An angry crowd of parents, kids, and elected officials gathered outside City Hall yesterday to protest Chancellor’s Regulation A-812, which bars the sale of home-baked goods at school fundraisers, while sanctioning the sale of foods such as Baked Doritos.

The protest drew more than 100 parents and kids. Some decried the hypocrisy of banning the tradition of selling home-baked goods — all in the name of wellness — while approving the sale of processed foods.

“There are so many things they can do before they get into the bake sales, which has been the parents’ territory for generations, ” said Brooklyn New School parent Larissa Phillips who came to the protest with her daughter. “When they sell Snapple to make money it’s OK , but when we try to sell some baked goods, it’s unhealthy and not OK — that’s a double standard.”

Others who joined the protest, like Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, bristled at the lack of common sense shown in the matter. He echoed the frustration expressed by many protesters in the crowd. “You can’t make a school better without involving parents to the fullest, and right now, this decision, like so many others, was made with only the most superficial effort to engage parents. ”

The Bake-In drew a lot of news coverage. Gothamschools features commentary from Bake-In organizers Elizabeth Puccini and Anisa Romero, and NY-1 was there too.

Since this was a parent-led event, we’ll let a mom have the last word. Check out what the co-president of the NEST+M PTA, Susan Townes-West had to say:

NYC Green Schools, a parent clearing house on school food and environmental issues, is holding a rally on March 18 from 4-6 p.m. at City Hall, to protest Chancellor’s Regulation A-812.

The regulation sets out policy for when parents can hold bake sales and what foods can be sold by parents and students to raise money in city schools. It is an issue that continues to engage parents’ attention, not only because the regulation limits fundraising opportunities, but also because what kids should eat in school and out is a hot topic these days. See our Cupcake Comeback post and the many comments it drew.

In their press release, rally organizers say that, “the regulation prohibits home-baked foods from being sold at school fundraisers, while permitting Doritos and Pop-Tarts instead! ” [sic]. These foods are among the approved, pre-packaged foods that the DOE permits. (more…)

All around the city, schools are embracing and thriving on green. Some are learning about climate change from teacher resources like Earth Day NY or Facing the Future. Others are building green roofs, using watt meters and composting food scraps.

The Green Gremlins of Grace Church school pairs middle school students with elementary schoolers to run green activities, which range from making used Christmas cards into valentines for people in a hospital, to recycling keys and used gift cards, or raising money for Haiti by selling old electronic games.

Seeds in the Middle, currently piloting at PS 91 in Brooklyn, teaches students how to grow, market, find and cook healthy food.

PS 333, the Manhattan School for Children, expects to break ground for a pilot greenhouse on the roof, this summer. When finished it will teach kids about environmental sustainability, food, and nutrition. (more…)

I admit it: this time of year, my children don’t get enough exercise. It’s hard to drag them outside to play when we live in a northern, urban environment with no yard, and the playgrounds are sad and frozen.

There are only so many after school activities one can sign up for. The school does what it can, but its indoor facilities have limits, and if the temperature dips below freezing the teachers can’t risk frostbitten children. On not-so-bitterly cold days, the kids adjourn to the playground for recess, and I see them running around giddily, as though gulping fresh air for the first time.

When the weather’s too harsh to venture outside, the students sometimes watch a movie in the auditorium — to their intense delight. I don’t mind the occasional movie, but it’s no substitute for the kids moving their bodies. (more…)

Hot on the heels of the (partial) reinstatement of PTA bake sales, a new brochure was circulated today by the Office of Family Engagement at the Department of Education called “Yes, You Can: A Fresh Look at Healthy Fundraisers for Schools.”

This attractive guide, produced by the East Harlem District Public Health Office and the Strategic Alliance for Health, a program of the Centers for Disease Control, aims to counter fundraisers that “involve selling foods high in fat, sugar, salt, and calories.”

One section I like is called “Combining Fitness and Fun.” This describes how parents or schools can design “Do-It-Yourself Fitness-A-Thon” fundraisers. Some organizations that can help set up fitness fundraisers are the New York Road Runner Foundation or Fitness Fundraising. (more…)

The Daily News recently surveyed school lunchrooms to see if the “health-crazed Bloomberg administration,” which “often touts how it has overhauled school lunches and slashed calories,” has succeeded in making standard cafeteria fare healthier. According to some nutritionists, some of the “healthy” offerings may not cut the mustard.

