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P.S. 76 William Hallet
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Queens NY 11106
Our Insights
What’s Special
ASD Nest Program; keyboard, violin, dance
The Downside
Concerns about discipline and neighborhood safety
PS 76 is working to boost its enrollment by expanding the arts and offering new approaches to teaching, including a Spanish-English dual language program that starts in pre-kindergarten.
The school serves a needy population, including many children with disabilities and many from nearby public housing developments.
While the school faces competition from two charter schools nearby, Principal Tim Miller, who came in 2015, has an ambitious plan to strengthen the curriculum and encourage more parents to choose his school.
Miller opened the Spanish-English dual language program in 2016. As a dual language teacher at PS 111 in Manhattan, it became his passion. The PS 76 program starts in one of three pre-k classes, where kids sing songs in Spanish and learn simple words like the names of colors and greetings.
PS 76 teachers have adopted the Teachers College Reading and Writing program. Miller calls it the “Ivy League of elementary literacy education.” Children learn to edit drafts of their writing at a young age, and they read fun books on topics of interest to them.
Math instruction now involves more discussion and kids solve problems in different ways in class. “It makes me proud to see kids dialoguing, deconstructing numbers, talking in groups,” Miller said.
The school offers violin, keyboard, a wind ensemble, dance and art. Ballet Hispanico works with children in the dual language program. After-school activities include a sports clinic and a theater program that produces shows like Annie. The Jacob Riis program takes 125 children.
Test scores are inching up, but it is too soon to say how these efforts will play out over time. The city’s 2016-2017 Quality Review rated the school “developing,” the lowest score, in the area of teaching. Miller said about six teachers retired that year. He has hired “new blood,” he said, including several graduates from Teacher’s College, Columbia University.
Teachers are worried about discipline in the school and safety in the neighborhood, according to school surveys. The school works hard to help children who live in difficult circumstances. “We have a lot of students who have suffered from trauma through violence or economic hardships,” Miller said. The staff develops a plan for the neediest kids, be it personal counseling or family counseling. More than 90 children check in with an adult mentor every day, the principal said.
At school, a specially trained staffer encourages games at recess and helps kids resolve conflicts peacefully. Juno the comfort dog, who lives with a paraprofessional, is in school every day for extra cheer.
SPECIAL EDUCATION: About one-third of the pupils have special needs. PS 76 has team-teaching classes, as well as small “self-contained” classes for every age child. An ASD Nest Program serves children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In addition, the school houses a District 75 program for children with severe needs. “We’re very much an inclusive school,” said Miller. “We do special education really well. We have a lot of experience with it.”
ADMISSIONS: Neighborhood school. (Lydie Raschka, web reports and interview, March 2018)
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School Stats
Is this school safe and well-run?
From the 2020-21 NYC School Survey
From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card
From this school's most recent Quality Review Report
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide
How do students perform academically?
From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database
What is the Pre-K like?
From the NYC Program Assessment (CLASS and ECERS-R) Database through 2019-2020
Who does this school serve?
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot
From the 2021-22 School Quality Guide
From the 2020 School Directories
How does this school serve special populations?
From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database
Contact & Location
Location
Contact
Other Details
Zone for the 2019-2020 school year. Call school to confirm.
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