Some charter schools hold public lotteries. Coney Island Prep held its first lottery in 2009. Abigail Kramer is a public policy journalist at the Center for New York City Affairs and the parent of a 4-year-old in Brooklyn. I’m running up two flights of concrete stairwell, on my way to torture...
Joyous squeals mixed with heart-rending sobs March 31 as I fetched my daughter from kindergarten. Eighth-graders from a nearby middle school had just received letters informing them what New York high school they would attend, and sidewalks were jammed with clusters of anxious students ripping...
A Lehman HS student shows off what he's learned in class. (photo courtesy of The Daily News) Teachers are taking it on the chin these days. From Waiting For Superman to budget debates, the value of teachers' time is getting questioned like never before. Physical education teachers are spared...
The Department of Education is hosting meetings this week and next for families of incoming kindergartners who have been waitlisted at schools for next fall. At the meetings, to be held District 15 in Brooklyn and District 2 in Manhattan, two of the districts with the most extensive waitlists,...
Parents now have until April 22 to nominate themselves to serve on one of the 36 Community and Citywide Education Councils -- and they can even text to get application information, in addition to applying online or by mail. The original deadline to submit applications was April 9. Schools...
How is the special education system working in the city's public schools? Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the ARISE Coalition of special education advocates would like to know. They have dubbed April "Students with Disabilities Month" Parents of students with special needs are encouraged to...
Dear Judy, I have several questions related to choosing a school for our daughter (who is currently 16 months old). We are planning to move to Manhattan in time for her to start school, so I am trying to understand our school options and make real estate decisions accordingly. I was...
This week PS 9 in Brooklyn became a landmark in the turf struggles over siting charter schools, when State Education Commissioner David Steiner overturned the city's plan to move Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter School into PS 9’s building this coming fall. For the second time in a year, Steiner...
Nearly 8,000 high school applicants were rejected at all the high schools they chose in the main round of acceptances this week. If you are one of them, don’t despair. Some good schools still have seats available in the supplementary round. And if you eventually are assigned to a school you...
Which high school out of the 400-plus in the city received the most applicants this year? Tiny Baruch College High School, with only 438 students, received 7,606 applications for about 104 seats. That's up from the 4664 applicants it got last year. Baruch is a selective school, which boasts a...
Fewer than half of the nearly 80,000 8th-graders who applied to up to 12 high schools last fall were matched with their first choice school, and 10 percent got no match at all, the Department of Education announced today. This year's crop of 8th-graders fared worse than than last year's when 52%...
More than 2,600 children are on the waiting list for kindergarten at their zoned school, with another 553 awaiting spots at an out-of-zone school their sibling attends. A total of 3,195 children are on waitlists at 157 schools, many more than the 2,200 at 88 schools who were on waitlists this...
Parents and community members concerned about Governor Cuomo's budget, which slashes aid to city schools, can get on a bus to Albany tomorrow, March 30, at 10 a.m. to protest the cuts. The trip is organized by advocacy groups including the Alliance for Quality Education., with the main buses...
Q: I applied to five colleges, but now I'm thinking I ought to have applied to more. I was rejected by my reach school -- but it was a real reach, so I was not shocked. I got into my safety, which is a branch of SUNY. But the other three schools all wait-listed me! I thought for sure that I...
Nominations are open for parents who want to serve for the next two years on Citywide or District Community Education Councils, advisory boards which advocate on zoning, how school buildings are used, and how DOE policies affect schools in each district. If you'd like to serve on a council, you...
Parents for Inclusive Education and the NYC Division of Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners are inviting students to enter a 2011 - Inclusion Contestanswering this question: "How does Inclusive Education make my school great?" Students from kindergarten to 12th grade may...
After dropping off my kindergartner one rainy morning, I found myself exiting the schoolyard behind a father who worked at one of those knuckle-busting jobs where a man gets intimately acquainted with dirt, steel and sweat. He wore an oil-stained cap, dust-covered boots and a quilt-lined Carhartt...
