We are so glad you are here. The InsideSchools community is made up of a wide range of people who come for different reasons. Do you see yourself here? If not, tell us in the Comments who you are and what brings you here! Our users are 👇 New to NYC—and parenthood! "I need help navigating...
This interview was originally published in Urban Matters by our colleagues at The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. Last month, Natasha Quiroga, formerly director of the Parental Education and Readiness Program (PREP) and senior counsel for the Education Opportunities Project...
The wait is over! Fifth-graders across the city received their middle school offers. What was your school search like? What did you look for? How did you learn about schools? Are you happy with your child's placement? Tell us what you thought about the middle school application process. We...
The following is a paid message from Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York. Now is the time to invest in your child’s education. Are you interested in helping your child succeed academically in a caring, structured and safe environment? Or relocating to a new neighborhood? If so, now...
The following is a paid message from Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York. Looking for a New School? Consider a Catholic Education for Your Child Time is Running Short to Enroll and Save • Admissions for 2023-24 are open. • Families who apply and enroll before April 17, 2023 will...
The following is a paid message from Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York. Looking for a New School? Consider a Catholic Education for Your Child Time is Running Short to Enroll and Save • Admissions for 2023-24 are open. • Families who apply and enroll before April 17, 2023 will...
The following is a paid message from School in the Square. School in the Square (S2) is a FREE, PreK–12 public charter school now accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year. S2 engages, educates, and empowers its students to respond mindfully and creatively to life’s opportunities and...
The following is a paid message from Merrick Academy Charter School. Founded in 2000, Merrick Academy Charter School (MACS) is the first charter school in Queens. Serving over 575 students in grades K-5, MACS is built on the philosophy that all children can learn. MACS provides a high-quality,...
Why should parents and guardians care about the workbooks, textbooks, handouts, and online programs that teachers use for lessons? In this webinar, our friends at EdReports talk to parents about why instructional materials are so important. They discuss: How to quickly find out if your...
The wait is over! Eighth-graders across the city received their high school offers. We know that applying to high school in New York City can be a complex and stressful process. A lot is asked of students and their families. Tell us what you thought about the high school application process. ...
During Fall 2022 we sent out a survey asking families to tell us how they currently engage with their children’s school and how InsideSchools can further support them. Offered in English and Spanish, our short survey covered a range of topics. They included the frequency with which parents...
The following is a paid message from Ascend Public Charter Schools. Ascend Public Charter Schools is a network of K-12 schools in Brooklyn that exists to serve every student - to help them embody their inherent excellence by providing rich, joyful learning experiences that unlock a life of...
The problem with public education in America isn’t that all schools are bad. The problem is that the quality is so uneven. In New York City, some lucky parents simply enroll their children in their neighborhood school with nothing more than proof of address. But many parents, unsatisfied with...
The following is a paid message from The Charter School for Law and Social Justice. The Charter School For Law and Social Justice offers a rigorous curriculum focusing on Law and Social Justice to its Middle and High School Scholars. A direct pathway to high school for their middle school...
Progress in America has never been a straight line, as President Barack Obama remarked after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016. We zig and zag, sometimes forward, sometimes back. The way we teach American history is no different. We move ahead, and then fall back. Look at the zigs and...
The following is a paid message from Prospect Schools. Prospect Schools is a group of six (soon to be 8!) public charter schools located in Brooklyn. Founded in 2009, we educate students all the way from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Applications for the 2023-2024 school year are now open –...
Last week, as I fried onions and garlic for the burritos I would soon share with my family, I propped my laptop on my yellow kitchen stool, turned up the volume and attended my third Community Education Council (CEC) meeting in a month. These took place online, at dinnertime, and represented...
Family Life Academy Charter Schools (FLACS) is a K-12 free public charter school network located in Highbridge, Mott Haven, and the Morrisania sections of the Bronx. At FLACS, all students are empowered to excel academically by ensuring that... Learning is rigorous, engaging, meaningful &...
