Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sgt. Meyer Levin was a World War II bombardier and pilot and the first American Jewish hero of the war. He died at only 26, after more than 50 aerial battles, sacrificing his life while saving members of his crew.

Today, an emotional battle rages over the proposed co-location of Uncommon Elementary Charter School at IS 285 Meyer Levin School for the Performing Arts in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.

Maurice Hyde, a dean, says, “The arts program here is the best I’ve seen at this level in 20 years.” One of the students, he says, described it as “the heartbeat of our school.”

Warns Hyde: “We’re looking at losing our heartbeat.”

The magnet school provides training in dance, drama, chorus, theater production, instrumental band and steel pan orchestra. The majority of students come from the neighborhood, 87 percent qualify for free lunch and 17 percent have Individualized Education Programs.

Amelize Joseph, who has lived in the community for 30 years and has a daughter at Levin, says “A lot of people in our community are low-income and they can’t afford to send their kids to” private classes to study performing arts, “so if they take the programs away, what will the kids have?”

The city Department of Education says Levin is underutilized, based on size and enrollment. Under the proposal, the charter would occupy the third floor, now home to many performance spaces as well as computer labs; a special ed room; the not-for-profit Higher Levin, an after-school alternative to the streets; and East Flatbush Village, a community organization offering mentoring and sports.

“It’s not about student capacity,” says Betty Zohar, the UFT’s parent and community liaison in Brooklyn. Meyer Levin “uses every room and needs every room so all the students benefit from the arts.”

Hyde says the DOE has visited the school five times to consider the logistics, but no one has found a way to make up for the lost space.

Parents, students, staff, local politicians and community leaders have banded together to fight the co-location. A Panel for Educational Policy vote on the issue is scheduled for June 22.

Karen Cooper graduated from the school, as did two of her children, and one currently attends. “Meyer Levin is committed to the arts, but it’s also committed to pushing the students academically,” Cooper says. “It’s the full package.”

Both of Cooper’s older kids went on to attend specialized high schools: one is at Brooklyn Tech and the other is at LaGuardia.

Philysha, an 8th-grader with an IEP, studies dance and does sound and lighting for concerts. She says she was “very shy” when she came to Levin. But the 13-year-old says the school has helped her “have more self-esteem and open up.”

Fatima, age 14, plays saxophone in instrumental band. She will attend an honors program at Clara Barton HS next year and credits performing arts with helping her academically. “It motivates me,” she says. “I’m scared of not being allowed to perform and if we don’t have certain grades, we can’t.”

Teacher Jessica Roberts, a Levin graduate with a daughter in the school, says co-location is not the right fit. “To offer and accommodate our dynamic performing arts, we need a flexible building and flexible programs,” she says. “When you are sharing, there are restrictions on space and time. It would stifle our program.”

The arts offerings keep students excited and engaged. Some kids, says Roberts, “may not excel academically, but when I see them in the steel pan room, it puts everything in a different light. We need our performing arts program.”