The News reports that a simple toasted cheese sandwich on oat bread — frozen and then heated in its plastic wrapper — contained more than 30 ingredients, including high-fructose corn syrup, which the administration had vowed to cut out. “It just looks so greasy, you can tell it’s unhealthy,” observed a student at Clara Barton High School.

In our new poll, we ask: what’s for lunch at your school, and how do you feel about it? Is it junk food or is it getting better? And whether kids get school lunch or packed lunch, what do they actually eat?

Take our poll and share you thoughts below.

A recent poll by Insideschools.org found parents overwhelmingly against the bake sale restrictions imposed by the chancellor. Insideschools’ readers were not alone in their disapproval.

The outcry by parents and kids against the Department of Education’s ban on bake sales seems to have convinced the DOE to amend Chancellor’s Regulation A-812. Under proposed changes, parent organizations would be able to hold one bake sale per month at any time of day, and sell “non-approved” food during that sale. To many, that means cupcakes. Sales are not allowed in the cafeteria.

For students, looking for revenue to support their clubs and teams, the regulation relaxes the time constraints. Kids could sell approved foods outside the cafeteria at any time of day and for as many days as they wish. Still no cupcakes there, in fact no homemade goodies at all. Students would be limited to selling only those serving-size, packaged snacks that are on an approved list. (more…)

Yesterday I had the privilege of serving on a panel at the new Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, listening to 9^th graders hold a debate. The topic was “Proposed: a new waste transfer station should be built in the South Bronx.”

The two teams represented the South Bronx and the Upper East Side.The students had visited a park right next door to a South Bronx waste transfer station that was very stinky, they said. The field trip had been hosted by Sustainable South Bronx.

The “Upper East Side” team argued against building the site in that neighborhood, noting that many minority and disadvantaged children live in the neighborhood, and 600 of them go to summer camp at Asphalt Green, where health would be threatened if garbage trucks were rumbling in and out all day. (more…)

The Department of Education awarded a $12 million grant to the non-profit group Out2Play Inc. to construct 70 new playgrounds across New York City’s five boroughs. The first 30 playgrounds are slated for completion by the end of 2010,  according to Crain’s New York Business. No word yet where the new playgrounds will be located.

When Out2Play was established in 2005, founder Andrea Wenner set a goal to transform 150 empty schoolyards into playgrounds. Five years later, 80 playgrounds span nearly one million square feet of previously-vacant space in each borough. The city’s grant will be added to $6 million raised by Out2Play to accomplish Wenner’s goal.

In a recent interview with Crain’s New York Business, Wenner explained that the funding “is going to go a long way in ensuring that the children who come through these schools every year will have a place to be active, to play and to have fun.”

The work of Out2Play will also help fulfill the goals of the city’s PlaNYC initiative — a ten-point program aimed at improving living conditions in the city while protecting the environment. The initiative’s goals include creating new homes for nearly one million residents and reducing carbon emissions by 30 percent.

Photo courtesy of Out2Play Inc.

Actor Matthew Modine started a chat with middle school students at Brooklyn’s New Horizons School, MS 442 on Wednesday by turning off the overhead fluorescent lights to reduce energy. “I feel very strongly about empowering individuals to make a measurable, tangible difference to our community,” he said.

Modine was accompanied by several of the city’s sustainability bigwigs, there to demonstrate the city’s support for the students who will help schools save energy by participating in this year’s Green Cup Challenge, an annual, student-led challenge to measure and reduce schools’ energy use. Coordinated by the national non-profit Green Schools Alliance, the GCC’s first electric meter reading is this Friday, Jan.15, after which students will have a month to cut energy use.

At PS 166 in District 3, children are preparing for the Green Cup Challenge by making signs reminding everyone to “turn off the lights” and “power down computers.” A school-wide assembly made the whole school aware of the Challenge. Each classroom has designated two “climate captains” who will ensure that lights are turned off at lunch and recess, windows are closed, and unused appliances unplugged. School custodial staff have also been brought into the loop. (more…)

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 challenging and therefore boring. As it turns out, it probably was too challenging, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was my eyes.

