For pre-K families, 2013 is a year of big transitions. Our kids will be saying goodbye to the duck pond of preschool and jumping headfirst into the murky East River of kindergarten. Parents of kids with special needs have another hurdle ahead. The dreaded “Turning 5 meeting” determines whether...
Hurricane Sandy did away with the traditional week long winter vacation that celebrates both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthday’s and conserves schoolhouse energy at the same time. This year all students get is a four day weekend. Here are some suggestions to make the most of it and take the...
Elementary school applications are due in a month, which raises questions—as it does every year—for parents of kids who are technically old enough to start kindergarten in the fall, but who will be younger than most of their classmates. Two years ago, I was one of those parents. My son's...
Dear Judy, Can you tell me when the high school placement results will come out? How does the school tell the kids the news? 8th grade Mom Dear 8th grade Mom, Results of the high school applications are due out March 15 (alas, for some parents, that date is later than when private schools let...
Can they please go back to school already? Once again this morning, I woke up to a sprawl of sleeping teenagers in my home, their books, music and snowboarding equipment scattered about. They had no school today, due to a "citywide chancellor's conference day for teachers and staff,'' whatever...
Dear Judy, We currently live in Brooklyn but now we are considering moving to either Riverdale (Bronx), Astoria or Long Island City for reasons of work. Our daughter is applying for G&T Kindergarten level (she is taking the test next weekend). By when do we have to have physically moved in...
For the first time ever families in three school districts that no longer have zoned elementary schools may apply to kindergarten online, over the phone or in person at an enrollment offices, the Department of Education said this week. District 1 on the Lower East Side has long been a "choice"...
Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aide (FAFSA) is the first step for students seeking financial support to go to college. But completing the form is a perennial headache. Even the first step -- finding the right form online -- is confusing because the Web is populated with...
Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she would focus less on standardized tests, give parents a stronger advisory role and extend the school day for low-income children if she is elected mayor. You can watch her entire speech and Q&A session, sponsored by The Center for New York City Affairs...
After weeks of back and forth, the yellow school bus strike will officially begin on Wednesday, Jan. 16, Mayor Bloomberg announced this afternoon in a press release. Officials from Local 1181 Amalgamated Transit Union, the school bus drivers' union, confirmed that the strike is happening during...
_ Updated 5:30 p.m. There will be a strike of the drivers and matrons of yellow school buses beginning on Wedneseday, the head of the union which represents the bus drivers announced late Monday afternoon. Chancellor Dennis Walcott on Sunday issued guidelines for parents on what to do if school...
The official kindergarten application period --- yes, you do need to apply to kindergarten – begins on Jan. 22 and goes through 3 pm on March 1. If you’ve got a child turning five years old in 2013, there are a few things you need to know. Kindergarten is now required in New York Cityfor...
The Education Department announced the start of the selection process for the city's Community Education Councils and vows to run the bi-annual electionsmore smoothly this spring. They could hardly be worse than the last elections in 2011, parent leaders say. Two years ago, the Community...
The Department of Education announced Tuesday that it plans to close seven more schools -- mostly elementary and middle -- for poor performance. An additional two schools will lose their middle school grades: PS 156 in Queens and Academy for Social Action: A College Board School in Harlem, where...
Seventeen schools on a list of 60 targeted as "academically struggling" earlier this fall are now slated for closure, Deputy Schools Chancellor Marc Sternberg said today, with more school closures to be announced tomorrow. If approved, two of the schools would be closed at the end of the school...
On Tuesday, Jan. 15, Insideschools and the Center for New York City Affairs will co-host a conversation with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on the future of schools in New York City. Quinn will discuss her vision for "building a 21st century school system," including college and career...
Over the winter holidays, I heard a sad college-admissions story that unfortunately is not unique. A father and mother had one daughter. Her mother had gone to a large state university; the father had graduated from an Ivy League college. As she was growing up, the daughter heard frequently from...
