Allison Gaines Pell is the founder and principal of a new, small public middle school called Arts & Letters, located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. She lives in Brooklyn, and is a public school parent herself. We are pleased to add her contributions to our blog. “Inspiration, hunger: these are...
Proposed changes in District 2 zoning attracted at least 100 parents on Monday night to the first of several meetings held to hear community concerns about new catchment areas for its popular downtown and Upper East Side schools. Parents have long been concerned with overcrowding and now that two...
Q: I understand the importance of the college essay, and how admissions people use it to get a sense of the whole applicant beyond the transcript and test scores. But what's the point of all those short essays? Write p 277 of your autobiography! Write a haiku about yourself! Why are you...
Kids who grow up in New York City don't expect suburban amenities like backyards, basement recreation rooms, and their own bedrooms, and they're used to thinking of shared parks and playgrounds as their own. When it comes to schools, the same mentality of sharing space often rules, although it...
This past summer I was assigned Henry Jame’s Portrait of a Lady and couldn’t read more than a page without getting a pounding headache and falling asleep. At first I attributed this to the complexity of the language, and assumed that I was having difficulty reading it because it was too...
Dear Judy, Kindly let me know where I could find information about rules or regulations pertaining to the amount of time school children, especially in the lower grades, must spend out of doors. Sincerely, Jaime Dear Jaime, Two weeks ago my column on a similar subject raised a lot of comment...
Lower East Side parents are up-in-arms about the proposed expansion of the Girls Preparatory Charter School. The school is requesting more space to house a growing middle school population -- 50 5th-graders were turned away last year due to lack of space. Neighborhood parents worry that an...
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the middle school fairs. Several open houses and tours later, my family is taking on the seemingly impossible task of ranking schools. Schools that I thought would be among "our" first choices are now somewhat less impressive when viewed up close. Although my son...
The Child Nutrition Act is up for reauthorization. All of the Untied States Department of Agriculture nutrition programs that fall under this legislation, including School Breakfast and School Lunch Programs, are scheduled to be updated in Congress; the last time was in 2004. This is a chance to...
In October, Governor Paterson proposed $686 million in school budget cuts. Democratic Senate Leader John Sampson stated yesterday that these cuts "are not going to happen." The official decision is still pending, but the vote is in process and may be settled as early as Monday...
In our last poll, we asked how you felt about the future of our public schools in the wake of Mayor Bloomberg’s reelection. It turns out that many of you – 32% -- are angry: you feel our kids were pawns in a costly campaign and wish the money had gone to schools instead. Fifteen percent have...
A notice went out in the Principal's Weekly last week inviting schools from all over the city to participate in the Green Cup Challenge, a national student-driven energy challenge. Please talk to your principal or interested teachers if you think they might enjoy having an energy scavenger hunt...
Q: How can I possibly make my application special when colleges are getting thousands of them? How can mine be different and get their attention? A: How can you make your application stand out? It's a challenge, especially when you are using the Common Application, which makes every application...
Dec. 4 is the date when high school applications are due to school guidance counselors. If you're like the average New York City public middle school parent, you have spent the fall accompanying your 8th grader to school tours and open houses, you've perused the thick high school directory and...
Nearly half -- 45% -- of all New York City public high schools are "A" schools, according to their grades on progress reports released today by the Department of Education. An additional 30% of the more than 300 high schools graded received a "B." The high school grades lag behind those of the...
When someone asked me what high schools I might be thinking about for my 7th-grader recently, my answer came swiftly and might have sounded a bit snippy. "I’m not thinking about it at all," I said, which of course, isn’t true, much as I’d like it to be, since it feels like we just got him...
The "Race to the Top" dominated this week's education headlines, but left a lot of us wondering, "who's racing and to where?" Basically, states will "race" to create comprehensive education reform plans, in hopes of earning a chunk of 4.35 billion government dollars to support their efforts. The...