Like so many other people, I have vision disorders (in my case, tracking problems and convergence insufficiency) that make reading, computer work and other close-up tasks very difficult. Having convergence insuffieciency means that a person’s eyes do not work well at close distances. They often drift outward, causing that person to see double. The person naturally tries to pull their eyes back in to make the close object clear and single, causing a lot of strain on their eyes.

Fortunately my parents and I discovered the problems when I was in elementary school and I was sent to vision therapy, so I was able to recognize what was going on when the problems came back last summer. Many kids aren’t this lucky. (more…)

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 make sure no children go hungry, but also the potential to change-and improve-what they are served in their school cafeterias.

Last week, the USDA reported that “food insecurity” rose last year-that is, more families were unable to consistently put food on the table (14.6% of families were food insecure in 2008, up from 11.1% in 2007). As a consequence, more children are going to school undernourished, so their cafeterias are often the best source of a complete meal.

In NYC, recession-related food insecurity may be compounded by the high cost of living. Yet, because of bureaucracy, many kids who should be eligible for free meals are not getting them. At the same time, 1 in 5 kindergarten students in NYC is obese, and Type 2 diabetes is at an all-time high. (more…)

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 for four weeks in January with the goal of reducing the school’s electricity use.

The Challenge also encourages students to submit a video. Take a look at last year’s winning video here. Some suggested activities during the Green Cup Challenge month include having a waste-free day in the cafeteria, enforcing a school lights-off-at-night and turn-off-the-computer-after-hours policy, hosting an assembly about climate change, showing a documentary such as The Story of Stuff, or inviting a speaker.

Speaker, book, and film ideas are posted at EducatingTomorrow.org, the UFT’s (Teacher’s Union) green committee site. This is the first year that NYC public schools can participate in the Green Cup Challenge and the more schools that participate, the more fun the competition will be.

Interested schools can register online. An introductory meeting and training for interested schools will be held on Dec. 8 from 9-11 am at the Urban Academy School for Green Careers on West 84th Street in Manhattan. For more information or questions about signing your school up to participate in the green Cup Challenge contact Ozgem Ornektekin.

Last year 120 schools nationwide participated in the Green Cup Challenge and collectively reduced their carbon emissions by 2.5 million pounds, the equivalent of taking 220 cars off the road for a whole year. New York City schools can make a difference!

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 vaccine had been elusive at the pediatrician’s office too — initial doses reserved for high-risk children.

After their days of fever, cough, and upset stomach (and for Night Owl, a side of mild pneumonia), they are back in school. But even if they’re now immune to this one virus, even if we decide to be doubly safe and vaccinate, I know the usual parade of seasonal horrors will still visit us. And believe me, some have been far more hideous than what we endured last week (the intestinal virus Night Owl spread to all 15 guests last Thanksgiving, for one).

In order to fortify my kids, I’ve been collecting information on boosting natural immunity during cold and flu season. Certainly, improving overall health can go a long way in fighting off infections and rebounding more quickly from them.

(more…)

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 still on the fence.

The New York Times echoed these sentiments, reporting that fewer than 50 percent of New York City parents have granted schools permission to vaccinate their kids. Vaccinations began this week at small elementary schools and will begin on Nov. 4 and 9 at larger schools. The city’s weekend clinics for middle and high school students will also open in early November.

The Times also weighed in on after-school programs in an editorial titled, “Home Alone.” Citing Afterschool Alliance’s recent study, America After 3PM, the editorial points out that after-school participation has increased markedly since 2004, but not fast enough to keep up with the growing number of “latch-key kids”– estimated at nearly one quarter of our nation’s students.

The study also found that more than 18 million parents would enroll their children in after-school programs if they were available.

In this week’s poll, we’d like to know if your child’s school offers an after-school program. Vote now!

How well does it serve your children? How could the program be improved? Let us know in the comments.

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 residents and not just students. Middle and high school students are entitled to vaccinations at designated sites–which are slated to open in early November. Other members of the public will be evaluated, but only those considered “at-risk” will receive treatment.

Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti told the Daily News that the sites giving priority to students will redirect the public to other vaccination centers. She reiterated that the best place to receive a vaccination is from one’s primary-care doctor.

Is your elementary, middle, or high school child going to be vaccinated? Take our poll!

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 husband and I decided to give Brooks the H1N1 vaccine, and I have a recommendation for all other parents. My recommendation is to make sure that you get reliable information about this vaccine. And all vaccines. From legitimate sources.

Start by reading Amy Wallace’s article, “Fear,” in this month’s Wired Magazine. I admire several aspects of her piece: it presents a litany of medical facts that are very difficult for any reasonable person to dispute; it reminds us that it is not the function of medical science to disprove that vaccines cause autism, but rather to prove that vaccines are safe; it warns us that while pharmaceutical companies have their fair share of corruption, we must not make the error of indicting them in every situation, without just cause. (more…)

The Department 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 middle and high school students on weekends at off-campus sites in early November.

Although vaccinations are not mandatory for public school students, the DOE recommends that all children between the ages of six and 19 be vaccinated. Children under 10 receive two doses, administered in schools, four weeks apart.

Students must present consent forms signed by a parent or guardian. These will be sent home with students next week. They are also available online through the DOE’s Influenza Information website.

Families of elementary students should return these forms to their school; middle and high school students should bring them to the off-campus locations where they will be vaccinated at the time of vaccination.

The DOE will continue to release information on this season’s flu and student vaccinations at www.nyc.gov/flu.

Is your child going to be vaccinated? Take our poll and let us know why or why not! Vote now!

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 funds. Nine percent disagreed, voting that PA/PTAs should come up with better fundraising ideas.

The ban is just one part of a larger regulation aimed at curbing New York’s alarming student obesity rates. Twenty-one percent of you felt that bake sales are not a major contributor to this problem, while 17% felt that the last thing kids need is more junk food.

Last week, along with the bake sale ban, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the H1N1 vaccine. Parents are receiving consent forms this week to have their children vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.

In September, we reported that the DOE will provide the vaccine to elementary students in schools, and to other students at weekend clinics. This week, The New York Times addressed a number of concerns regarding these immunizations. Some parents worry that the vaccine was rushed to the public. Others feel that it could not have come a day sooner.

In this week’s poll, we’d like to know if you will have your child vaccinated. Comment below to let us know why, or why not!

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 Chancellor’s Regulation aimed at improving the quality of food in schools — has effectively banned the sale of baked goods and snacks during school hours.

“We have an undeniable problem in the city, state and the country with obesity,” Eric Goldstein, the chief of the office of school support services, told The New York Times. “During the school day, we have to focus on what is healthy for the mind and the body.”

The DOE reports that around 40% of elementary and middle school students are considered obese and a strong correlation has been revealed between the health of students and their performance on standardized tests. However, some students and parents feel that bake sales do not contribute to the obesity problem and are important for raising funds to support school programs.

Let us know what you think!

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) brought school children a step closer to enjoying produce from small, local farms in their cafeterias. The “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, announced last Tuesday, seeks to better nourish kids and support local farms by creating stronger connections between the two. The USDA will allocate $50 million for public schools to buy local produce and will set up farm-to-school tactical teams to tour schools and help them put the plan into action.

How and when this initiative will benefit NYC schools (and growers) remains to be seen, but good nutrition is always good news. Many kids get the majority of their calories at school, so what they’re served there can make the difference between wellness and illness. With national rates of childhood obesity and Type II diabetes skyrocketing, it’s becoming more apparent we need to change our collective habits-quickly. Helping schools replace processed foods with more fresh produce is a move in the right direction.

Alongside the Garden to School Café programs, which our family participated in this past summer at PS 29, “Know your Farmer, Know Your Food” provides an opportunity to educate our kids about nutrition and food production, while feeding their growing bodies. If students’ enthusiasm last week over pesto and salad from the PS 29 garden was any indicator, kids won’t need much convincing that wholesome fare is delicious too.

Is any tasty local food ending up in your school lunchroom? Comment below to let us know.

