The 2012 school admissions season is upon us! Because of New York City's system of school choice, 5th and 8th graders spend the fall deciding where to apply to middle or high school. Families of...

Confused about the high school admissions process? Department of Education enrollment officers will be traveling to each borough twice in October, offering evening information sessions to families...

Parents of prospective kindergartners in some New York City neighborhoods tour elementary schools the way families elsewhere visit colleges, (although they may not bring their 4-year-olds...

Sex education classes will start in the spring semester at all of the city's public middle and high schools. When the initiative was announced in August, a poll of Insideschools readers showed that...

"How's Brooks doing at the new school?" That is the number one question I get these days, and the answer is: "Really, really good." But it comes with an asterisk: "So far." This necessary...

I am a lousy PA parent. I watch in awe as my peers chair meetings, organize bake sales, get street permits for carnivals, and write grants for enrichment programs, all the while juggling jobs and...

Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott presented a five-point plan to increase parent engagement on Wednesday night, proposing the creation of "parent academies" in every borough, and...

Update Monday, Oct. 31: GothamSchools reports that Eva Moskowitz cut her presentation short on Saturday after parents protests disrupted the meeting. Opponents of the plan outnumbered parents who...

"The fact that everybody wants it, that doesn't mean all that much." So said Governor Andrew Cuomo on Oct. 17, explaining why he had decided not to extend the "millionaire's tax." Some public...

Budgets are tight and schools need all the help they can get to bring in outside resources. Applying for grants is one way to help ensure that extra funds become available to your school...

Parents attending parent-teacher conferences this week may be hearing talk about the “Common Core” and wondering just what it is. At a Department of Education presentation in October, David...

Nothing bad happened to us this fall. Except that one day when I took Brooks down to his little yellow school bus and then got to work, I got a breaking news message on my phone that there was a...

December holidays always pose a dilemma: What gift can I get my child’s teacher that says “I appreciate everything you do” and “I get on my knees each day and thank God I don’t have your job”?...

Parents are skeptical that parent involvement will improve with the reorganized Division of Family and Community Engagement (FACE), headed by Bronx parent Jesse Mojica. It's the third time that the...

Just in time for Christmas, the Department of Education today released 2011 summer school information. More than 6,000 3rd-8th graders were unnecessarily required to attend summer school in 2011....

Teachers, women's groups and elected officials will rally Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 10) to demand that the Education Department remove a Bronx principal who made lewd remarks to staff members. The...

Dear Parent, Thank you for agreeing to chaperone our upcoming field trip. It's safe to assume you are a first-time volunteer, since all parents who chaperoned previous field trips have informed us...

Mayor Bloomberg recommends that you visit a school before enrolling in kindergarten. So why won't some schools let parents in? "We recommend that you call schools of interest to schedule a time...

There is an inherent irony in this artistic mecca we call New York City when it comes to the Education Department's arts education policies. Insideschool's own Judy Baum reported that although...

Parents who unwittingly lead young children into addiction often can pinpoint that horrible moment when they’ve hit rock bottom. My moment came Thursday when my 6-year-old daughter, home from 1st...

Parents of kids with lopsided abilities despair of finding the right educational fit: for the math whiz who has dyslexia; the child with a photographic memory who can’t sit still; the ace...

A research study released last week found that teens at new small high schools in New York City are more likely to graduate than their peers at other, larger schools.  Under the Mayor's watch, the...

The elementary schools in the Bronx have been improving in recent years, but many still have a long way to go. Some Bronx parents still prefer to take their children to school in Manhattan. Here...

Our Feb. 7 Insideschools event "Applying to Kindergarten" is fully booked. All RSVPs are now going on a waitlist. Everyone who is on the waitlist is welcome to come at 8 p.m. for a Q&A session....

Most children in Queens attend their neighborhood elementary schools, and there isn’t a lot of room for shopping around. However, if you are dissatisfied with your zoned school, here are some...