(This is a guest post by Irina B., an NYC mom just starting on her public school journey.) My daughter, Ava, was offered a public pre-K spot at PS 347. We accepted our offer in May, got a call from the school, toured it and confirmed our acceptance with the below email From: noreply@myschools.nyc Subject:… Continue reading The UPK Seat That ‘Just Disappeared’ & the NYC Mom Who Fought Back!
It’s been a long, arduous, and stressful New York City public school admissions season. And, unfortunately, it’s not over yet. The Department of Education (DOE) has now pushed admissions to public Gifted & Talented programs for grades Kindergarten through 3rd to “late July.” Meanwhile, families of rising 9th graders are still hoping for a seat… Continue reading NYC Mom Exposes School Admissions Deception
(This is a guest post by Jennifer Tuttle, currently the PTA President of PS166Q, Henry Gradstein School, where her first grade son attends school in Astoria, Queens. She is also the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Speech at The City College of New York.) As part of his agenda to reshape the DOE,… Continue reading District 30 Reacts to the Unceremonious Dismissal of Beloved Superintendent: Where’s the Engagement We Were Promised, Mayor Adams?
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
I have been offering open-to-the-public Getting Into NYC Kindergarten and Getting Into NYC High School workshops for about 15 years now. But it was only four years ago that I started hearing the question: How will Betsy DeVos being Secretary of Education affect my child’s school? My reply is to ask parents to name the… Continue reading #VoteLocal: Who Is Really Responsible For Your Child’s Education? (Cuomo, De Blasio, and More!)
Even though they had six months to plan for re-opening New York City’s schools, Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza still insisted on doing everything at the last minute. Schools were supposed to begin remote learning for all on Wednesday, September 16, and blended/hybrid for those who chose it on Monday, September 21. … Continue reading Straight From the Trenches: Parents Report What Really Happened During NYC’s First Days Of School
Last May, I reported on how the Department of Education lost dozens of Gifted & Talented tests — and waited almost four months to inform families (after weeks of telling them the tests weren’t lost, the parents must have done something wrong!). Retests were offered to those affected along with students new to New York… Continue reading Lost Scores, Retests & The Current State of Gifted & Talented Programs in NYC Schools
Fearing a teachers’ strike, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio pushed back public schools’ starting date from September 10 to September 16 for all remote learning, and September 21 for the hybrid model. Since Hizzoner closed public school buildings on Monday, March 16, communication and information have been in painfully short supply. Families have… Continue reading Parents’ Top 5 Concerns About NYC Schools 2020
Last month I got to the bottom of why some parents’ Pre-K, Kindergarten, Gifted & Talented, Middle and High School waitlist numbers were moving in the wrong direction. This week we tackle the question of why, unlike in previous years, when there was a hard deadline issued by the Department of Education, different families are… Continue reading Different Families Get Different G&T Deadlines: Where’s the Fairness and Equity? I Go To the DOE For Answers!