Urban Word NYC is a spoken word, poetry, and hip-hop group aimed at serving New York City youth. They were “founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves” and “provide free, safe and uncensored writing workshops to teens year round.” I have been attending their...
Last week, our student blogger, Toni, urged New York City residents to get out and protest the bake sale ban. Well, tomorrow is your chance! At 3 p.m., concerned citizens will gather in front of City Hall to let regulators know that axing bake sales means axing an important means of raising...
Marriage is hard. I don't know of any husband or wife who hasn't, at some point or another, experienced this lifetime commitment as tiresome, uninteresting, and relentless. Even when you love your husband and he loves you and your relationship has already earned the depth of decades. And even...
| | | | Dear Judy: My daughter just started kindergarten in a public school with a very big school yard. Her schedule is robust with no play and all academics, mostly spent in a very warm classroom. At lunchtime, the kindergartners stay in the cafeteria watching the others play and...
Tomorrow, Night Owl's kindergarten will finally receive the H1N1 vaccine, but for us, it's too little, too late. My daughters were both ill two weeks ago with what their doctor described as "classic influenza" -- most likely H1N1, she said, since that's what's making the rounds right now. The...
A few weeks ago, my 5th-grade son "J" and I attended the first of two middle school fairs. Although we live in District 10 in the Bronx, my children attend elementary school in Manhattan's District 4, which gives us twice as many middle schools through which to sift. I entered the lunchroom...
The Department of Education is proposing changes in existing policies, called Chancellor's Regulations, regarding promotion standards, and the way in which principals and assistant principals are chosen. It is also proposing a new regulation governing procedures for locating or closing schools or...
Q: My son is a junior at a high school in Queens. He is an excellent student and would like to go to a prestigious college. But his high school is huge and the college counselors don't have much time for each student. On the other hand, my cousin's son goes to a prep school near Washington...
Every time I arrive at an overcrowded school corridor to sign up for a three-minute parent teacher conference, I have the same thought: There must be a better way. There are too many names on the sign-up list. The parents are anxious and antsy. It’s always too hot and crowded, and I immediately...
In our last poll, we asked if you planned to vaccinate your child against the H1N1 virus. More than 1,000 of you responded. Thirty-four percent said 'yes;' 46 percent said 'no.' And with the flurry of controversy surrounding the vaccinations, it came as no surprise that 18 percent of you are...
UPDATE: The City Hall protest on Nov. 13 will now begin at 3 p.m., not 2 p.m. as previously noted. Please join students from around the city to protest the new regulation on bake sales on Friday, Nov. 13 from 2-6 p.m. in front of City Hall. The protest is being organized by seniors from...
Flu vaccinations begin at 125 New York City elementary schools today. The vaccines arrive with news that older students will once again receive priority at the city's weekend clinics. This overturns the Health Department's announcement yesterday that these clinics would welcome all New York City...
Before I say anything else about this hot-button topic, let me say this: I am not a doctor. I have no medical degree. And here on the internet, where anyone can claim to be an expert on anything, I want to make sure to clarify my qualifications. I am, quite simply, an autism mom. This year, my...
Dear Judy, Our son is in 5th grade at a charter school that's not in the district where we live. What middle schools is he eligible for? Charter school parent Dear Charter school parent: Given the proliferation of charter schools these days, your question is a timely one. We put it to the...
If you're still looking for a pre-Kindergarten program for your 4-year-old, the Department of Education wants you! According to the Daily News there are some 5400 open seats, so many that the DOE is advertising them on Craigslist. What's the catch? Many of the programs are half-day sessions,...
TheDepartment of Education announced that vaccines for the H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses will arrive at elementary schools with fewer than 400 students on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Larger elementary schools will receive the vaccines a week later on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Vaccinations will be available to...
As the high school application season heats up for 8th-graders and their families this weekend, the Department of Education is sponsoring fairs in all five boroughs. While not exactly relaxing, these fairs are much smaller than the citywide fair (held at Brooklyn Tech last month). Students, who...