What to do with your children once the presents have been opened, the holidays feasts consumed and the kids -- and you -- have had enough of games and computers? How about a visit to one of New York City's "more than 500 galleries, 375 nonprofit theater companies, 330 dance companies, 150...
All 5th graders will turn in applications for middle school this Friday, Dec. 21. That includes students with special education needs who will fill out the same application as other children. There is often some confusion about the process, even after the roll-out of the special education reform...
All schools should offer a "safe place" for children who wish to talk about last Friday's tragedy at Sandy Hook elementary school, Chancellor Dennis Walcott wrote in a letter to school communities and families today. The letter, signed also by UFT President Michael Mulgrew and Ernest Logan,...
Hi Judy, I go to a high school in Brooklyn. I am a freshman. I have been asked by three older student to do drugs. I hate the environment and feel really unsafe going to school every day. I want to transfer but they are saying I need to wait until my year is over. I can't stand the thought of...
A new edition of Child Welfare Watch -- issued by Insideschools.org's colleagues at the Center for New York City Affairs -- reports on the city's youth justice system, looking at what has changed following several years of reform. It reports on new initiatives to raise the age of criminal...
Q: I have applied to my favorite college under the Early Decision plan. Now I am waiting for the answer. I am pretty confident that I will get in – but now I am scared that I might not, or they might “defer” me. I planned that if I got rejected, I’d work on other applications over the winter...
Children who are five years old will now be required to attend kindergarten in New York City public schools, if an amendment to the city's admissions regulation is approved by the Panel for Educational Policy later this month. However, in keeping with the state law signed by Governor Cuomo in...
Applying to high school in New York City is complicated, but some schools are making it even harder by giving out misleading or downright wrong information, Insideschools has learned. Schools are telling 8th graders and their families that they must rank a school first on their application or...
"By the time we get to college applications, it's going to be so easy,'' friends and colleagues joked over the years, watching -- or participating – in the scramble to find pre-schools, then elementary, middle and high schools for our kids. Too bad they were wrong. Starting at age 4, the...
Every year, tens of thousands of 8th graders apply to a tiny handful of super-popular high schools. Naturally not everyone gets in. This year, we decided to highlight some good schools that haven’t suffered from over-exposure. Some require applicants to have good grades, but others accept kids of...
High school applications are due on Dec. 10! Here are some final tips for 8th graders and their families who are still mulling over their options. Filling out the application : Be careful when drawing up your list of (up to) 12 high school choices. You don't have to fill in all the slots....
Dear Judy We are researching schools for our child who will be entering kindergarten next year. All the reviews I’ve read have been wonderful; the teachers, the principal, kids, parents, new math program. So I was a bit surprised that it had a low grade on the 2011-12 NYC DOE progress report....
The fifth graders, dressed in white shirts and navy slacks or shirts, sit in neat rows as the teacher offers up some basic principles of division. "How can you divide 0 into 64 pieces?" she asks, before telling them to write a definition in their notebook–taking care to write neatly and use...
The Department of Education will make up for the five school days and instructional time lost due to Hurricane Sandy, by taking away several vacation days and offering online classes to middle and high school students who have been severely impacted by the storm. The February President's Day...
Q: We are trying to decide between two high schools for my son, who is a bright and articulate young man with very strong science and math skills. Both high schools stress science. One has been around for 50 years, a "specialized" high school with a very good reputation. The other is one of the...
Eighth graders will have a little more time to explore their high school options after the Department of Education announced Friday it would extend the application deadline until Dec. 10, one week later than the original due date of Dec. 3. The DOE cited "hardships due to Hurricane Sandy" in an...
Are you looking to have a voice in deciding policy issues for your child’s education? Have you been concerned about what mayoral control of the schools has done to parent participation and what it will be like under future mayors? If so, join the conversation and brainstorming at the first...