More than a year after dangerous levels of polychlorinated biphenyls were discovered in several New York schools, the caulk that contains the toxin still lines the windows and doors of some classrooms.

A Spring 2008 investigation by the Daily News revealed high levels of PCBs–a toxin linked to developmental defects in children– in the caulkings of six public schools. The schools were scrubbed and soils contaminated by the toxin were removed.

In March of 2009, the Department of Education announced that toxic levels of PCBs had been discovered in 19 more schools. Classes were cleaned and soils removed.

Now, at the start of a new school year, parents charge that toxic caulk still lines the windows and doors of their children’s classrooms. Naomi Gonzalez, a Bronx mother whose 6-year-old daughter, Elimina, attends the contaminated PS 178, decided to take her frustration to the courtroom. (more…)

Welcome back to school! Seniors will be starting to work on their college applications in a few weeks, and while this should not dominate the most important business of the day — doing well in senior year — it should not be left to the last moment. Here’s the first question of the 2009-2010 school year.

My son is starting his senior year and I am concerned about how to start applying for scholarships. He plays soccer and I would like to know how to approach coaches so they can see him play. Also, my son’s school will not have a college counselor this year. So who in the school can I contact about helping my son with his applications?

Even though your son’s high school may not have a designated college counselor, every high school should have guidance counselors whose job it is to assist him. They can answer questions about colleges, help with application questions, and advise about scholarships — and not just athletic scholarships. Scholarship organizations send out information each fall to high school guidance offices, and this information should be posted for students to read. Your son should make an appointment with his guidance counselor early! This is especially important if there are a lot of students who are going to approach them for help — don’t wait until the application deadlines are near. (more…)

 Have a question for Jane?  Search archives | Contact the College Counselor

Today, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled a multi-faceted plan to combat swine flu this fall. With the first day of school in sight, protecting the city’s students is a top priority, Bloomberg said.

Swine flu resurfaced in parents’ minds this summer when the city announced schools will remain open this year in the face of reported cases. Here’s what you should know about the mayor’s new campaign as your kids head back to school:

• Vaccinations for elementary school students will be available at your child’s school in mid-October. Letters will be sent home on the first day of classes with more information.
• Vaccinations for older students will be available at soon-to-be-announced sites in each borough.
• The city will post daily listings of schools reporting more than five cases of flu online.
• A flu-prevention campaign will be launched in schools, complete with signs, posters, and classroom instruction.

(more…)

For 30 years, the federal government has funded free meals for students during the summer months. How many meals are served in New York City, the largest  school system in the country? Statistics are not yet available for this summer’s program, which ends on Aug. 28, but last summer, the city served up more than 7.25 million at a cost of about $21 million. Given the economic downturn, it will be no surprise if this year’s numbers top 2008’s.

In addition to breakfast and lunch served at city schools, youngsters between the ages of 5 and 18, can get a free meal at some  of  the city’s pools, parks, housing projects, food kitchens, and libraries - more than 1,000 locations in all. This summer the city even added a second lunch session at some pools, so that midday meals are served from 11  a.m. to 1:15 p.m. , and again from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. (more…)

GothamSchools broke the news yesterday that the family of the late Mitchell Weiner, a Queens assistant principal who was the first city resident to die of  swine flu, intends to file a multi-million dollar suit against the city for wrongful death and negligence. Today The New York Times provides more detail: Weiner’s widow, Bonnie, and their three sons served a “notice of claim” (a precursor to the lawsuit) to the city on Aug. 5 charging that the city did not provide a safe working environment for Weiner and other school employees.

While her husband lay in critical condition in early May, Weiner’s widow Bonnie said she was outraged that city officials failed to act sooner to close IS 238, where both she and her husband worked. According to the Daily News, the school remained open for days after tests confirmed the virus in a number of students. (more…)

In our last poll, we asked you to tell us what you think about your school’s physical education program. Almost a third of respondents told us it was great, but nearly 50 percent think there’s room for improvement. In her introductory post, our new blogger Bronx Mom said that the lack of satisfactory physical education facilities was one factor that lead her to look outside of her district for schools. Thanks for your comments on her post and on our poll!

