Albert Shanker School for Visual and Performing Arts

MS 126 is a zoned neighborhood school that admits children from across District 30 to its gifted program and to an arts magnet. Also called the Albert Shanker School for Visual and Performing Arts, IS 126 offers classes in dance, theater, chorus and art.

Alvin Ailey offers dance lessons. Children study drama with a program called enACT, Inc., and learn creative writing and art with a group called the Community Word Project.

A school-run prep course for the Specialized High School Admissions Test is open to all students.

Two-thirds of the children speak a language other than English at home including Spanish, Bengali and Arabic, according to the Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP). A focus of the CEP is improving test scores for children learning English and those with special needs.

An Alternative Learning Center (ALC) for students serving a superintendent suspension is housed in the building. The ALC operates independently of IS 126 and has a separate entrance to the building.

Admissions: Neighborhood school. For the gifted program, students from the G&T program at PS 166 are given priority. Others are admitted based on their 4th grade report cards and state test scores. The arts program admits students at random and in recent years has had room for all who apply.  (Clara Hemphill, web reports, April 2019)