Valerie Watnick is a professor at Baruch College, teaching environmental and business law, and is a past Co-PTA President of PS 199 in Manhattan. She has written about the dangers of PCBs. This is her third update for Insideschools.org about the efforts to rid New York City schools of PCBs and...
AtMS 210, an overcrowded school in Ozone Park where 81 percent of the 2,070 students get free lunch, Principal Rosalyn Allman-Manning has gone outside the Department of Education to add to her phys-ed menu. She's one of four principals this year to pilot a partnership between the DOE and Row New...
Dear Judy, I have a wonderful and very respectful daughter who suffers from anxiety and ADHD. She has never had a fight or behavioral problems. I am concerned with the change of school because this year she will be going to middle school and I am hoping you could help me with some tips on what...
The other day, I was on the phone with my daughters’ pediatrician. I had called with concerns about my 6-year-old, Night Owl, who has learning disabilities and motor delays, and in her most reassuring voice the doctor said: “You know, we live in a highly competitive place. A lot of the kids at...
Photo by Sean Dreilinger/Flickr CC. Elementary and high school parent-teacher conferences are taking place this week. District 75 conferences are coming up next week. Parents of younger students may find the system easier to navigate with just one teacher (and classroom) to visit, and enough...
This month the Department of Education is calling for public school parents to run for a seat on the citywide and community district parent councils. Applications will be available on March 23, according to the Office of Family Information and Action (OFIA). In 2009 I answered such a call and...
Parents interested in charter schools should fill out applications before April 1. We have posted more than a dozen new reviews of charter schools and will post more this spring. You may apply directly to the school. In addition, you may apply to some of the schools via a common application on...
AQE Lobby Day in Albany (Photo Courtesy of Alliance for Quality Education) Last week, activists hoping to avert budget cuts in New York public education — cuts that will have a direct and lasting impact on my child’s future — asked parents like me to join a pro-schools rally on the steps of City...
UPDATE 3 p.m.: See a press release issued after the rally here. Note there is a citywide schools meeting at 6 pm this evening (March 10) at The High School of Fashion Industries (225 West 24th Street) to continue the discussion about education budget cuts and determine next action steps for...
Students enjoying- see?- the NYC FITNESSGRAM test (Courtesy DOE) Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he needs to trim fat from public budgets. Here's an unbeatable move: cut test-prep time in half and staff up physical education. The numbers prove that athletic testing creates confidence, while academic...
Now is the time of year when parents of 3 and 4-year-olds fill out applications, take deep breaths, and then…wait. The pre-K application period begins today, Monday March 7, but placement letters won’t go out until early June. So how’s a parent to plan ahead? For some 4-year-olds, winning a...
Jon Stewart this week blastedconservative media and politicians for protecting Wall Street while calling teachers “greedy.” Last night Stewart’s guest was education historian and NYU Professor Diane Ravitch, discussing her book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. I watched...
Parents whose children will turn five this year should submit their applications for kindergarten by Friday. You may apply at your zoned neighborhood school as well as any other schools that may interest you. The good news: Overcrowding in Manhattan has eased a bit as new schools have opened. The...
Is your child turning four-years-old this year? The pre-kindergarten admissions process for next fall begins Monday, March 7 with applications due by April 8. All children who turn four in 2011 are eligible for public pre-K, although they are not guaranteed a seat. For newcomers to the...
Q: My daughter is a junior at a high school in Queens. She wants very badly to go away to college; however, she has a GPA of about 74 and does not do that well on standardized tests. She is planning to take the SAT this March, but I don't believe she will score that well. My question is: ...
If trend-watchers are correct, today’s girls will feel the cruel sting of social bullying at a younger age and with more lasting damage than girls of their mothers’ generation. I want to shield my daughter against this gathering Mean Girl storm of rejection, snarky gossip and social ostracism. So...
March 1 is "Lobby Day," the annual event when New York City parents, teachers, and activists travel by the hundreds to the state capitol and legislative office buildings to make their case for more funding for the city’s public schools. This year budget cuts, teachers’ jobs, and school closings...