One parent told us: “Physical education is given in the cafeteria. Kids only get it once a week and all the supplies including balls are paid for by the PTA, because there isn’t enough money in the budget to cover that stuff. Upper grades have recess in the street because the yards are too small to accommodate everyone.” (more…)

Dear Judy,

We just moved to New York City this summer. Do you have any ideas for free summer activities?

New to NYC

Judy answers:

Dear New to NYC,

Welcome to summer in New York City! Lots of families may be at loose ends now that summer school is ending and early camp sessions are over. A good way to meet other families in your neighborhood is to check out your neighborhood public school playground. A city initiative called “Schoolyards to Playgrounds” is working to renovate and open school playgrounds to the public. Many are now open even if school is not.

Department of Parks and Recreation playgrounds are also open from 8 am to dusk. Their website has  a list of playgrounds and other indoor and outdoor recreation programs. They also have a list of wheelchair accessible playgrounds, fields, pools and beaches. And, if you find a favorite playground, the Department is even inviting folks to pick their favorite playground, so you can see what other families recommend. (more…)

 Have a school question for Judy?  Search archives | Contact Judy

In our last poll, we wanted to know if you supported the City Council’s resolution to add Id al-Fitr and Id al-Adha to the public school holiday calendar. Thanks for your comments!

Should your child need to  miss school for a holiday, make sure to request, in writing, that your child be excused before the date of observance. The school principal will have the final say (see Chancellor’s Regulations A-210 and A-630).

On Monday, the Department of Education and the Health Department reported that the data from students’ annual fitness assessment shows that physically fit students tend to perform better on academic tests than their out-of-shape peers. How much better? On average, the report says, kids who did the best on the fitness test outscored those who did the worst by 36 percentile points on standardized academic exams. Additionally, the report found that 21 percent of  New York City students in Kindergarten-8th grade are obese; 18 percent more are overweight.This week, we’d like to know what you think of your school’s physical education program. Vote now, and add your comments below!

UPDATE: See the full report here. 

The Department of  Education announced the launch of the Big Apple Games, a free summer recreational program that runs through August 16.  There is no registration deadline for the six-week program, which offers children between the ages of eight and 19 a chance to participate in a range of sports activities and arts and crafts.

A list of program sites is available on the Public School Athletic League website, or families can call 311 for more information.

Just a few short months ago, I blogged that I would sell a major organ to see Brooks eat a vegetable. This week at dinner, my son turned to me and very matter-of-factly asked: “Can I have more broccoli, please?”

My husband and I shot each other that incredulous look that autism parents treasure, sharing a “did he really just say that?” moment.

One of the reasons I’m so over-the-moon about this particular success is that I made it happen: I designed an intervention, I implemented it, and, miraculously, it worked. No, I take back “miraculously.” It worked because of the years of careful training I received from my son’s extraordinary therapists over the years. They may not come to the house a few times a week anymore, but they continue to propel Brooks forward all the same. (more…)

Last week, both the Post and NY1 highlighted schools’ lack of compliance with regulations that limit the amount of junk food available in public schools: Two-thirds of the schools audited by State Comptroller Thomas diNapoli’s office sold sugary and salty, nutritionally vapid snacks, most often in high-school vending machines. While the ideal of the homemade lunch may seem the best solution, anyone who’s spent time watching a table full of 10-year-olds wheel and deal for extra bags of chips, candy, and cookies knows that what’s sent from home doesn’t always get consumed — at least, not by the intended diner.

But in a case that seems to personify a certain subtype of New York parent, one mother has launched a campaign against nutritionally poor foods wherever they surface in school, including class birthday parties, celebrations, and school stores. While it’s easy to poke fun of a parent that send kids to school with Tupperware containers to collect and bring home the offending foodstuffs, it’s also simple to feel compassion for the kids who have to tote the uneaten sweets home everyday as evidence.

Should one parent, or one family, shape a school’s food policy? The question gets complicated when you think about life-threatening food allergies, yet children who are allergic, vegetarian, or observe kosher or halal rules go to school with kids who eat school lunch and bring sugary cupcakes to bake sales and class parties. How much is the responsibility of the parent to educate their child about what their family sees as right and wrong foods to consume? And how vigilent should schools be in protecting all children from everything unhealthy?