Gracias a todos los que nos acompañaron en nuestro webinar, NYC 3-K, Pre-K, y Kindergarten Explicado, presentado el 14 de diciembre de 2022. Los videos del evento ya están disponibles en español y inglés. En este seminario web, proporcionamos una visión general del sistema de escuelas públicas...
Thank you to all who joined us for our webinar, NYC 3-K, Pre-K, and Kindergarten Explained, presented on December 14, 2022. Videos of the event are now available for viewing in English and Spanish. In this webinar, we provide an overview of the NYC public school system (districts and zones),...
The following is a paid message from Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New York. A Catholic education is the stepping stone to your child’s future journey. Beyond an excellent education, New York Catholic schools instill family values, spirituality, and a sense of community. For many,...
The following is a paid message from NYC Charter Schools. Just like other public schools, charter schools are tuition-free and open to all NYC students, including students with disabilities and English language learners. Charter schools emphasize the core subjects of English and math, and many...
If your child has special needs, applying to high school can be an especially daunting task. The information you need to make good choices may not be readily available on school websites or in the high school directory. While all schools are expected to offer special education services, the...
The following is a paid message from New Heights Academy Charter School. New Heights Academy Charter School is excited to share that they are STILL accepting applications for students entering the 5th, 6th, and 7th grades for the school year 2022-2023. New Heights Academy Charter School serves...
The following is a paid message from Ascend. Ascend is a network of K-12 public charter schools serving 5,800 students in 16 schools across Brooklyn. Ascend exists to serve every student—to help them embody their inherent excellence by providing rich, joyful learning experiences that unlock a...
If your child didn't get the kindergarten spot you asked for, try to stay calm. Waitlists at schools move over the spring and summer. We have seen it happen year after year. Children get offers on a rolling basis as families make final choices. Hang in there. The city sent out offers for...
Learning Black history is a year-round endeavor, but since this is Black History Month, let's kick it off with a few educational resources for the whole family. Reading Rockets: Watch interviews with award-winning Black authors and illustrators of children's books, learn about the history of...
Gracias a todos los que se unieron con nosotros en nuestro mini-seminario sobre la Admisión a las Escuelas Secundarias de la Ciudad de Nueva York, que presentamos el 18 de diciembre de 2021 en colaboración con la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York. Ya están disponibles los vídeos del evento en...
Thank you to all who joined us for our NYC High Schools Admissions webinar, which we presented on December 18, 2021 in partnership with the New York Public Library. Videos of the event are now available for viewing in English and Spanish. Topics covered include understanding the process, your...
Mi nombre es Gigi Hernández y estoy aquí para proporcionar ayuda a las familias hispanohablantes de InsideSchools. Vivo en Queens y soy un producto del sistema escolar público de NYC, como mi familia. InsideSchools es un recurso para ayudarle a navegar por las opciones de las escuelas públicas....
Estimada Gigi, Buenos días. Quería saber si la escuela tiene autobuses para los niños. Mi hijo va a empezar sexto grado en una nueva escuela y tengo un bebé en casa. Si dejo al bebé en la guardería y al niño de sexto grado en su escuela, llegaré tarde al trabajo. ¿Puede mi hijo mayor tomar el...
Dear Gigi, Good morning. I wanted to know if the school has buses for the kids. My son is starting 6th grade at a new school and I have a baby at home. If I drop the baby at daycare, and the 6th grader at his school, I'll be late to work. Can my older child get a yellow school...
Large high schools with enrollment of at least 1,000 as well as small, selective schools continue to be in high demand according to Department of Education (DOE) data provided to InsideSchools. Midwood High School once again took the top spot with 10,142 applicants, edging out Townsend Harris—a...
Last week 8th-graders finally received their high school placements. Some students are thrilled, or at least satisfied, with their placements. Some are not happy and wondering what to do next. We have advice for whichever category you're in. First, a little perspective. NYC has the largest...
