PS 59 combines a strong academic program with an approach to teaching that values play as the foundation for learning. Kindergarten classrooms have dress-up corners for dramatic play, easels for drawing and plenty of wooden blocks. Older children, too, use blocks as part of their study of architecture and bridges.

The school zoned includes the United Nations, and children come from 52 countries and speak 40 languages. Parents are welcome: one Friday a month, parents are invited to stop by their children’s classrooms. Kindergarten parents bring children right to their classrooms each day.

After four years in temporary quarters, PS 59 will move in the summer of 2012 to a newly renovated building shared with the High School of Art and Design, with an entrance on 56^th Street between Second and Third Avenues. [Photo at left shows the architect’s drawing of the new library.]

PS 59 has strong drama and music programs. Young children perform plays based on folktales, while 4^th and 5^th graders act out Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Young children play percussion instruments with the help of a teacher from the Turtle Bay School of Music. Older children attend concerts by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. A few children even learn to compose music—which members of the Philharmonic then perform at the school.

While long-time principal Adele Schroeder has resisted the national mania for test prep, the school still posts strong test scores. Parents and teachers agree that academic expectations are high, according to the Learning Environment Survey.

The school has lots of extra grown-ups, including neighborhood volunteers and student teachers. Teachers supervise the kids on the playground and in the lunchroom--although it's not required by their contract. Lunch and recess are more orderly than is generally the case when the only grown-ups are school aides. PS 59 also has a “recess coach” who organizes games.

Special education: The school has collaborative team teaching (also called Integrated Co-Teaching or ICT) classes that mix children with special needs and those in general education. These classes have two teachers, one of whom is certified in special education.

Admissions: Neighborhood school. Unfortunately, the school has had a waiting list for kindergarten in recent years. Some children who are zoned for the school have been assigned to PS 183 and PS 116 nearby. (Clara Hemphill, telephone interviews, March 2012)