Does your child’s school manage to funnel in plenty of junk food? Do you think it’s a problem? In a city that celebrates diversity and (theoretically, at least) idealizes tolerance, should we be focused on increasing differences around the lunch table? Our nation and our children are experiencing rising levels of diabetes, obesity and other health-care issues related to nutrition. What’s the balance between personal freedom — to eat, and even to overeat — and the greater good?

The most recent update from the Department of Education lists schools that are newly closed today and others that will reopen. It also itemizes certain specific programs — for disabled students, for example, or for kindergartners registered at one school who share a site with another school — which will close, while the schools that host them will remain open.

It’s not clear why decisions were made to close parts of specific buildings — and even less clear how flu viruses may be contained across arbitrary, human-imposed borders in a single physical structure. To this non-epidemiologist, closing part of a school seems baffling: the virus can’t discern which students it affects, or where they attend school, or which program is theirs. Viruses don’t ask questions; ask any parent with more than one child what happens when one gets sick.

If the contagion is sufficient to warrant protecting some of the students in the building, why not protect them all?

The Department of Health and the Department of Education have announced that eight additional schools will close starting today, Friday May 22nd, in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The eight schools, which occupy six school buildings, together serve over 6200 children.

These schools will be closed, beginning today:

As predicted by Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden and others, continued H1N1 exposure in New York City means that more individuals are being affected by the virus. While in most cases, symptoms are mild and short-lived, the Department of Education, together with the Department of Health, has elected to close 21 schools where H1N1 clusters have been identified.

In addition, a few independent, parochial, and charter schools have also closed: the Horace Mann School in the Bronx, St Joseph’s Academy in Queens, Holy Family School in Flushing, and the three schools that comprise the South Bronx Charter school network.

Three public schools will close today for up to five days: PS 130 in lower Manhattan, PS 35 in Hollis, Queens, and the Merrick Academy Charter School in Jamaica. Together, the schools serve approximately 2,200 students. The DOE reports that 21 schools have been closed due to H1N1 with up to 15,000 students (and at least as many parents) affected.

Students who are missing school don’t need to miss homework, Chancellor Klein said yesterday. Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning Marcia Lyles — who may soon exit the DOE for a new post in Delaware – and her staff have prepared grade-by-grade packets of worksheets and assignments to keep students on track, he said. The packets are optional, and it’s up to parents to judge their relevance to their child’s current schoolwork. (Generic math worksheets in the 8th-grade guide, for example, may be appropriate, too easy, or too hard, depending on each student’s math curriculum. The 3rd-grade guide runs to 86 pages, with daily schedules, vocabulary lists, suggested activities and a “dancing raisin” science experiment from the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco.) There are no resources available for high school students.

Prior to these closures, the city closed 15 public and private schools in Queens (IS 238, PS 16, Q255, IS 5, JHS 74, PS 107, MS 158, Our Lady of Lourdes, IS 25, World Journalism Preparatory, Q233, PS 209, P9, PS 19 and PS 32) and one in Brooklyn (IS 318). More closures may be imminent, although the Chancellor said a press briefing yesterday  that the mayor is hoping for the contagion-stanching benefits of the Memorial Day holiday, when kids won’t be as densely concentrated as they are at school.

Update:   Dr Marcia Lyles, Deputy Chancellor of Teaching and Learning, will leave the DOE, according to information released this afternoon by the Chancellor’s office.  Santiago Taveras, founding principal of two Bronx high schools, Banana Kelly and the Urban Assembly Academy for Careers in Sports, will serve as interim acting Deputy Chancellor.  He currently serves as a Senior Supervising Superintendant, where “he oversees the Department of Education’s high school and district superintendants.” 