Applying to kindergarten in the Bronx? Application season is open! Last year we updated all 200+ Bronx elementary school reviews. Listed here are a handful of good neighborhood schools, charters, and schools that accept children from a whole district or borough. This list is not exhaustive....
Our colleagues at the Center for New York City Affairs have published the fall 2020 edition of our popular guide for high school students who are applying to college and beginning their all-important quest for financial aid: FAFSA: The How-To Guide for High School Students (And the Adults Who...
A previous version of this story ran in October 2019. It has been updated with new information for October 2020. While the Department of Education has yet to finalize policies for the Fall 2020 admissions cycle, schools that typically screen for academic performance may have different admissions...
A previous version of this story ran in October 2019. It has been updated with new information for October 2020. While the Department of Education has yet to finalize policies for the Fall 2020 admissions cycle, schools that typically screen for academic performance may have different admissions...
A previous version of this story ran in October 2019. It has been updated with new information for October 2020. While the Department of Education has yet to finalize policies for the Fall 2020 admissions cycle, schools that typically screen for academic performance may have different admissions...
A previous version of this story ran in October 2019. It has been updated with new information for October 2020. While the Department of Education has yet to finalize policies for the Fall 2020 admissions cycle, schools that typically screen for academic performance may have different admissions...
This article originally appeared in Urban Matters, a publication by our colleagues at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. There can no longer be any doubt that New York City’s plan for reopening schools is falling apart. By insisting that school buildings be opened for...
We're thrilled to launch How to Support Online Learning at Home, a free online class for NYC families available on our new community platform, InsideSchools+. It was designed by InsideSchools editor in chief Dr. Tom Liam Lynch, a former education technology professor and parent of a soon-to-be...
Now more than ever, we need each other. That’s why we at InsideSchools have spent the summer creating a new space to support NYC families in what promises to be an unusual year. It’s called InsideSchools+. We created it because we know NYC families need a lot of support this year. And our team...
John, father of 3, who have attended the following schools: PS 87, PS 75, PS 112 M, PS 206 M, Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem, Booker T. Washington, Computer School, Frank Sinatra, and Stuyvesant. What does a high quality education look like to you? A good school offers a well-rounded...
This article originally appeared in Urban Matters, a publication by our colleagues at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School. The most dramatic story of the just-ended New York City school year was, not surprisingly, the pandemic-required transition of 1.1 million students and...
Back in early March, we published a new vision for where we wanted to take InsideSchools in the next 1,000 days. Within a week, Covid-19 forced the entire NYC school system to shift to remote learning. So we switched gears too and, for three months, we have provided tons of new content meant to...
Ingrid, mother of 2 (ages 13 and 15) (Ingrid requested no photo or school names) What does a good education look like to you? Teachers and parents need to work together. I am in direct contact with every teacher so I can help my kids at home. At school, my daughter has a counselor who works...
Parents across the city have no doubt heard that there is a new survey out there that DOE officials would like them to complete. It’s called the “Return to School 2020” survey. I filled it out recently, only to realize that the survey questions might represent the best glimpse parents can get...
“Now more than ever” is a refrain you hear a lot these days. Now more than ever we need to rethink instruction, teach civics, create a culturally responsive curriculum, to name a few. Here’s one more: Now more than ever every school needs to provide a virtual tour. It’s not a new idea. We...
As #BlackLivesMatter protests flare up persistently throughout the country, teachers and families who had been mostly concerned about how to sufficiently complete the academic year online now have an unanticipated reality to address in school: widespread civic action in response to systemic...
Yvonne, mother of 4 (Girls Prep Bronx Elementary & Middle School, Success Academy) "Open communication with teachers is important to me. I want to be able to ask, 'What are the expectations? What does math look like at this grade level?'" "A lot of kids attend grades K-12 and still have to...
