With an ambitious principal and a vibrant arts program, PS 9 is on the cusp of major change. Until recently, many affluent families in the Prospect Heights area avoided this neighborhood school. But new families are impressed with PS 9's progress, according to parents planning to send their kids to the school. Parents of school-age children are enrolling their kids at PS 9, while parents of the very young anticipating that their children will one day enrollare already volunteering, pushing initiatives including an effort to renovate the school's current playground which has equipment in shoddy condition.

Much of the enthusiasm stems from the leadership of Sandra D'Avilar, who, since becoming principal in 2004, has reached out to the community with such events as an annual forum highlighting the school's changes. Parents say they are impressed with her openness, which she demonstrates in her annual tea for students and families, and by inviting parents to read to or play math games with students in class.

Arts instruction is a particular strength here, where children learn dance, visual arts, and cooking. A number of cultural or educational groups are involved with PS 9, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Studio in a School, and Learning Through an Expanded Arts Program (LEAP). All three link artistic projects led by professional artists to social studies topics.

D'Avilar, a former teacher and PS 9 assistant principal, told us that she has "a passion for social studies," and her enthusiasm for the subject is reflected in the classroom. Each grade spends several months on a social studies unit. At the time of our visit, 3rd graders were studying China, 4th graders explored native American life and 5th graders tackled immigration. Teachers take pains to weave the topics through the curriculum. Second graders studying landmarks visited the Statue of Liberty, Radio City Music Hall, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Their "100 Days of School" projects featured replicas of these landmarks fashioned out of 100 straws or macaroni pieces. Students wrote letters to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to argue why their favorite buildings should be landmarked, and in math class, they made an Empire State Building from geometric shapes. Specialists from the Guggenheim Museum's Learning Through Art program helped some classes create architectural models and other works related to their studies.

Hallways and classrooms are lively with student projects, although we noticed that some of the posted work, as well as work in notebooks, contained uncorrected mistakes or grammatical errors. Occasionally during our visit, hallways seemed disorderly with running students, and a few classes were watching a movie while their teachers had a planning meeting. After hours, the playground is often strewn with broken glass and garbage although it is cleaned every morning before school. Some important amenitiesa library and science equipment, for exampleare missing, for now at least. A school library is expected to be opened, thanks to private funding, in the 2008-'09 school year, and at the time of our visit area restaurants were planning to participate in a spring food fair called "A Taste of Prospect Heights" to raise money to equip the science and cooking rooms.

D'Avilar told us she encourages collaboration among faculty members. Every other week, teachers of each grade meet to plan the curriculum. The day of our visit, a literacy coach was demonstrating a writing lesson to 4th grade teachers. Student teachers from New York University and Long Island University help out in some classrooms.

On Fridays, students attend a non-academic class of their choice, such as yoga, robotics, or the school newspaper. Each grade has one LEADgiftedclass, with a faster paced curriculum. Uniforms are optional.

The top floor of the PS 9 building houses a middle school, Bergen Upper, which shares the yard, gym, cafeteria, and auditorium. With separate entrances and school times, the students are kept apart, though some parents say middle school students, who get out earlier, sometimes linger outside.

Special education: The school has collaborative team teaching (CTT) classes, which mix students with special needs and general education students, and are taught by a special education teacher and a general teacher. There are also two self-contained classes for students with special needs only.

After school: The school sponsors clubs three days a week until 5:30 p.m. They range from chess to girls' boxing to robotics.

Admissions: Tours start in October. The Department of Education tests children for admission to the gifted LEAD program. (Eve Heyn, March 2007)

My child is now entering her second year at this wonderful school and the InsideSchools review from 2007 is, thankfully, becoming outdated now that the science lab is open and fully equipped. This is in part thanks to a school fundraiser from spring of 2009 and the ceaseless efforts of Principal D'Avilar, among others. The library has faced some technical issues, but a parent in the design world has crafted a concept for the space as a 'Book Hive' including imaginative bee-themed interiors and honeycomb-shaped tables. It's set to open in early 2010. Lastly, the school website was launched this year, ps9brooklyn.org, galvanizing the creative talents and commitment of my amazing fellow parents. Onward and upward!

"My disappointment in PS 9 falls on the staff, mainly Principal D'Avilar. My son attended PS 9 for one and a half long years and not only has he grown to hate school he now also has a low self esteem because of what this principal and her staff put him through. My son is now in another public school, far better and more organized than PS 9, with staff who shows care about each child. My son loves his new school and gets up in the mornings actually looking forward to his school day. PS 9 definitely needs a better principal, one who knows how to properly guide her staff and one who will have patience with the children and know how to interact with each child individually. I hope PS 9 soon receives the reorganization it definitely needs."

