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 start feeling sorry for the teachers, besieged by questions.

With one child in middle school and another in high school, I am officially a veteran of New York City public school parent teacher conferences. I’ve developed a few survival strategies.

If possible, I take a personal or vacation day and attend the afternoon session in an effort to avoid ridiculous evening lines.Even so, I can’t beat the system.

(more…)

On the soccer field last weekend, the parent of an 8th-grader casually inquired what it takes to get into one of the city’s best high schools. I wanted to laugh, but that wouldn’t be fair, because as I started my own search with my son a year ago, I was equally curious and anxious.

“So, do you think Beacon wants straight As and4s on both tests?” the mother asked. Like many parents trying to unravel the mystery of high school choice in the nation’s largest school system, she wanted straightforward answers that would help her assess her son’s chances. If her son was not an outstanding student, (I did not ask) would his chances of being accepted at one of the top schools be diminished?

As the high school search begins for 8th-graders, the question of who gets in is especially disconcerting. The specialized high schools like Brooklyn Tech, Stuyvesant, and Bronx Science are not for everyone, but the criteria is at least transparent: students take an exam, and if their score is high enough, they’ll get in. Students with poor grades who don’t test particularly well can be accepted, although those who get in generally have taken test prep for the exam. (more…)

Dear Judy

What is the best way to find out about high school open houses and tours? Is there an updated list on Insideschools.org? How many schools should we visit? Are open houses really helpful?

8th-grade parent

Dear 8th-grade parent:

Attending an open house or tour should be a priority for kids and parents looking for a high school but, try to narrow your list to a manageable number, based on your schedule. Your daughter may be excused from class to tour a school, but can you get a note for your boss?

The high school application allows you to apply to up to 12 schools, not counting the specialized high schools and charter schools. Our advice to families: don’t apply to a school you wouldn’t attend. Likewise, I can’t imagine sending a child to school without first checking it out in a visit. Students frequently venture out of their neighborhoods, and even their boroughs, for high school, so going on a school tour is a great way to test out the travel time and to check out the subway and bus connections. (more…)

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

If you have a rising high school freshman  or sophomore and  moved to the city after Oct. 31, 2008, you still have the chance to apply to some of the city’s most sought-after schools. You teen can register now to take the specialized high school exam, or audition for LaGuardia High School for the Arts, for entrance in September.

The nine specialized high schools are highly selective: eight of them base admissions on the results of an exam while LaGuardia requires an audition to one of its six arts programs.  There is at least one specialized high school in each of five boroughs, and you may register for either an audition or the exam (or both!) at any of the Department of Education’s borough enrollment offices. The exam will be given on Monday, Aug. 31, and auditions for LaGuardia will be held on Friday, Sept. 4. The last day to register is Aug. 27.

There are also high school  seats available for rising juniors at another selective school:  Bard High School Early College II in Queens, which offers students the opportunity to graduate with a high school diploma and a two-year degree from Bard College. Bard requires applicants to take an entrance assessment and schedule an in-person interview. To find out more, call (212) 995-8479 ext. 2043, (212) 995-8479 ext. 2041, or (845) 546-0364.

Is your high school still accepting students for September 2009? Let us know whom to contact below!

Dear Judy,

My son is entering 7th grade this fall. Should I be thinking about high school admissions already? What can I do to get prepared?

- Thinking Ahead Mom

Judy answers:

Dear Thinking Mom,

It’s never too soon for a middle school family to start thinking about high school. There are new choices every year as well as the popular tried-and-true schools to consider.

A smart move is to attend the high school admission process workshops that the Department of Education is holding for middle school families over the summer.The workshops are held Tuesday evenings at either Brooklyn Tech High School or Stuyvesant High School. The first session, an overview of options, is being held at Brooklyn Tech on June 30. The other sessions at Brooklyn Tech, on July 7 and 14, cover how to prepare for the specialized high school exam and how to prepare for auditions and portfolios for arts high schools. The sessions at Stuyvesant, starting on July 21 and going through August 11, will discuss large high schools, career and technical schools, new small schools, and charter schools.

