When I was a kid in elementary school, I dreaded lunchtime when a nasty girl in my class would relentlessly make fun of my hand-me-down clothes, tell your-mom’s-so-ugly jokes, and threaten bodily harm. I looked forward to middle school to escape, but my tormentor followed me there. What was...
Dear Judy, How does the DOE decide to start a dual language program? Are they proposed by interested parents? ELL Mom. Dear ELL Mom, Parents do have a big role in establishing dual language programs: the Department of Education is obligated to start one if at least 12 parents of English...
Classroom Visitation Checklist - Autism Spectrum Disorders By Bonnie Sayers The best time to visit a potential classroom for your child on the Autism Spectrum is when school is in session. This should be done several months before school gets out so you can find a suitable placement for your...
I got a letter the other day from a parent whose daughter had missed more than 30 days of school. “Please excuse my child for these absences because of asthma, colds and the weather,” the note said. The weather? So, if the day was cold, then her daughter wasn’t learning. If it was raining – no...
Close to half of city elementary schools do not meet state standards for arts instruction, even as the number of certified arts teachers in the schools has grown, according to the 2010-11 fifth annual Arts in the Schools Report released just before the holidays. The Center for Arts Education...
The Education Department is taking some steps to address the city's annual pile of nightmare stories about kindergarten enrollment. But the underlying issue of too many kids for the number of seats in some neighborhoods will persist. First up, the DOE may close "non-mandatory" programs at...
If you're in 7th grade, it's not too soon to start start studying for the specialized high school exam. We've posted a new video with tips on how to apply to the specialized high schools.
Dear Judy, I am in District 15. I am trying to find out when PreK applications are due and don't see it online. Do you know? Thank you for any information. Brooklyn Mom Dear Brooklyn Mom, The pre-k admissions calendar was just posted by the Education Department.You have time to sit back and...
Q: I have pretty much finished doing my Common Application and my essay. But I have left a lot of the supplements for the last minute, and the final deadline is January 1. Are these supplements really important? A lot of the questions are short. So, can I just rush through these – aren't they...
Winter recess begins on December 24th. Some students will head home with a bookbag full of holiday homework, while others will have a lighter load. In this week's poll, we'd like to know how you feel about teachers assigning homework over the holiday break. Is it important to keep the momentum...
One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching educators get into trouble when Christmas creeps into the classroom. Keeping God out of government-funded schools can be tricky, particularly when everyone outside the building seems to be celebrating a religious holiday. Often, a misguided...
Just in time for Christmas, the Department of Education today released 2011 summer school information. More than 6,000 3rd-8th graders were unnecessarily required to attend summer school in 2011. State tests, given in May, were not scored until later in the summer so schools had to estimate...
Middle school applications are due Friday! We have a new video with tips on how to apply and 15 new reviews to help you make your choices. Manhattan Manhattan East, the Institute for Collaborative Education and the tinyProfessional Performing Arts School accept applications from children in all...
Nothing bad happened to us this fall. Except that one day when I took Brooks down to his little yellow school bus and then got to work, I got a breaking news message on my phone that there was a fire in midtown. And because I am too neurotic to ignore these digital intrusions, a quick search on...
Closing poor-performing schools is no guarantee that students will get a better education at schools that replace them, say advocates who are calling upon the Bloomberg administration and Chancellor Dennis Walcott to "learn from the lessons of prior years" before instigating school closures. In...
City funding for hundreds of free after school progams that serve 53,000 students may be slashed by the Bloomberg administration in an upcoming round of budget cuts, the Center for New York City Affairs reports. Two years ago the Out of School Time programs got $117 million from city, allowing...
The Department of Education announced Friday that it plans to close seven more schools for poor performance, including two Bronx vocational schools, Samuel Gompers Career and Technical High School and Grace Dodge Career and Technical High School and one large Manhattan high school, Washington...
A dozen schools on a list of 47 targeted as "struggling" earlier this fall are now slated for closure, Chancellor Dennis Walcott said today, with more school closures to be announced tomorrow. The all-boys Academy for Business and Community Development, where only one of 16 seniors is on track...
In the midst of the autumn middle and high school application season, New York City was ranked as having the best school choice system in the country by the Brookings Institution. The non-partisan institution, which promotes school choice in education reform, gave New York City a grade of "B" on...
City students' scores on national reading and math exams have flatlined since 2009, officials announced Wednesday. The surprising news delivered a setback to the Bloomberg Administration, which has consistently trumpeted the positive results of its school reform agenda. The National Assessment...
For the past year and a half, a group of schools has been experimenting with ways to educate special education students more flexibly and in more inclusive classrooms. Now, Chancellor Dennis Walcott says the experiment, piloted in 265 schools, will be be rolled out to all schools in the 2012-2013...
Dear Judy, My 4-year-old, kindergartner broke another student's glasses. Am I legally responsible to pay for the glasses? Distressed Dear Distressed, I believe that you are responsible, if not legally, then ethically. Sometimes its tough, but you do have to live with the consequences of your...
December holidays always pose a dilemma: What gift can I get my child’s teacher that says “I appreciate everything you do” and “I get on my knees each day and thank God I don’t have your job”? We’ve found a few gifts that teachers will love — or at least will generate an understanding...
September is a long way away, but if your child turns five in 2012 it's about time to apply to elementary school. Applications are available at each school Jan. 9 and are due March 2. You must submit an application, even if you are applying to your zoned school. According to the timeline on the...
We've produced a video on Career and Technical Education, plus a dozen new high school profiles, just in time for the high school application deadline on Friday. Manhattan The High School for Environmental Sciences offers traditional academics and internships with a green theme. The Columbia...
