.