The day after Hurricane Sandy blew through the eastern seaboard, a social worker in Manhattan was frantic to track down a little girl on Long Island. The child is 2 years old and lives with her foster mother in a neighborhood that had been slammed by the storm. She had a tracheotomy when she was...
Breakfast is always free for students in public schools but this month, lunch is free too. The Department of Education announced that free lunch will be available to all students in November, thanks to help from the federal government in the aftermath of the superstorm Sandy. In separate news...
Two downtown high schools, Bard High School Early College and Urban Assembly New York Harbor will be back in their own buildings on Tuesday, after students and staff were temporarily located at other sites during the aftermath of the storm. [Students returned to Harbor on Friday, GothamSchools...
Chancellor Dennis Walcott will launch the long-awaited Parent Academy this Saturday at Long Island University (LIU) in Brooklyn, with a focus on aiding families who are victims of the hurricane. But, in the aftermath of the storm, it's not clear how many parents actually know about the event or...
Children staying with friends and relatives or in shelters after Hurricane Sandy have the right to enroll in the school that's closest to their temporary home--and they don't need the usual documents showing where they live, Chancellor Dennis Walcott said in a letter to parents this week. The...
There are at least 43 schools still too damaged by Hurricane Sandy to reopen and many others which lost power and needed supplies. If you or your organization can help these schools, the Education Department has set up a way for you to do so. The DOE posted a survey on its website asking for...
The Nov. 7 Gifted and Talented information session in Queens,cancelled twice due to storms, has been rescheduled.The new date is Wednesday, Nov. 14 at Frances Lewis High School, from 6-8 p.m. The Nov. 8 session at PS 121 in the Bronx is on. Education Department admissions officials will cover the...
Carmen Valdi lined up outside of PS 20 on the Lower East Side with her daughter on Monday morning, ready to return on the first day of school since Hurricane Sandy hit. Electricity came back on in Valdi's Lower East Side apartment on Friday but she still had no heat. She didn't expect the school...
Eighth and 9th graders applying to high school for 2013 lost not only a week of classes thanks to Hurricane Sandy, but they also lost a busy week of school visits, open houses, specialized tests and auditions. The Education Department posted a list of changes for the specialized high school...
The Department of Education posted a list of 80 schools that will remain closed to students on Monday because they were damaged by the storm or are being used to house people made homeless by Hurricane Sandy. The list also includes 15 District 75 programs for disabled children, two alternative...
Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced eight large high schools that are still sheltering people made homeless by Hurricane Sandy won't open to students until Wednesday,the Daily News reported.In addition, students at 57 severely damaged schools will begin classes in temporary quarters on...
UPDATE November 3 : The list of heavily damaged schools that will not open on Monday was reduced from 65 to 57, the DOE announced late Friday night when it posted the list on its website. Of the 184 schools that did not have power on Friday, six regained power, leaving 178 without electricity as...
Information sessions about the admissions process for elementary school Gifted and Talented programs originally scheduled for this week will be held next week, the Education Department announced this afternoon. In Queens, the information session will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 7 at Francis Lewis...
Claire Needell Hollander is an ELA enrichment teacher at a Manhattan middle school and the mother of three daughters, all public school students. For those not directly affected by the damage wreaked by Sandy, boredom was the enemy over the past school-free week. Lucky were those households with...
Schools chancellor Dennis Walcott says schools will open on Monday, even though some are still damaged by Hurricane Sandy and others are housing people made homeless by the storm, Gotham Schools reports. “There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Walcott said. “They will open. We know they’ll...
Saturday's specialized high school admissions test, scheduled to be taken by all 9th graders and 8th graders needing special accommodations, has been postponed until Nov. 17, the Education Department announced this afternoon. One of the sites, Brooklyn Technical High School, is still housing...
Brooklyn Technical High School has been transformed into a shelter for some 500 evacuees, mostly from adult care facilities in the Rockaways and Coney Island. Brooklyn Tech is one of 76 evacuation centers(including many public schools) for victims of super storm Sandy. Classrooms have been turned...