You can also pick up a copy of the Directory of Public High Schools that the DOE publishes every year. It should be available at most middle schools and at the borough enrollment offices. The directory is getting fatter and fatter each year, and just browsing through the listings of more than 500 schools can be daunting. To help you narrow your search, check the Insideschools’ reviews in the Find a School section and purchase NYC’s Best Public High Schools by Clara Hemphill and the Insideschools staff.

Consider attending the citywide high school fair next October 3 and 4. At the fair, you and your son will have the opportunity to meet with representatives and often students from many high schools. It’s a hectic and crowded event, but it will help you to jumpstart your school search. Typically around February there are fairs to introduce new schools that will open the following September.

Whether or not you attend the DOE workshops, if your son plans to take the test or audition for one of the city’s nine specialized high schools you should get a copy of the Department of Education’s Specialized High Schools Student Handbook. The handbook should be available at one of the borough enrollment offices or from your guidance counselor in the fall (although most school copies will be reserved for 8th graders.) The handbooks have a sample Specialized High School Achievement Test (SHSAT) so your 7th grader can find out what he’s up against. You can get reasonably inexpensive prep books at our bookstore. I’ve also heard about students getting together in study groups to use these prep books instead of investing in expensive tutoring courses; some middle schools hold free prep courses for 7th graders.

Bottom line: The high school application, although filed in 8th grade, shows 7th grade scores, making 7th grade a very important school year. So while you and your son take some time to attend high school fairs and open houses, don’t forget about homework and attendance! With some advance knowledge, and good grades, you’ll be ready to go through the process for real next year!

You’ve got the whole summer to enjoy. Try not to let admissions anxiety get in the way!

Judy

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

“I was looking for a challenging but not overly intense, neighborhood high school experience,” said an Upper West Side mom. “There just aren’t enough seats.”

This Thursday, June 11 from 6-7:30 p.m. the Department of Education is holding a public hearing in the building that now houses Brandeis High School, to gather feedback from the community on what kind of school they would like to see occupy the remaining 800 to 1,000 seats in the Brandeis High School building on West 84th Street.

Brandeis High School will be phased out starting in 2009; no new 9th graders will enroll, although current students will be permitted to attend until they graduate. In its place, three new schools will open in the building in September 2009: The Urban Assembly High School for Green Careers, the Innovation Diploma Plus school, a transfer school for kids 16 to 20 years old, and the Global Learning Collaborative. The three schools together still leave room for one more high school — thus, the Thursday meeting.

One idea to be presented by District 3 parents and others is the new Frank McCourt High School of Journalism, Writing and Literature, a new school of 800 to 1,000 students. Says their Facebook page writeup: “The Frank McCourt High School of Journalism, Writing & Literature is a new, college preparatory high school with a focus on creative and expository writing, journalism, digital communication, and literature. The school will also provide learning opportunities in Spanish (and eventually French) for students who are bilingual and/or biliterate.“

Planners say that the school will reflect the Upper West Side neighborhood: diverse in all ways and home to so many great writers and thinkers. The school’s rigorous, project-based curriculum will be strengthened through partnerships with neighborhood institutions, including Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Symphony Space, and Fordham University. Teachers drawn from New York’s literary, journalism, and digital media community will guide and inspire students to become great storytellers and literary critics.

“The school will open with a 9th grade of about 200 students and will add one additional grade per year for a target enrollment of 800 to 1,000 students. A full complement of math, science, and social studies curriculum, as well as extracurricular clubs and sports, will round out this exciting learning community. Admissions will be based both on grades and a portfolio application, with the goal of enrolling a spectrum of engaged students.”

Want to learn more? The hearing’s on Thursday, June 11, starting at 6pm, in the Brandeis building, 145 West 84^th Street, with details and more anticipated on Facebook.

That tough question is the title of a book by Beverly Daniel Tatum, a psychologist with a focus on racial identity development. It’s also a question that a lot of us wonder about, even if we don’t ask it out loud. I’ve attended four diverse public schools in New York City and in all of them, self-segregation was common. I saw this in the cafeteria, on the street corners, in classrooms, and, most importantly, in the formation of lasting friendships. This has always seemed to me like a weakness of our schools, or even a partial failure of the integration project started in the 1950’s.

