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
On Thursday, December 10, 2020, almost exactly nine months after he first closed New York City public schools, Mayor Bill De Blasio triumphantly announced that he finally has a plan for dealing with the disruption and learning loss. He calls it the 2021 Student Achievement Plan! (But wasn’t the bulk of the disruption and learning… Continue reading A Matter Of Trust: Why Some Families Have Lost All Faith In NYC Schools
As we shared last week, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio unexpectedly held a press conference the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend to announce the school re-opening plan he’d promised the previous Wednesday but then said would be coming sometime in early December. (Got that?) Hizzoner proclaimed that while middle and high schools would remain… Continue reading The Needs Of the Many Outweigh the Needs Of the Few: NYC Schools Edition
On October 29, Brooklyn City Council member Brad Lander reached out to his New York city colleagues: I am writing to request your support for Reso 1397 which would prohibit the use of screens for admission into community school district middle schools for the 2021-2022 school year. To counter, I shared my May 2019 post,… Continue reading An NYC Schools Admissions Plan So Crazy It Just Might Work – For Everyone
The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP) — nicknamed “America’s Report Card” — released their 12th grade scores at the end of October. The horrifying results: Just 37% of 12th-graders reached or exceeded the academic preparedness benchmarks for both math and reading that would qualify them for entry-level college courses. (Ed. note: They are being… Continue reading The Other Epidemic: Majority of American High School Seniors Aren’t Proficient at Reading Or Math
To date, our most popular post of 2020 has been: The (Last Minute) Plans of Mice and Men… And NYC Schools, listing all the ways in which Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza have been announcing, then walking back, then changing school reopening plans since the spring. Now comes another bait and switch:… Continue reading NYC Mayor Pressures Families to Opt Into Hybrid Learning: Parents Fire Back!
Mayor Bill De Blasio, multiple members of the City Council, and Chancellor Richard Carranza insist there is only one action which will solve all of New York City’s school woes —including over 50 percent of students performing below grade level, dismal college readiness rates, and more. That action is: Integration. You see, all of these… Continue reading How NYC Department of Education Is Thwarting School Choice – And Integration
My husband is a teacher. He’s back at work five days a week. My oldest son is a junior in college. They sent him home back in March, and already informed us they’ll be remote for the entire 2020-2021 academic year. My younger son is a junior in high school. He has opted for all… Continue reading Naked Came the Mother & Other Embarrassing Remote Learning Stories