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P.S. 9 Sarah Smith Garnet
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Brooklyn NY 11238
Our Insights
What’s Special
A warm, open atmosphere and some excellent teachers
The Downside
Not all students are consistently engaged
PS 9 has popular music and dance performances, a promising partnership with Park Slope's fabled PS 321, and steadily increasing enrollmenta sign of the community's growing confidence in the school.
The school has a mix of children of different racial and ethnic groups, which parents say is a great strength. "In the lunchroom, on the playground, in the halls, PS 9 has a Sesame Street level of mixture," one parent said. "In addition to black and white, PS 9 has a bunch of mixed-race kids and a number of South Asian kids. It's a warm, tolerant and diverse place." Both the office staff and Principal Sandra D'Avilar are welcoming to parents.
The school has a Spanish-English dual language program and gifted and talented classes that attract children from across the district. The dance and art teachers collaborate on musical productions that include 200 children and have custom-made scenery and sets.
Teachers have adopted a challenging math program called "Math in Focus," based on the techniques perfected in Singapore, one of the world's top countries for math instruction.
The Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University's Teachers College trains the staff to develop children's writing skills, teaching them to write with a voice and to revise multiple drafts.
Some teachers are excellent, engaging their pupils in imaginative projects that involve significant research. For example, children in a 5th-grade gifted class wrote polished essays on topics such as Buffalo Soldiers (African American soldiers in the Amerian West), The Trail of Tears (Native Americans' forced migration to Oklahoma), and the Transcontinental Railroad. Unfortunately, the quality of teaching is inconsistent: The school's 2015 Quality Review said there should be less teacher talking, more class discussions and a higher level of student engagement.
On the positive side, PS 9 has joined what's called the "Learning Partners Program" in which teachers and administrators visit one another's schools to share best practices. PS 9 is paired with PS 321, widely considered one of the best schools in the city, and teachers visit one another's classes at least four times a year. Principal D'Avilar says her teachers have focused on improving reading instruction in small groups; three have been named "model teachers" and are beginning to share what they've learned with their colleagues. (Two of the model teachers are in the gifted program and one teaches special education.) PS 321 principal Liz Phillips says she has seen the "real impact" as a result of the program.
The Spanish-English dual language program, which started in 2011, has grown steadily and now serves 10 classes of children. These classes, which mix children who speak Spanish at home with those who speak English, are designed to make children fluent speakers, readers and writers in both languages.
PS 9 shares a building with Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter School.
SPECIAL EDUCATION: The school offers team-teaching as well as self-contained special education classes. One of the school's "model teachers" is in the self-contained class. Teachers trained in a special program called Reading Recovery assist children with reading difficulties.
ADMISSIONS: Zoned neighborhood school. (Clara Hemphill, March 2016)
Read moreSchool Stats
Is this school safe and well-run?
From the 2022-2023 NYC School Survey
From the 2019-20 NY State Report Card
From this school's most recent Quality Review Report
From 2023 End-of-year Attendance and Chronic Absenteeism Report
How do students perform academically?
From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database
What is the Pre-K like?
From the NYC Program Assessment (CLASS and ECERS-R) Database through 2019-2020
Who does this school serve?
From the 2022-23 Demographic Snapshot
From the 2022-23 School Quality Guide
From the 2020 School Directories
How does this school serve special populations?
From the New York State 2022-2023 Assessment Database
Contact & Location
Location
Contact
Other Details
Zone for the 2019-2020 school year. Call school to confirm.
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