PS 217 is housed in a recently renovated brick building with majestic marble columns flanking the entrance. Despite the building's standoffish exterior, the school's environment is distinguished by warmth and cordiality. The staff seems affectionate towards the children; a distracted student needed only a gentle touch on the head to become alert and attentive in class again. Parents love this school because they feel welcome. Some volunteer to help out in classrooms; one teaches Spanish with the classroom teacher. A father helped to write a proposal that won the school a million dollar grant to revamp the schoolyard, which includes a playground that parents say is also open to the neighborhood.

The student population reflects a good racial balance among whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians. The school is also economically mixed. Children walk to school from modest apartment buildings and grand Victorian houses. Recent immigrants include children from Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, the Ukraine, and Ghana. One parent explains that there is no need to teach different cultures in class; kids learn from their friends. The art teacher explained to us their plan to use art to help new immigrant students learn English; art teachers were to begin team teaching with ESL teachers for at least one period each week.

The school offers gifted education classes. Children are admitted to the gifted program according to teacher referrals or an admission test. These children seemed to work on more demanding projects. Kindergartners write full sentences, and talk about their writing with partners. Third graders hold book clubs in small groups, creating their own reading schedules and filling books with post-it notes. Specialty teachers round out the day with fun for all children: a professional storyteller tickles the kids' fancies with her catchy choruses and delightful gestures, and the science teacher has at least 7 different animals in her room, including an iguana and a rabbit. The last period of the school day is devoted to extracurricular activities, such as chess, art, and music.

Class sizes can sometimes get large. In the lower grades, we saw up to 27 students in some classes.

After school: A drama club, physical education and academic support are offered. (This school is featured in New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools. Catherine Man, February 2005)

"a few years ago when i went to 217, i thought it was a great school. currently, my brother is in 139, just a few blocks away. his school has great teachers and countless afterschool programs. when i was there, it was to strict."

Principal Franca Conti responds: "I appreciate the praise for our school, as we work hard to provide a nurturing, welcoming, and educational atmosphere. It is our policy that lunch supervision is very tight, while still allowing the children some important time to relax and socialize with their classmates. We, as a community, appreciate parental concerns and listen carefully. While we might not always be able to do things exactly as every parent wants, we always take their concerns seriously and respond expeditiously.

"With respect to outdoor play, I encourage it as much as possible. Weather permitting, we have physical education classes outside in the new school yard, and get the children out at lunchtime as much as possible. Currently, different grades go outside two or three times per week, and we are actively seeking parent volunteers at lunchtime to allow the children to go out even more often. I wholeheartedly support the need for children to get as much physical activity as possible, and asked the teachers to take their students outside to play after the state tests so the children could let off some steam. I believe in letting kids be kids.

"When the weather does not permit outdoor play, we do often show movies in the auditorium. Some children watch, while others read or talk to their friends. The movies have been screened by parents and staff members, and sometimes they are 'educational' and sometimes they are shown simply because we feel the children will enjoy them. We try to tie movies into the curriculum - e.g. we showed Beverly Cleary and Dr. Seuss films to celebrate these authors' birthdays, and our school librarian has a large collection of films based on books. Because the children only watch the movie for approximately 15 minutes per day, we do show the same film on multiple days until it is completed."