After initial misgivings, how surprised I was at the excellent quality of the teaching my child has received in pre-K. I am equally impressed by the leadership, intelligence & passion of Ms D'Avilar. Regarding the InsideSchools review above, the library funding has come through, renovation on the space begins this summer & the first students will be welcomed in the Fall of 2009. In the meantime, every teacher has their own mini-library in the classroom, from which the students can check out books. Also, this year my child has been on trips to Puppetworks, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, the Park Slope Food Coop, Carmelo the Science Fellow (awesome), the Underhill Playground (often) and The Nutcracker Ballet at Brooklyn College. All 3 pre-K teachers are nurturing, smart, engaged & gentle, but firm when they need to be. P.S. 9 is becoming a neighborhood school, with a great parent coordinator. Increased parent involvement is starting to have an impact and things can only get better.

"My child has been attending PS9 since Pre-K. By all the (old-fashioned) measures I consider important (teacher motivation / qualification, curriculum, class sizes, frequency and detailed feedback, teacher and principal accessibility, social mix, NYC BoE grades) this school is shaping up to be truly outstanding. For which Principal D'Avilar and her dedicated teachers deserve a lot of credit. Having gone through the motions of researching alternatives for due diligences purposes, we feel strongly that PS 9 represents the best value proposition for parents in the greater Prospect Heights / Park Slope / Crown Heights area."

"My child attends Pre-K at PS 9, and we’re thrilled with the curriculum as well as the dedication and drive of the teachers. We read and heard many positive accounts about the school’s Principal prior to admissions, and can now attest from personal experience that she is remarkably accessible to parents, respectful and receptive to our concerns, and proactive (and swift) in seeking solutions that benefit all parties concerned. We feel very assured and encouraged with Ms. D’Avilar at the helm, and have no doubt that our children are bound for many positive and productive days ahead at PS 9."

"Our daughter started Pre-K at P.S. 9 this past September and we have been amazed by the variety of subjects studied each week together with field trips, cooking projects, a dance performance and Spanish instruction. The teacher sends out an e-mail, often with photos, letting us know what the children have done each week so we can really feel a part of their learning experience and continue similar projects at home. There is a strong commitment from like-minded parents who are very involved in the class and trying to better the school. The changes thus far have been very noticeable, and we expect even better things to come for PS 9."

"I toured this school with my daughter in 2004, and she was enchanted form the first. We are now in her fourth year at the school (and my son's first), and it has continued to live up to our initial impression. The principal is absolutely devoted to all the students and open to and encouraging of parental involvement. The specialty teachers (dance, Spanish, art) are enthusiastic, with bright rooms devoted to their subjects, and the classroom teachers that we have had have been wonderful to work with and really on top of my children's developmentsocial, emotional, and, of course, academic. In my daughter's third-grade class, many of the kids come from out of district, but in the kindergarten and pre-K, there is a fairly large group from the neighborhood."

"My daughter is enrolled in Pre-k at PS9, and she's so thrilled, she runs out the door and down the street before I even have my shoes on! We adore our teacher/s (Field & Morales), the diversity of families, and the leadership of Sandra D'avilar is inspiring. Ms D'avilar is an intelligent woman, very encouraging of parental involvement, and she is working hard to keep the school moving upward. Budget cuts are always a problem, but there is an energy from the parents to pitch in and make things happen and Ms. Davilar is a good juggler. I'm impressed at the range of things my daughter learns, from the 5 senses, to word recognition, cooking, body awareness, dance, etc. We get weekly emails from our teacher with full reports on the things they've learned and what we can work on at home. I think PS 9 has come a very long way from when Ms. D'avilar took over, and honestly, it has exceeded our expectations in every way!"

A parent writes, "I agree with your overall report of PS 9. There are things that need to be addressed." However, she believes our review "downplays" many positive things about the school, including "the 5th grade LEAD teacher" and his Vermont farm trip. She writes, "Aside from the bleak halls and archaic classrooms, that do not have two way communications, there are some good things going on. Currently a group of students are participating in both a golfing program ... as well as tennis ... . We are in somewhat of a transition phase, but are getting to where we want to be, with better communication and increased community involvement." She adds, "The PTA really needs some work." (June 2004)

"Dr. Patterson and her staff has done a wonderful job to lead PS 9 in a positive direction," writes a parent. "Many of the teachers and staff live in the neighborhood and take pride in doing their job." She writes that many of the school's students used to live in the community, but now live outside of the district as families were forced out by rising rents. The school's parents, however, "are still very much connected to the neighborhood/community." She writes that there is some tension between the school and community, and that the "school definitely needs more parental involvement as well as community involvement."(April 2004)