As parents seeking enlightenment about the city's public school gifted and talented offerings crowd into information sessions this week (tonight in Queens; tomorrow night in Manhattan), a new private school is recruiting students whose families are able to pay up to $28,000 for a G&T...
It was a warm, sunny afternoon about a week into this school year. As I walked to the bus stop from the high school where I work, I recognized a former student (let's call him Jamal) sitting on the wall of the nearby park. Jamal was engrossed in his phone, probably an AIM conversation. Although...
Last week, we asked what you think about the Department of Education's recent bake sale ban. An overwhelming number of you -- 72% -- responded that you oppose the new rule. About half of respondents said that bake sales should not be banned because they are an important way for schools to raise...
On the front page of today's New York Times comes the news that New York State's 4th-graders did not fare as well on the federal math exams as they did the last time they were tested in 2007; 8th-graders scored only slightly higher than in the past. We don't yet know how New York City students...
Parents who plan to test their kids for Gifted and Talented programs may attend Department of Education information sessions to learn details about the G&T process, from test to placement. Evening sessions - one in each borough - are held in schools with large auditoriums. Parents generally...
Dear Judy, My daughter just started kindergarten at our zoned school in Brooklyn, which has a wonderful reputation. Last week, we attended the curriculum conference for her class, where the teacher outlined what the kids will learn this year. She told us that kids will learn their letter sounds,...
Last night, I read my daughters Bread and Jam for Frances. My favorite part is the end, when Frances relishes every bite of her sophisticated boxed lunch (Lobster salad! Cream of tomato soup!) and "makes it all come out even." Alas, in my house, a steady diet of peanut butter and jelly has done...
Today the [Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/nylocal/education/2009/10/09/2009-10-09530aidesletgoprincipalsquestionlogicassomeofthelowestpaidworkersfir.html)_ reports that more than 500 school aides will lose their jobs next week. While no school will lose aide positions if it budgeted to...
Last week, we asked you how budget cuts affected your school. Almost half of you -- 46% -- reported that class sizes have grown, while more than 60% reported that in-school and after-school programs have disappeared. A new revision to the Department of Education's Wellness Policy -- a...
<!--StartFragment-->Lowering the amount of carbon dioxide your school emits is an important way to fight climate change. The amount of CO2 a school emits is called its "carbon footprint." Replacing the filter on a heating and cooling system (HVAC) can reduce a school’s carbon footprint. So...
In July we wrote about community efforts to open a selective high school on the Upper West Side to be named after the late educator and writer Frank McCourt. Yesterday, Chancellor Joel Klein gave an official nod to the new school, announcing its proposed opening with a freshman class in 2010 in...
One day this week, my daughter brought home a book from her kindergarten class entitled "A Fine, Fine School" by Sharon Creech. It is the story of a well-meaning principal who is so proud of his fine, fine students and teachers that he decides to extend school to weekends, holidays, and the...
Q: If you are not applying for financial aid, are you required to complete the FAFSA form? We won't qualify for financial aid. I'd rather not submit this form if it's not a requirement. A: First let me say that many families who think they don't qualify for financial aid actually might! But, to...
Once you finally get passed the grueling search for a New York City public high school -- the tours, tests, interviews and rankings finally over -- a settling-in period begins. But getting information about how it's going from your child can be even more difficult than isolating statistics on the...
Our hearts go out to the families and students affected by the violence that took the life of a 13-year-old freshman at the Humanities and the Arts High School in Cambria Heights. According to [The New York...
Parents of 5th-graders: Mark your calendars. The Department of Education posted the timeline for middle schools admissions for fall 2010 and the process is starting this month, six weeks earlier than last year. This month there are middle school fairs in most districts - beginning on Oct. 13 -...
When the City Council Education Committee held a hearinglast week on the implementation of the new school governance law, it was the first time that student views on the law were heard by the Council. High school senior Ben Shanahan and I testified on behalf on the New York City Student Union....
