Allison Gaines Pell is the founder and principal of a new, small public middle school called Arts & Letters, located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. She lives in Brooklyn, and is a public school...

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...

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...

The Department of Education is proposing changes in existing policies, called Chancellor's Regulations, regarding promotion standards, and the way in which principals and assistant principals are...

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...

Last night, I read my daughters Bread and Jam for Frances. My favorite part is the end, when Frances relishes every bite of her sophisticated boxed lunch (Lobster salad! Cream of tomato soup!) and...

Author's Note: All quotes below about my son's program are are from a recent article, "The ASD Nest Program" in "Teaching Exceptional Children," a peer-reviewed journal in the special education...

What advice can you give me for my 8th-grade son to prepare for Ivy League schools? His reply is "I'm only in 8th grade." But I worry as he is not in honors classes and I think he should be. He did...

Dear Judy, My son is just starting kindergarten in a K-8 school. If he is unhappy in a K-8 school can he apply to middle school elsewhere? Or if you are unhappy in a 6-12 school can you apply to...

Before the city released the 2008-2009 school progress reports Wednesday, the New York Post braced us for shockingly high results. But after the release, the Post had to update its statistics --...

In today's Daily News, new State Commissioner of Education, David Steiner, says our schools just need some common sense. He thinks our system is fraught with poor practices that defy logic -...

Most respondents to last week's poll said that ARIS is a helpful tool, and only a few felt that it's a waste of the city's money. Unfortunately, a large chunk of voters didn't even know what ARIS...

New York City schools are featured in one chapter of best-selling author Po Bronson's latest book "Nurture Shock," says The New York Times. What landed our schools in the limelight?  Bronson and...

At a midtown Chase Bank this morning, star-shaped mylar balloons heralded successful high school students who earned hundreds of dollars for top marks on their May AP exams. The students are...

Over the past two weeks I have been struck by the overwhelming response to Insideschools' poston banning parent-funded assistants from public schools. After reading through the numerous,...

In an editorial in today's [Daily News](http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/07/29/2009-07-29itstheuftvscityparents.html?page=1), Eva Moskowitz weighs in on the controversial  decision by the...

Summer break is hardly a vacation for more than 90 schools across the city that will be moving into new locations for the new school year. For some, moving means a home in a brand-new building,...

Claiborne Williams Milde is the parent of a kindergartner at PS 29 and a three-year-old preschooler. She lives in Brooklyn and is a freelance writer and cook. We're pleased to welcome her regular...

Yesterday in Harlem, parents, students, and staff of PS 123 protested the move of Harlem Success Academy II into their school building. They contend that  the charter school will prevent their...

Q: My son is finishing his junior year, and so far he has not done that well in high school -- his average is not quite an 80. He wants to study pharmacy. I don't want him to go to a community...

Just a few short months ago, I blogged that I would sell a major organ to see Brooks eat a vegetable. This week at dinner, my son turned to me and very matter-of-factly asked: "Can I have more...

As readers who've contributed to our comments can attest, myriad questions persist regarding gifted and talented program placement for rising kindergarten and 1st grade students. This is the second...

Q: Is the Advanced Regents Diploma necessary for getting into SUNY colleges? While our daughter passed most of her Regents exams, she failed one of them, a math test; she can re-take it, but is...

In New York City where about half of the high school students don't graduate in four years, transfer schools, which offer smaller class size, and programs tailored to individual students' needs,...

When Lydia Bellahcene’s son "E.E.," who struggles with a reading disability, was picked from a lottery to attend Williamsburg Charter High School, she was elated. “I thought my son could be...