Last month I wrote about allowing my 14 year-old to make his own decision regarding where he’d go to high school. After letting it get down to the wire, he finally decided that he’ll be attending the same Specialized High School his older brother graduated from in 2017. But he isn’t particularly enthused about it.… Continue reading Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School
Even before Spring Break kicked off in New York City, my email box was flooded with offers of what I could do to “enrich” my children over that time period. They could learn to code. Or cook. Or write a novel. Sharpen their basketball/tennis/lacrosse skills, design an outfit, or take part in a musical theater… Continue reading Is An “Unenriched” Spring Break Worth Living? (Hat-Tip: Socrates)
Emmy-winning Sex and the City actress Cynthia Nixon threw her hat into the New York gubernatorial race two weeks ago and, since then, she been traversing the state, stumping for a variety of issues. While the usual suspects parse her stance on subways, minimum wage, and women’s/LGBTQ rights, I am going to focus (to the… Continue reading Cynthia Nixon on Education: Look At What She Did, Not What She Says
Today, Monday, March 26, is the day when all New York City eighth-graders must either decide which public High School offer they are going to accept or, if they were given no match during the First Round, turn in their application for the schools left in Second Round. (For tips on why and how you… Continue reading Letting My 14 Year-Old Make His Own Educational Decisions
New York City’s new School Chancellor, Richard Carranza, comes to America’s largest district from San Francisco (after a suspiciously brief 18 month tenure in Houston). For the first 24 hours following the appointment, Carranza being in the International Mariachi Hall of Fame was the leading news fluff. Little about his policies. Which left NYC parents… Continue reading Want To Know What New School Chancellor Will Do In NYC? Take a Look At San Francisco! (And How It Worked Out….)
If it feels like I’ve written this post before, that’s because I’ve written this post before. (Think of it as Groundhog Day: High School Edition.) The highlights: September 12, 2016: Can Last Minute Test Prep Bring Diversity To NYC’s Specialized High Schools? September 26, 2016: As a NYC Parent, I Don’t Think the DOE’s Change… Continue reading NYC High School Admissions: What the Department Of Education Refuses To Admit
In response to my posts about how New York City parents can raise the odds of their children getting into a Gifted & Talented public school program, a reader wrote to sarcastically congratulate me on destroying what had previously been a perfectly even playing field. Her child, it seems, took the G&T test with absolutely… Continue reading Is NYC Education an Even Playing Field For All Families?
My 5th grade daughter had all five days off from school for Presidents’ Week. We took a family trip to Washington DC. We visited the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the White House, the Capitol Building, the World War II and Vietnam Memorials, and the Supreme Court building. Many… Continue reading Should Parents Be Allowed To Pull Kids Out of School For Family Vacations, Sports or Other Extracurriculars? Should Schools Be Allowed To Penalize Them For It?
Celia Scott Wickham wasn’t just an HHLA board member. She was also my mother-in-law. On Friday, February 16, 2018, Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School (for those tracking such things, one of NYC’s most diverse public schools at 36 percent White, 30 percent Black, 29 percent Hispanic) dedicated the day to celebrating their neighborhood. Classrooms… Continue reading Is Parental Engagement Necessary For a Child’s School Success? A Personal Story.
It’s February of 2018 and public Kindergarten, Middle School and High School placements are due out in about a month (or two). In order to to convince families to stick with the system and ignore all their other options, the following are things the New York City Department of Education (DOE) would like you to… Continue reading Why Quantity Doesn’t Equal Quality In NYC Schools: So Where Is the Accountability?
