(This is a guest post by Tim DeRoche, author of A Fine Line: How Most American Kids Are Kept Out of the Best Public Schools, published on the 66th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.) The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted issues of educational access in our public schools, since there are stark… Continue reading Do NYC School Zones Violate Federal Law?
(The author of this guest post wishes to remain anonymous.) We have all been hearing about looming budget cuts for NYC public schools in the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2020. We also know that September’s students will need a tremendous amount of support, whether they are in buildings or at home. While it may… Continue reading How Upcoming Budget Cuts Might Affect Your Child’s School
Ever since New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza advised colleagues that one should “never waste a good crisis” in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, NYC parents have been in a panic. They assume he’ll use it as a backdoor method for ramming through all the changes he hasn’t been able to make via the… Continue reading Never Waste a Good Crisis: How NYC Families (And Teachers And Advocates) Can Take Advantage, Too (Part #1)
(The author of this post wishes to remain anonymous.) Based on my recent experience with the middle school admission process, I can say that there are many issues with the new system. First of all, removing the appeals process makes things worse and quite difficult. For example, my kid got a surprisingly low score on… Continue reading Zero Transparency & Communication: NYC Mom Rages Against New Middle School Waitlist
(This is a guest post by Dana Kaplan. Dana has her MA in Early Childhood Education with an additional certification in Gifted Education. Dana joined PS 33, Chelsea Prep for the 2006-2007 school year. During Dana’s tenure at PS 33, she taught Pre-K for two years, launched the ICT-Kindergarten class, and independently created, piloted, and… Continue reading How To Choose a Gifted & Talented Program For Your Child
In March, the New York City Department of Education announced they would be cancelling state tests for the 2019-2020 academic year. Then, at the end of April, they revised the grading system so that those in elementary school will receive a final Meets Standards or Needs Improvement assessment, while those in middle school might also… Continue reading No Tests, No Grades, No Problem: What NYC Can Still Do
Distance learning is an opportunity. Many teachers are frustrated that all the work they’ve done, which was preparing to teach students in a classroom, is now irrelevant. I suggest they mourn the loss and move on. If they try to continue to hold on to their old methods, the ghost of the classroom will haunt… Continue reading 3 Things Teachers Need to Let go of For Distance Learning to Work
Let me recap the New York City schools week of April 18 to April 24, 2020 for you. First, on Saturday, April 18, the Parent Portal, which malfunctioned so spectacularly in so many ways last year, continued to glitch in we-obviously-haven’t-fixed-it-yet ways. General Education Kindergarten offers of admission, at that point scheduled to be released… Continue reading Your General Ed and G&T Kindergarten 2020 Admissions Questions – Answered!
(This is a guest post by Luke Skurman, CEO of Niche. Luke holds bachelors and masters degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and is a member of its Board of Trustees, where he is the Vice Chairman of the Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship committee, and a member of both the Education Affairs and the Property &… Continue reading College for All: Levelling the Playing Field for Low-income Applicants
New York City notified 8th graders of their public high school placement for September 2020 on March 19th, and 5th graders of their middle school placement on April 6. Most charter schools held their lotteries on April 1 for all available grade levels. Still to come is General Education Kindergarten placement in “late April,” according… Continue reading How To Choose a School — When Schools Are Closed: Tips for Families On What To Ask (And How To Evaluate the Answers)