Q: I'm applying to high school. How much does a student's high school affect college admissions? Do colleges look only at the big name NYC high schools? What chance does a senior have at one of the small high schools or a neighborhood school that colleges have never heard of? A: We have heard...
Three West Harlem secondary schools are on the chopping block for poor performance and in danger of being closed. All three schools are, or will soon be, sharing buildings with charter schools belonging to the Success Academy Network. Some in the community think their schools are being sacrificed...
This week thousands of 8th and 9th graders are finishing up a season of high school fairs, info sessions, and school tours, designed to help them decide where to apply to high school. After a last thumb-through of the humongous high school directory and a check of school profiles and comments on...
The departure of half the core teaching staff at an elite Upper West Side elementary school has roiled parents who worry test prep is destroying the school’s creative spirit. In July, close to half of the parents at the Special Music School signed a letter decrying the “apparent shift in school...
For 8th graders and their families who are logging hours pouring over the high school directory, reading Insideschools profiles and comments, watching our videoson how to apply to high school, and trekking all over the city for open houses and tours, decision time is here. High school...
Dear Judy, My middle school son tapped on the shoulder of a girl sitting in front of him, but she thought it was someone else and pushed that kid. The teacher sentenced all of them to detention. I think my son was unfairly punished, but what bothers me most is that the detention is on Saturday....
Can parents from schools with active Parents Associations help others from less-advantaged schools learn such basics as how to set up a PTA, run a fundraiser, or establish themselves as a non-profit? A newly formed parent group believes that they can and is reaching out to parents in all five...
There are worse jobs than being editor of a school’s parents association newsletter — bathroom attendant in the dysentery ward the morning after Taco Night, perhaps — but some idiot always volunteers. Meet that idiot. Not that I’m complaining. OK, I’m totally complaining, but it’s been a rough...
School bus drivers may go on strike as early as Monday morning, leaving yellow bus riders to find an alternate way to get to school, the city warned parents today. The threatened system-wide strike by Local 1181 bus drivers stems from the Education Department's bid for a new contract for buses...
Ranking your high school choices? Take a look at our new reviews of more than 25 high schools plus a video of how to audition for performing and visual arts schools. (Scroll down to see the video.) Manhattan: LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts is the most popular of the...
Parents attending parent-teacher conferences this week may be hearing talk about the “Common Core” and wondering just what it is. At a Department of Education presentation in October, David Coleman, founder of the Grow Network and one of the authors of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS),...
Brooks is proof that getting a special needs child an appropriate public education here in New York City is possible. But then again, so is winning the lottery. For a special education parent, the Department of Education is very similar to an insurance company: you're dealing with a large...
After two New York City public high school searches in as many years, I've had lots of ideas about what might make the process a little easier on overtaxed parents: virtual tours, excuse letters for employers, more clear and transparent information from the schools. I've recounted tales of...
Q: What advice can you give with regard to summer courses in terms of looking best on a college application? My son is a high-achieving student and would like to take some courses next summer that would enhance his applications. A: If your son is hoping to find a summer course which will...
Budgets are tight and schools need all the help they can get to bring in outside resources. Applying for grants is one way to help ensure that extra funds become available to your school community. Here's one source of small grants that Insideschools just learned about. (We'll share others as we...
Monday morning update: We've just learned that there will be another public hearing about PCBs in schools this week on the Upper West Side called by Community Board 7. Here's the notice: Youth, Education & Libraries Committee of Community Board 7 will welcome Ross Holden of the School...
At PS 24 in Sunset Park, 90 percent of the students are Latino and many are still learning to speak English. But, instead of giving them English-only instruction PS 24 offers a dual language program, with kindergartners getting 90% of their instruction in Spanish. In 1st to 5th grade, students...
The Department of Education is holding borough by borough information sessions for parents with kids in universal pre-kindergarten programs, known as UPK. The goal is to help parents engage and support their child's learning and rather long range, to "discuss ways in which families can help lay...
It’s a beautiful day. Do you know where your kindergartner is playing? Unfortunately, too many of them are inside, parents say. And often they're not playing. Some schools confronted with the mandate to improve test scores have canceled recess altogether. Others just don’t have the...
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"Millionaires have got to pay!" chanted public school children, parents, and teachers, who gathered for a protest outside of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Manhattan office on Tuesday and called for an extension of the so-called millionaire's tax. Police kept the sidewalks clear for afternoon commuters...
On Halloween, I played a cruel trick. As kids at my door grabbed handfuls of Skittles, I grabbed a camera, snapped a few shots of the children and yelled, “I can’t wait to post these photos on the Internet!” You should have seen the looks of horror on those faces. The parents’ faces, I mean....
City schools suspended their students more than 73,000 times during the 2010-2011 school year, according to new data from the city's Department of Education (DOE). More than half of those suspensions were given to African American students, who make up 33 percent of the total student body. Close...
"The fact that everybody wants it, that doesn't mean all that much." So said Governor Andrew Cuomo on Oct. 17, explaining why he had decided not to extend the "millionaire's tax." Some public school parents disagree, and they're taking their demand to Cuomo's doorstep on Election Day. They want...
A big part of a school’s score on the annual Progress Report, just released for high schools last week, is based on the progress its students make on state exams. Schools get extra points if their lowest-performing students make progress. Seems like a sound idea since it gives schools an...
Q: My daughter just received a summons to jury duty this fall. She is supposed to report to a court in lower Manhattan. But she goes to college at Binghamton! How is she supposed to serve on a jury while enrolled in a college many miles and hours away? She can't miss all those classes! A: Jury...
