P.S. 211

P.S. 211 in Tremont is a school serving grades 3-K through 8. It shares a building with The School of Mathematics, Science and Technology through the Arts (I.S. 318), a tiny middle school, and Children's Aid College Prep Charter School Middle School.

P.S. 211 is a community school, meaning that an organization, in this case Children’s Aid, joins with the school to offer a number of services and supports beyond academics to children and their families. The school offers English as a New Language and Transitional Bilingual Education for Spanish speaking children.

The school offers visual arts to all students, with two teachers and arts organizations providing instruction in all grades. Music is available only in grades 2 and 3. Middle school students can choose from a number of activities, such as creative writing, gardening, leadership, music, peer mediation, and technology, as well as basketball.

The school’s Pre-K has lots of activities so children can explore art, nature, music, dramatic play and more, which are meant to develop a range of skills. Teachers ask children questions and invite conversation to develop language skills, mutual respect and promote positive social interactions. Children are encouraged to communicate and learn language skills through books, puppets or blocks.

A Department of Education review of P.S. 211 found students feel comfortable going to adults in the building and that teachers and others seem to care about them and value their opinion. For instance, students said, they were able to persuade the principal to change the color of the school uniform and to provide more activities during recess. Perhaps partly because of this, attendance has improved in recent years.

Teachers, responding to a DOE survey though, were far less satisfied. Only a small percentage said they would recommend P.S. 211, with many faulting the principal’s leadership and saying they have little influence in the school.

Test scores in both English language arts and math have remained persistently low for the past several years.

ADMISSIONS: P.S. 211 is not zoned and gives priority to children who live in District 12, but anyone is welcome to apply to the elementary or middle school. For more information about school enrollment and advice on how to find a program, please visit our New to NYC page . If you are a parent or staff member, tell us more about the school in our Comments Section. (Gail Robinson, from web reports, June 2020)