Opened in September, 2010, with just three kindergarten classes, East Side Community Elementary School is off to a promising start. The new school, housed in temporary quarters at PS 158 has bright, well-organized classrooms stocked with brand new furniture and a whole room set aside for wooden blocks. Children construct buildings from their own sketches and revise their projects over several weeks with guidance from a professional builder who is a parent at the school. The school, designed to relieve overcrowding in other schools on the Upper East Side, plans to move in fall 2012 to its permanent site, with five renovated floors and a rooftop gym and auditorium in the former Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital at 213 East 63rd Street.

Principal Medea McEvoy, who taught at PS 6 for a decade, combines a strong administrative background with a warm, confident and approachable style. Her bright purple office has a corner set aside for dolls and toy cars. Children enjoy the office so much that they asked their teachers if they could visit during "choice time," the time when kindergartners pick their own activity, such as dress-up or puzzles.

Reading and writing are taught with a sensibly balanced approach that emphasizes both phonics and understanding words in context. Math, science and social studies are well integrated into the curriculum. Art is offered as a double period once per week, with an emphasis on multi-step projects completed over several weeks. Physical education and music and movement are offered twice weekly. The physical education teacher often leads organized games during recess, which is held before lunch. In the school’s first year, it shared an after school program PS 158.

McEvoy is co-author of Units of Study for Teaching Writing:Grade 3-5 (with Lucy Calkins, the founding director of Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Her classroom at PS 6 was a TC research and demonstration site. McEvoy served as the Department of Education's director of literacy, as a network leader overseeing a group of schools, and as the DOE's executive officer of instruction

Special education: In its first year, the school had eight English Language Learners. The school plans to accommodate students with special needs as it grows. (Amanda Hass, January 2011)