Recently, a friend and public school parent said to me that they were not sure they could expect their child to be known well in school, implying that such things cannot happen "in public school." It reminded me of many conversations I have had with people—personal and professional—that assume that you can't and shouldn't expect too much.

I couldn't disagree more. While NYC public schools have significant limitations in terms of money and space, we are increasingly able to hire the teachers we want (those who are hungry, constant learners—more on that in a future entry), to spend our funds in the way that we want, and to use our spaces to reflect our values about learning.

At Arts & Letters, we spend 92% of our budget on our faculty, so that we ensure that each child is known well. Every student has an advisor, who is a faculty member, charged with knowing their 15 (or fewer) students, and their families. They meet with them one on one, meet with their families, and as a group, they process social emotional issues they face.

<!--more-->We hire teachers who understand and seek out this responsibility. We use every (really, EVERY) space in our school during advisory to ensure groups of 15 or fewer. We spend a great deal of energy preparing for Advisor-Family Conferences (otherwise known as the NYCDOE Parent-Teacher conferences held twice each year). This fall, a family left the conferences saying that they had not ever felt their child was known in the way she is in our school.

Our kind of school requires a two-way conversation with our families, who know when they come to us that we need them with us every step of the way as we collaboratively raise their children. By asking for this participation, we ask them to raise their expectations for the possible within a public school. I know that we are among many small, public schools who make knowing children and families a priority.

This is our choice. Other schools have different priorities, but every school makes decisions (purposefully or less so) about what the priorities are in educating your child. As a parent, whatever your choices are, you should look around using websites like this one, and try to understand how those priorities are reflected in the every day life of the school. (And for those who believe you do not have any choices, please contact local government officials and the DOE to advocate for more!)

But please, do not lower your expectations for "public education." Maintaining your optimism, and commitment to public school's success through your participation, will elevate the conversation about schooling to be about developing individuals who are compassionate, courageous, strong, flexible learners, and thinkers. We need you (their parents) to hold yourselves and us to this standard.