Last year, the Department of Education's new middle school choice and matching process left too many special needs children who were in CTT (collaborative team teaching) classes out in the cold, particularly in "choice" districts where there aren't zoned schools and students take tests or...
This is a picture of me, Brooks, and his kindergarten teacher. It was taken last August, when she came to my home to meet Brooks and get a sense of how she could help him overcome his challenges and ignite his love of learning. She sketched out a road map that day, one that would enable her to...
Only 1,190 PTA officials out of an estimated 4,500 potential voters cast ballots this spring in the election for the 34 Community Education Councils, according to the Department of Education press office. Despite an extensive publicity campaign through the DOE's...
Dear Judy, We just got the results of my daughter’s middle school choice process and ended up with a school we did not choose. Is there any way to appeal this placement? Could it be a mistake? 5th grade parent Dear 5th grade parent: You are not alone, we have heard from many parents with the...
Q: Some of my friends want to visit college campuses over the summer. But what's the point of visiting a school when it's not in session? A: While it would be ideal to visit a college on a weekday during the regular academic year, for practical purposes this is not always possible, particularly...
A big budget hurdle for charter schools was just lowered. "Despite a prohibition on using state funds to build charter schools, the city has quietly expanded available funding for charter school construction to as much as $3.8 billion," writes the New York Post. The extra money is part of a...
Families applying to middle school should have letters by now. Since the middle school admissions process varies widely by district, we are curious how smoothly it has gone across the city. A few of the preliminary reports we have heard have included bureaucratic mess-ups (inaccurate admissions...
Update: The math scores are out and both state and city education officials have been busy touting the "steady, measured gains" (as opposed to the "steady, moderate" gains on the ELA exam). Across the state, 86.4 percent of students in 3rd to 8th grade have scored proficient, versus 65 percent in...
Last week, we asked you what you would cut from your school's budget if you had to make the difficult decision to let something, or someone, go. The most respondents, 39 percent, said that they would cut non-teaching staff, such as office workers and school aides. Twenty-two percent said that...
Parents of Manhattan's PS 9 students whosegifted & talented qualifying tests were lost are still waiting for results from the repeat round of tests, a delay that the Department of Education attributes to some students' unavailability for re-testing.Tests were scored by hand here in New York...
Themost recent update from the Department of Education lists schools that are newly closed today and others that will reopen. It also itemizes certain specific programs -- for disabled students, for example, or for kindergartners registered at one school who share a site with another school --...
We're hearing from middle school parents who've had happy news from a Manhattan citywide gifted and talented school -- but, as of Monday, hadn't yet had word regarding district G&Ts in their Brooklyn neighborhood. The deadline to accept offers at citywide gifted and talented middle schools...
Sean Keaton, the controversial principal of PS 20 in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, was arrested Thursday after allegedly knocking a kindergarten teacher off a chair, kicking him in the head, and stomping on him. The teacher, Robert Segerra, is the teachers' union...
The Department of Healthand the Department of Educationhave announced that eight additional schools will closestarting today, Friday May 22nd, in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. The eight schools, which occupy six school buildings, together serve over 6200 children. These schools will be closed,...
Break out the popcorn-- it’s movie time in Advanced Placement classes around the city! It’s common knowledge that after the AP tests, which take place in early May, AP classes become a total joke. At LaGuardia, stories are passed down about the dumbest, most irrelevant movies teachers have shown...
Questions from parents prompted us to reach out to the Department of Education for more information on 1st and 2nd grade citywide gifted and talented programs based in Manhattan. First, prospective NESTparents of rising 1st and 2nd graders, what you've heard on the tours is correct: The news is...
When it comes to special education, it's not hard to find fault with the NYC public school system. But my issue this week is the City's private schools. Last spring, my husband and I waited anxiously for callbacks from the "Ivy League" special education schools that we fell in love with during...
As predicted by Health Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden and others, continued H1N1 exposure in New York City means that more individuals are being affected by the virus. While in most cases, symptoms are mild and short-lived, the Department of Education, together with the Department of Health, has...
Department of Education spokesman Andy Jacob this evening confirmed that families of students applying to middle school for September 2009 will receive placement offers by mail "during the week of May 26." When asked why the news was delayed -- DOE's middle schools calendar originally stated...
Today, Chancellor Joel Klein previewed budget cuts at the city's schools in a message sent to all principals. The news is good or bad, depending on your point of view -- and your school's fiscal status, he said. "In aggregate," Klein wrote, "the total dollars in school budgets will be reduced by...
When Lydia Bellahcene’s son "E.E.," who struggles with a reading disability, was picked from a lottery to attend Williamsburg Charter High School, she was elated. “I thought my son could be successful. He would be given the support he needed. I had no red light, yellow light to be cautious...
Recently, we sat down with James Merriman, the chief executive of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, to talk about the politics and policies of charter schools in New York City. What is a simple definition of a charter school? A charter school is a public school and, like...
Taking a page from the District 3 playbook, yesterday parent representatives of Manhattan's District 2, joined by the United Federation of Teachers, filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education and schools Chancellor Joel Klein, charging violations of state law by DOE reconfiguration of...
Q: My daughter had a very stressful first two years of high school, and her grades suffered. She transferred to a terrific school which, however, did not take all the credits she earned at her previous school. While she can graduate from this second high school in two years, it’s been suggested...
Heads-up, pre-K families: The Department of Education announced today that it will email or snail-mail placement results to city parents late this week. Although they're not saying precisely when communications will go out, "the end of this week" sounds pretty committal. Families who applied...
Career educator Mitchell Weiner, who devoted his entire professional life to IS 238in Hollis, Queens, passed away on Sunday -- the city's first loss to H1N1 virus, commonly called swine flu. Whether the school might have closed sooner, or the experimental treatments offered to Weiner, or...
