Alina Adams

Alina Adams is a New York City mom of 3 school-age children and a New York Times best-selling author of soap-opera tie-ins, figure-skating mysteries and romance novels. She is a contributing writer to TODAY Show Parenting, Mommy Poppins, BlogHer, Red Tricycle, Café Mom, and Kveller. After going through the NYC school application process with her own children and realizing just how convoluted, Draconian and needlessly complex it was, Alina resolved to help make all parents aware of all their school choices—and how to get them—via her books, “Getting Into NYC Kindergarten” and “Getting Into NYC High-School,” as well as her podcast, “NYC School Secrets: Parents Helping Parents.” Read more and listen at: www.NYCSchoolSecrets.com
If NYC Mayor Won’t Engage With Communities, We Bring the Community Engagement To Him! Parents Speak Out On Gifted & Talented ‘Reimagining’
achievement gap · admissions · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

If NYC Mayor Won’t Engage With Communities, We Bring the Community Engagement To Him! Parents Speak Out On Gifted & Talented ‘Reimagining’

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In February 2021, when describing the new Gifted & Talented programs he was planning for the 2022-2023 school year, New York City Mayor De Blasio promised: “We will spend the next year engaging communities around what kind of programming they would like to see that is more inclusive, enriching, and truly supports the needs of… Continue reading If NYC Mayor Won’t Engage With Communities, We Bring the Community Engagement To Him! Parents Speak Out On Gifted & Talented ‘Reimagining’

What Mayor Eric Adams Might Mean For NYC Schools
literacy · NYC Election · NYC Schools · School Choice · school diversity

What Mayor Eric Adams Might Mean For NYC Schools

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As soon as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his $635 million dollar Academic Recovery Plan, focusing on early literacy, increasing digital access, college and career counseling, bolstering special education programs, building a new universal curriculum and expanding emotional support, supporters and detractors leapt in with follow-up questions. This isn’t surprising as, like… Continue reading What Mayor Eric Adams Might Mean For NYC Schools

Independence Day: How Covid Spurred NYC Families To Explore All Their School Options
Educational Equity · homeschooling · Hybrid Learning · NYC Schools · NYC Schools Reopening · online learning

Independence Day: How Covid Spurred NYC Families To Explore All Their School Options

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“How’s homeschooling going?” I am asked regularly by those who know I allowed my middle child to leave Stuyvesant High School this past November, two months into his Junior year. (I was actually stopped on the street by a woman who pointed at me and told her kid, “That’s the mom who let her son… Continue reading Independence Day: How Covid Spurred NYC Families To Explore All Their School Options

George Clooney Loves School Choice: Now We Can, Too!
Blog · NYC School Admissions · School Choice

George Clooney Loves School Choice: Now We Can, Too!

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Movie stars love school choice. Even (especially?) when they don’t realize they’re exercising it. For instance, Good Will Hunting himself, Matt Damon, narrated a documentary about how charters are “draining funds from our public schools” and why everyone should attend their zoned option in order to keep that from happening. While sending his own daughters… Continue reading George Clooney Loves School Choice: Now We Can, Too!

Just When You Thought NYC Gifted & Talented 2021 Couldn’t Get More Absurd…. Parents Tell All!
admissions · DOE incompetence · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

Just When You Thought NYC Gifted & Talented 2021 Couldn’t Get More Absurd…. Parents Tell All!

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A month ago, I asked: Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions. The current state of affairs is so absurd it even got covered nationally. Qualifications letters went out on June 4. When I notified my mailing list about it, a parent wrote back, “It’s so… Continue reading Just When You Thought NYC Gifted & Talented 2021 Couldn’t Get More Absurd…. Parents Tell All!

Which Mayoral Candidate Do You Trust With Your Child’s Education?
NYC Election · NYC Schools · Vote Local

Which Mayoral Candidate Do You Trust With Your Child’s Education?

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Primary Election Day in New York City is Tuesday, June 22, 2021. Early voting began on the 12th and runs through the 20th. As I have stressed over and over, who the mayor is has a much greater effect on your child’s education than who the governor is, who the president is, or who the… Continue reading Which Mayoral Candidate Do You Trust With Your Child’s Education?

Choosing My Daughter’s High School To Please Mayor DeBlasio
admissions · NYC high school · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · School Choice · screened nyc schools

Choosing My Daughter’s High School To Please Mayor DeBlasio

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Regular readers of New York School Talk know how important Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval is to this NYC mom. Hizzoner was most displeased with the high-school choices I made for my two older sons. I have only my daughter left. This is my last chance to get it right! When trying to figure out… Continue reading Choosing My Daughter’s High School To Please Mayor DeBlasio

NYC Mayor Promises Full Return To In-Person School, No Remote Option: Parents Respond
coronavirus · Hybrid Learning · NYC Parent Voices · NYC Schools · NYC Schools Reopening · online learning · Parents Helping Parents · remote learning

NYC Mayor Promises Full Return To In-Person School, No Remote Option: Parents Respond

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New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio announced on March, 24, 2021 that, come September, all public school students would be back in the classroom, five days a week, in front of live teachers. A remote learning option would no longer be available, and medical accomodations for teachers would be severely curtailed. Here is what the… Continue reading NYC Mayor Promises Full Return To In-Person School, No Remote Option: Parents Respond

How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t
admissions · NYC high school · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents · School Choice · School Waitlists · screened nyc schools

How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t

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Waitlists had long been a fact of life for New York City Kindergarten and Gifted & Talented admissions, Hunter College Elementary, and other public charter schools. But Mayor Bill De Blasio only added them to middle and high school admissions in 2019. (Previously, there had been a Second Round for teens who didn’t get any… Continue reading How NYC School Waitlists Work – And How They Don’t

Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions
admissions · DOE incompetence · Educational Equity · Gifted & Talented · NYC Kindergarten · NYC Parent Voices · NYC School Admissions · Parents Helping Parents

Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions

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After his own Panel For Education Policy voted down renewing the contract that had been used to test students for New York City public school Gifted & Talented programs in January of 2021, Mayor Bill De Blasio swore that parents of incoming Kindergarteners would still be able to apply their children for admission… somehow. In… Continue reading Where Is the Equity? Different Students Face Different Tests for NYC Gifted & Talented School Admissions