Tatum sees it differently. From a psychological standpoint, Tatum believes, the “black cafeteria table” is important. She believes that by the time black children hit puberty, if not before, they began searching for what it means to be black, especially if they are in a racially mixed school or community. Settings like the black cafeteria table, according to Tatum, offer a support group for black children who may feel isolated among their white peers — a place to find a postive black community and identity. Additionally, Tatum believes that a “race-concious parent” raising their black child in a mixed setting should actively seek out a strong black community.

Tatum describes this “racial immersion” as one of several stages in a person’s development. At some point during the book, I started wondering if she was advocating for the self-segregated cafeteria. What about integration? What I came to understand was that Tatum sees integration as the final step, once a person has become comfortable with their racial identity. This last point troubled me. (more…)

Q: My daughter had a very stressful first two years of high school, and her grades suffered. She transferred to a terrific school which, however, did not take all the credits she earned at her previous school. While she can graduate from this second high school in two years, it’s been suggested that she take another semester and use this to improve her GPA. Her SAT scores are good, and she is planning to take several SAT Subject Tests to prove her ability in these areas. Aside from my daughter not liking the idea of staying in high school longer than four years, what do colleges think of this? If she were to wait until the following September to start college, it would be five years from the start of her school career. What are her options?

A: Many students have a rocky start to their high school years. Colleges see that all the time — and what they like to see is improvement. An upward grade trend lets them see that a student has adjusted, re-grouped, and moved on. So it’s great that your daughter has found a better situation and given herself a fresh start.

At this point, there are several things she can do to prove that she can be successful academically. Getting higher grades at this second school will be a significant factor. I hope she is also getting involved in the life of her new school by joining in extra-curricular activities. And while high test scores are desirable, of more significance will be her ability to indicate that she can handle academic challenges over a sustained period.

Is spending an additional half-year in high school the best way to do this? A number of private schools — boarding schools in particular — offer something called a “post-graduate program” or PG, through which a student can compensate for a weaker high school record via an extra academic year. Sometimes an extra year of maturing, in a new environment, can indeed indicate improvement. On the other hand, it doesn’t make the earlier lack of success disappear, and colleges realize that these PG programs are for the financially privileged. Perhaps other students, too, could show improvement with an extra year but few can afford it, especially at a boarding school.

I can certainly sympathize with your daughter’s desire to graduate from high school. My suggestion is that she do other things to prove her true academic abilities. She could take a couple of courses this summer at a local college, a branch of CUNY or SUNY. This would indicate her ability to handle college-level work. And when she applies to colleges, she should not try to ignore those earlier two years of high school but include a letter acknowledging them and then indicating how she has moved on to take control of her academic life and re-create herself as a successful student.

If your daughter does decide to stick around for another semester of high school, but isn’t looking forward to it, she could always make more exciting plans for the second semester of that year. I have previously written about the growing popularity of the “gap year,” and your daughter could organize a “gap semester” during the spring of her fifth year to compliment and expand upon her extra-curricular interests and give her something fun to look forward to. But, if she doesn’t want to, I don’t think she needs to postpone college.

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

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, a  number of LaGuardia juniors found out that their math tracks are being abruptly ended. As a junior in trigonometry this year, I was expected to take pre-calculus in the fall, and take the Math B Regents Exam in January.  Now, because of budget cuts, seniors will not be allowed to take pre-calc. To learn the semester of content and prepare for the Math B exam, tutoring will be offered over the summer.  This is not really an option for people (like me) who have summer jobs.  Also, the only  math classes being offered to seniors next year are Advanced Placement classes.  For the juniors are in pre-calc this year, the situation may not be much better. Calculus may be cut next year, too, giving these juniors no way to complete their math track.  A letter is being sent to all colleges explaining the sudden death of advanced, non-AP math at LaGuardia.

When I expressed my concern, the assistant principal of math told me, “Write to the Chancellor and Mayor and ask them to stop taking our money away in the middle of the year.” I told her I already had, and that was the end of the conversation. But this conversation is far from over. My school has been forced to make hard choices because of circumstances outside its control. LaGuardia has done its best to maintain its unique dual mission to provide students with both good arts and academic educations. But no school should have to make the choice to end a curriculum like advanced math mid-year, without preparation or prior warning.