Pre-K should be part of local, zoned schools citywide, said two-thirds of readers who responded to our poll last week, with full-day pre-K strongly favored over half-day options. Universal pre-K is now offered at schools and community-based organizations; while some full-day programs exist, many...
Space for pre-kindergarten classes shut out of PS 3 and PS 11 in Greenwich Village because of kindergarten over-crowding will be available next fall at 27 Barrow Street, the home of the Barrow Street Nursery School, according to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Department of Education...
How gerrymandered can an election get? Parents inquiring why the Community Education Council advisory vote results were not yet posted have discovered -- once again -- that the Department of Education has unilaterally decided to change the rules of CEC elections midstream. Originally, the result...
After days of scrambling and searching for about 60 missing gifted and talented program tests for students at PS 9 in Manhattan, Department of Education spokesman Andy Jacob said yesterday that the test company, Pearson, found the mis-marked box -- but that the tests everyone thought were there,...
Last week, a number of LaGuardia juniors found out that their math tracks are being abruptly ended. As a junior in trigonometry this year, I was expected to take pre-calculus in the fall, and take the Math B Regents Exam in January. Now, because of budget cuts, seniors will not be allowed to...
For parents of PS 9 students, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, who took the gifted and talented tests this year, the wait for results has been particularly tough, because their children didn't receive test results -- and the actual tests aren't in the possession of the Department of Education.Now,...
As the mayoral-control debate escalates hereand in Albany, a parallel conversation is simmering locally, about the city's recent rise in standardized test scores. Two Daily News articles set a strong counterpoint: Last week, columnist Juan Gonzalez challenged the gains touted by the Department...
Last night, I was one of 50 parents of students with special needs at a meeting called by Garth Harries, the new Senior Coordinator for Special Education at the Department of Education. Held at PS 199 in Manhattan, the meeting was billed as an opportunity "to solicit informed and thoughtful input...
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has joined the search for new pre-K locations in Greenwich Village, afternews leaked last week that the pre-K classes would be bumped from overcrowded PS 3and PS 41. An emergency task force has been assembled and, according to an email from Quinn sent this...
Parents of children who tested for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade seats in district and citywide gifted and talented programs this year have faced frustration and confusion as they await news of test scores -- and, for parents at one Upper West Side school in Manhattan, for evidence that their children...
The city's budget woes will force a ban on new teacher hiring, reports the Times (today and last week), the News,and others. The teacher's union hashigh praisefor the new strategy, which aims to place 'excessed' teachers, often languishing in DOE rubber rooms, back into classrooms citywide....
Quick catch-up for parents looking for 1st-grade gifted and talented program information; we have answers from the Department of Education to some general questions (thank you, Andy Jacob), and look forward to details on a couple of specific questions tomorrow or early next week. First, Jacob...
Last week, we asked what you thought the Department of Education should do if the swine flu continued to spread. Most voters agreed that the system should keep running, with 36 percent of voters advising that only children and teachers with symptoms should stay out of school and 30 percent of...
With all the attention focused on kindergarten overcrowding, it's important not to forget the middle school students who have yet to be matched with a high school they want to attend. It's time for the Department of Education to stop boasting about how many more students got their first choice...
_ Update _: The scores for New York City schools and charter schools have been posted. Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein celebrated the city's gainson English Language Arts test scores in Washington, D.C. yesterday even as the State's new Regents head, Merryl Tisch,...
News has been scarce for families of kindergarteners who tested for 1st-grade gifted and talented programs. While the numbers are far smaller than those for kindergarten-entry G&T, families have questions -- and deserve answers. Here's what we've learned. Not only were fewer rising...
This afternoon at 1 p.m., the Department of Education will present results of the State English Language Arts exam for New York City public school students in grades 3 through 8. These scores help to determine a school's Progress Report score -- and, in some cases, its survival. Principals and...
Solidarity was the buzzword at City Hall Wednesday afternoon, when parents, children, teachers, and elected officials pressed a range of complaints against the Department of Education’s kindergarten admissions policy. They chanted “build more schools” and “hey, hey DOE, G&T is not new...
As we await word from the Department of Educationon first-grade G&T eligibility, a succinct, cogent analysisof kindergarten G&T testing, in a GothamSchoolscomments string, is well worth considering, especially set against DOE claims of gains in historically underserved communities. The...
[Ed Note: New details from DOE added in Update at end of post.] The Department of Education has gathered and analyzed kindergarten waitlist data for Manhattan districts 2 and 3, according to a message sent by DOE spokesperson Andy Jacob at 5 p.m. today. Data on other districts are not yet...
Thirty Bronx parents gathered in a small Riverdale office suite on Monday evening to discuss the gifted and talented admissions process, following the Department of Education announcement that 45 percent more students qualified for kindergarten “gifted” programs this year. The chatter quickly...
The students waitlisted for kindergarten at Manhattan schools PS 3 and PS 41 will be able to register at one of these schools for class this September -- but the pre-K students promised seats for next year will not be able to attend the schools. PS 3 and PS 41 have been directed to close their...
Previous reports at insideschools.org and The New York Times highlighted the shortage of kindergarten seats at high-profile Manhattan schools. However, an informal Insideschools survey completed by principals across the city indicates that schools outside of Manhattan face similar challenges....
Q: My son is a junior and is going to a college fair next week. What questions does he need to ask and should he bring anything with him? How does he prepare for a college fair? A: Spring is college fair time! When I was a college admissions rep, I always looked forward to fairs because I got to...
Dear Readers, Last week's question concerned a student theft of another student's property. Judging from the number of comments this column received, this question clearly struck a nerve with parents. Debate among readers ranged from blaming the incident on the student for bringing a forbidden...
