P.S./ I.S. 66

PS/IS 66, open to children from across District 18, is a welcoming school with a challenging curriculum and good attendance.

The building, opened in 2003, sprawls over a large lot that includes basketball and tennis courts as well as two playgrounds and a garden. A high tech science lab for middle school students opened in 2009 and an early childhood center—with water tables for early science lessons and plenty of blocks to teach early math concepts—opened in 2011. Unfortunately, the school is next to a heavy industrial area, bordered by heavily trafficked Rockaway Parkway.

District superintendent Beverly Wilkins praised Principal Lucille Jackson for creating a welcoming environment with high academic standards. Jackson, formerly the assistant principal, has led the school since 2010.

Some teachers have expressed concerns about order and discipline, and one-quarter of the middle school students responding to the Learning Environment Survey said they don’t always feel safe in the corridors or in the neighborhood outside the building. Howver, incidents of bullying have declined since the middle school introduced an anti-bullying curriculum, Wilkins wrote in the school's 2012 Quality Review.

Special education: The school offers both “self-contained" classes (children with special needs only), and team-teaching classes, where children with special needs and children in general education learn side-by-side, with two teachers.

Admissions: Call the parent coordinator to arrange a tour. Children are admitted by lottery. (Clara Hemphill, statistics and web reports, February 2013)