In our November poll, we asked how you felt about your parent/teacher conferences. Of the nearly  550 responses, 41% said, "Great! I really had the sense that the teacher 'gets' my child." That's...

Yesterday the Department of Education announced its  intention to close four schools it considers failing:  Maxwell High School for Career and Technical Education in Brooklyn,  the Academy of...

Eighth-graders and their families are in the final frenzy of filling out high school applications before tomorrow's Dec. 4 due date after a fall of attending fairs, visiting schools, taking exams,...

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 0 1 385 2195 18 4 2695 11.1282 <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 0 0 <![endif]-->Imagine your kindergartner arrived at school...

Kids who grow up in New York City don't expect suburban amenities like backyards, basement recreation rooms, and their own bedrooms, and they're used to thinking of shared parks and playgrounds as...

Lower East Side parents are up-in-arms about the proposed expansion of the Girls Preparatory Charter School. The school is requesting more space to house a growing middle school population -- 50...

The Child Nutrition Act is up for reauthorization. All of the Untied States Department of Agriculture nutrition programs that fall under this legislation, including School Breakfast and School...

Dec. 4 is the date when high school applications are due to school guidance counselors. If you're like the average New York City public middle school parent, you have spent the fall accompanying...

Q: How can I possibly make my application special when colleges are getting thousands of them? How can mine be different and get their attention? A: How can you make your application stand out?...

Nearly half -- 45% -- of all New York City public high schools are "A" schools, according to their grades on progress reports released today by the Department of Education. An additional 30% of the...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the middle school fairs. Several open houses and tours later, my family is taking on the seemingly impossible task of ranking schools. Schools that I thought would be...

When someone asked me what high schools I might be thinking about for my 7th-grader recently, my answer came swiftly and might have sounded a bit snippy. "I’m not thinking about it at all," I...

Urban Word NYC is a spoken word, poetry, and hip-hop group aimed at serving New York City youth. They were “founded on the belief that teenagers can and must speak for themselves” and “provide...

Tomorrow, Night Owl's kindergarten will finally receive the H1N1 vaccine, but for us, it's too little, too late. My daughters were both ill two weeks ago with what their doctor described as...

Q:  My son is a junior at a high school in Queens.  He is an excellent student and would like to go to a prestigious college.  But his high school is huge and the college counselors don't have much...

Every time I arrive at an overcrowded school corridor to sign up for a three-minute parent teacher conference, I have the same thought: There must be a better way. There are too many names on the...

In our last poll, we asked if you planned to vaccinate your child against the H1N1 virus. More than 1,000 of you responded. Thirty-four percent said 'yes;' 46 percent said 'no.' And with the flurry...

Flu vaccinations begin at 125 New York City elementary schools today. The vaccines arrive with news that older students will once again receive priority at the city's weekend clinics. This...

UPDATE: The City Hall protest on Nov. 13 will now begin at 3 p.m., not 2 p.m. as previously noted. Please join students from around the city to protest the new regulation on bake sales on Friday,...

Dear Judy, Our son is in 5th grade at a charter school that's not in the district where we live. What middle schools is he eligible for? Charter school parent Dear Charter school parent: Given...

As the high school application season heats up for 8th-graders and their families this weekend, the Department of Education is sponsoring fairs in all five boroughs. While not exactly relaxing,...

TheDepartment of Education announced that vaccines for the H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses will arrive at elementary schools with fewer than 400 students on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Larger elementary...

It was a warm, sunny afternoon about a week into this school year. As I walked to the bus stop from the high school where I work, I recognized a former student (let's call him Jamal) sitting on the...

On the front page of today's New York Times comes the news that New York State's 4th-graders did not fare as well on the federal math exams as they did the last time they were tested in 2007;...

Parents who plan to test their kids for Gifted and Talented programs may attend Department of Education information sessions to learn details about the G&T process, from test to placement....