If, as the Chancellor and the Mayor insist, cuts must be made, they should not come from the classroom and force schools to make decisions like this one. How can these leaders say they’re committed to rigor and higher standards in education, and then limit funding for motivated math students?

Perhaps the cuts could come from the testing budget. It seems that tests are multiplying faster than rabbits;  kids as young as kindergarten are now being tested. Perhaps the needed savings can come from the production and administration of school Progress Reports, which are often inaccurate representations of a school.

The pattern is scary.  Mid-year crunches are resulting in the loss of teachers and classes, which are the last things that ought to be taken away.  If “students” were a budget item, we’d probably be the next to go.

For the past couple of years, the NYC Student Union has ended the school year with June workshops at M.S. 51, where many of us went to middle school. In these workshops, we teach 8th-graders, who will start high school in September, about the steps to creating change by constructively addressing problems in their schools and the education system. We also encourage them to join the Student Union when they start high school. We’ve a had a lot of success in the past, and we have some new ideas for improvement.

This year, we’re also hoping to reach out to more middle schools across the city.  If anyone works in, attends, or is a parent in a middle school and you think the school would be interested in hosting a NYC Student Union workshop, please get in touch with me, by commenting on this post, or  by email, at toni [at] taty.org.  Thanks!

In the Daily News, Merideth Kolodner profiles a family whose talented, accomplished son was not matched with any high schools on the first admissions round, echoing comments we’re hearing from readers and parents citywide. On TV, Cindy Hsu at CBS Channel 2 covered the story, and Brian Lehrer invited Insideschools director Pamela Wheaton on the radio to discuss the high school match process.

The supplementary round high school admissions fair is on March 31. Insideschools has posted a list of schools with open seats, as well as tips on individual schools. And the pressure’s on: Unlike the first round, which spanned months, decisions must be made quickly. The deadline to submit paperwork to guidance counselors is Friday, April 3.

My children came home from their middle school yesterday looking solemn and ashen-faced, and I knew immediately that something was up. They reported seeing hallways filled with sobbing 8th-graders who learned they did not get into their first, second or even third choice of high school. At least five, they said, were hysterical — they hadn’t been matched with any school at all. My 8th-grader, who got good news in February, felt terrible for some of his friends and classmates. My 6th-grader felt tremendous fear about what might happen to him. Some of the shut-out students had fine grades and test scores, so the kids now know that working hard in school doesn’t guarantee a successful high school match.

Earlier in the day, a press release from the Department of Education boasted that 86 percent (74,064) of the 86,169 students who applied for admission to a New York City public high school in 2009 were matched to one of their top five choices. Over half of the applicants – 51 percent (44,012) – received their first choice school, and 76 percent (65,780) got one of their top three schools.

Buried in the churn of seemingly good news was this incredible fact: some 7,455 students received no match at all. I’ve been writing about the high school selection process since September, and I can say there have been plenty of opportunities — exams, interviews, information fairs, notices about new high schools. Guidance counselors have been informative and helpful. I was both astonished and pleased at the many different types of high schools that exist. But through it all, the lurking fear remained — what happens if you don’t get a match?

I don’t think it’s fair for the DOE to claim success when close to 7,500 children in New York City didn’t get seats. I think that number is shamefully high. And I think there is something seriously wrong with this system. The high school admissions process is an enormously complicated and frightening ordeal that asks a lot of kids and parents. While it is true that many students had multiple fine choices, it is not okay to leave young adolescents out in the cold, sobbing in the hallways, feeling the sharp sting of rejection that in many cases was no fault of theirs.

InsideSchools wants to hear your story — as well your suggestions for a solution.

This afternoon, the city’s 86,169 8th graders finally got news about their high-school placements for September. According to the Department of Education, just over half got good news from their first-choice school, three-fourths got one of their top three picks, and 86 percent got one of their top five. (Students who received offers from the eight specialized exam high schools and LaGuardia got their news in February.)Despite a process that permitted student to rank up to 12 general-education schools, 7,455 students came home empty-handed, without having matched to a school on their list. These students will participate in a supplementary round, which launches with a school fair on March 31 from 6 pm - 9 pm at the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan.While the first round of the high-school process spans months, the decision-making window in the supplementary round is short: Applications must be returned to 8th grade guidance counselors on or before April 3.