Career educator Mitchell Weiner, who devoted his entire professional life to IS 238 in Hollis, Queens, passed away on Sunday — the city’s first loss to H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu. Whether the school might have closed sooner, or the experimental treatments offered to Weiner, or underlying medical conditions contributed to his death, will be debated elsewhere. (Click here for a list of schools that are currently closed.) What seems most important, in human terms, is Weiner’s heartfelt dedication to the kids in his school. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting epitaph for this “unsung, yet absolutely dedicated ” leader (as he was described by principal’s union leader Ernest A. Logan) than the words of Byron Lopez. his former student, quoted in today’s Times. Lopez, who kept in touch with Mr. Weiner two decades after they shared a classroom, said: “He knew every kid’s name.”

This is the kind of personal connection and dedication students respond to, as seedlings thrive with a steady flow of water. This is the kind of devotion that makes a school into a true community. And this is the kind of loss that, despite the political pot well on the boil, makes clear the essence of public education in New York City: Outstanding professionals pouring their energy, creativity and hard work into children, their families, and their school, in the service of a pure humanitarian ideal. Education for all, with love, support, and direction on the side.

With sincere condolences to Mr. Weiner’s family, friends and the entire IS 238 community, we invite readers who knew him to contribute comments below — to help those of us who didn’t have the pleasure of his instruction, his legendary humor, or his inspiration, get a feel for a life’s outstanding, and unfinished, work.

Update:   Three more Queens schools will close beginning tomorrow, according to the City’s Department of Health:  the Q209 building in Whitestone (PS 209 and P9, a District 75 school), PS 19 in Corona, and PS 32 in Flushing.  The three schools together serve more than 3000 students.

Last week, we asked what you thought the Department of Education should do if the swine flu continued to spread. Most voters agreed that the system should keep running, with 36 percent of voters advising that only children and teachers with symptoms should stay out of school and 30 percent of voters suggesting that individual schools with confirmed cases should be closed. Twenty-two percent of voters, however, thought that the whole school system should be shuttered until the threat passed. See the full poll results here.

This week we are wondering about pre-K. After the news leaked that the Department of Education might close pre-K programs at some overcrowded elementary schools, parents began debating whether pre-K in elementary schools is a right, privilege, or drain on elementary school resources. What do you think? Add your comments here.

Our most recent poll, on school safety officers, showed a sharp split in Insideschools’ online community — 37 percent of parents said they understood and appreciated why school safety officers are in the schools, while nearly as many, 33 percent, said they’d prefer schools without safety officers at all. The Student Safety Act was taken up by the City Council some months ago yet seems moored in committee for the present, despite the urgency of the issue and the lack of clarity on safety officer supervision.

This week, however, the conversation around “keeping students safe” has been focused on swine flu. The issue has dominated the news landscape, with 24/7 coverage that we worry may add more fuel to the fires of anxiety than real substance to this important conversation. Still, we wonder what readers think about strategies to contain or prevent infection — and what the Department of Education should do, going forward, if the outbreak continues in our area.

Take the poll, share your thoughts, and remember: Wash your hands.

I have an overactive imagination. I also have an acute sense of impending doom that I inherited directly from my grandmother: “If you’re 5 minutes late, you’re under a bus.” This is a bad combination.

Whenever Brooks gets a fever, I need to convince myself that he doesn’t have meningitis or another type of virus that can kill within a day. I’m not crazy — I don’t ever say anything out loud and I know how statistically unlikely it is – but these nightmarish thoughts own a substantial piece of my mental real estate, and they rise up at the slightest provocation.

Can someone please advise me how to distinguish irrational fears from rational ones? After all, against all odds, planes did fly into the World Trade Center. My father’s ”flu” turned out to be a rare stomach cancer that killed him. And Brooks did get diagnosed with autism. All of these events were unexpected and unlikely, and yet, they happened. I suppose there’s a longer list of the bad things that didn’t happen, but I can’t seem to focus on that list. (more…)

As reporting and speculation about the emergent swine flu virus continues to dominate the local media, city health authorities urge caution and common sense precautions to prevent illness and potential transmission.

Look here for detailed information and recommendations from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; here’s what the Department of Education has posted for students and adults at the city’s schools. Now is the time to teach young kids how to shield a cough – instructions are posted online in 14 languages — and to reinforce careful hand-washing (and stockpile antibacterial goo, too).

To date, the only documented cases of swine flu in New York City remain confined to St. Francis Preparatory Academy in Queens.