That was then: Henry Street Settlement gym class, 1910. - via leposters.com In recent years, many schools have cut gym time in an attempt to focus more on academics. But research shows they should be doing the opposite: Better fitness means better performance on academic tests. Studies in...
In December, Arts & Letters won approval to expand our middle school downward to include elementary grades, eventually becoming a K-8 school. And now, happily, we are engaged in the important and exciting work of recruiting children, families, and teachers to build a vibrant, meaningful...
The city today announced a 10-year plan to remove and replace all school lighting fixtures contaminated with PCBs, allocating $708 million in its capital budget to implement the plan which will also include an audit and recommendations by energy companies to determine how to improve energy...
The Ross Global Academy Charter School will close in June after five tumultuous years. The school's founder, multimillionaire Courtney Ross, made the announcement with "heavy heart," and "disappointment and anguish" in a five-page letter to parents and supporters, as reported on the nyc...
Insideschools' Going Green contributor Jennifer Freeman alerts us that February 23 is the last day for schools to sign up for the Green Cup Challenge. Schools that join the challenge spend four weeks working to reduce electricity consumption in their buildings, tracking and comparing energy...
After two New York City public high school searches in four years, I’m convinced it’s time to revamp the admissions system to make it more transparent and humane. I don’t want to overhear another conversation about who got into certain schools and who didn’t. I don’t want to listen to teenagers...
More than 2,000 eighth-graders and their families attended a fair last weekend to learn about a dozen new high schools that will open in September. The fair came a day after the distribution of lettersto some 28,000 students who learned whether or not they had been received an offer to attend one...
With massive budget cuts to education threatened, the charter cap raised, and new school construction unable to keep pace with demand, it’s no surprise that more than half of all the city’s public schools share space with at least one other school. Peaceful co-existence is the gold standard for...
Q: I applied to six colleges, regular decision. One of the reasons I didn't apply Early Decision anywhere is because getting financial aid is important. I really wanted to see if I got more than one acceptance and then could compare the costs before I decide which college to choose. I like...
Confused cries of “Leave me alone!” rang down our street, and I gripped my daughter’s hand a bit tighter. Ahead, directly in our morning path, a cluster of New York police officers were carefully but firmly leading a disheveled elderly woman down the stairs of a brownstone toward a waiting...
There’s a middle school scene my youngest child will never forget. On the day when eighth-graders received decisions about who got into the city’s nine specialized high schools, the sounds of sobbing reverberated through the hallways. While plenty of students got good news, others experienced the...
Alec Appelbaum writes about urban design and policy for the New York Times and others, focusing on ways cities can become healthier. He is a parent at PS 126 in Manhattan and enjoys exercising on his own and with his family. In "Fitness Focus," he'll be blogging about how to get physical...
Applications for pre-kindergarten will be available starting March 7 and are due by April 9, according to the Department of Education website. Any child who turns four in 2011 may apply, but seats are not guaranteed. Programs are housed in public schools or at community-based organizations, and...
A fair at the Martin Luther King, Jr. high school building on the Upper West Side this weekend will introduce the 12 new high schools that are scheduled to open in September. A handbook listing the schools will be is posted online and available at the fair on February 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 1...
Dear Judy, I am concerned that the parents in my neighborhood are automatically bypassing the zoned school, that my children attend. My kids have had academic success and I have gained appreciation for the principal and staff. How can I convince others to give it a try? Lonely at my zoned...
Over 400 of the city's public schools burn a type of heating oil that is known to injure New Yorkers' health, according to a 2009 report by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). Though just one percent of New York City's buildings use No. 4 or 6 oil, those few buildings belch out 87 percent of...
On the eve of my four-year-old daughter’s date with the gifted & talented examiner, we sat down together with the Department of Education's sample test, a stack of papers I’d printed out the week before. The goal was not to drill Leia, but to familiarize her with the testing format, so she...
