School Choice

Changes Coming To NYC Middle and High School Admissions! What They Might Mean For You!
Finding the Right School · School Choice

Changes Coming To NYC Middle and High School Admissions! What They Might Mean For You!

Alina Adams1 Comment

With a new School Chancellor taking office this month, there were bound to be changes afoot. Although, in Richard Carranza’s defense, modifications to New York City’s application system for public middle and high schools have been hotly debated topics for years. Here’s a look at the proposals on deck, whom they will help, and whom… Continue reading Changes Coming To NYC Middle and High School Admissions! What They Might Mean For You!

How Are De Blasio’s School Improvement Plans Doin’? Some Answers from NAEP
Accountability · Blog · School Choice

How Are De Blasio’s School Improvement Plans Doin’? Some Answers from NAEP

Laura WatersLeave a comment

“How’m I doin’?” Ed Koch used to ask, when taking the temperature of the Gotham electorate. How are you doing, Mayor de Blasio, specifically regarding New York City traditional public schools’ showing in the just-released “gold standard” assessment called NAEP, short for  the “National Assessment of Education Progress”? Don’t ask. Or, more productively, let’s dig… Continue reading How Are De Blasio’s School Improvement Plans Doin’? Some Answers from NAEP

Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School
School Choice

Why I Gave My Son Permission To Drop Out Of High School

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

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

Wesley’s Story, Part II: “You’re Telling Me That a Child in a Wheelchair Would Be Denied a Ramp?”
Blog · Finding the Right School · School Choice

Wesley’s Story, Part II: “You’re Telling Me That a Child in a Wheelchair Would Be Denied a Ramp?”

Laura WatersLeave a comment

Back in February I interviewed Kim Williams Clark about her heroic efforts to create an inclusive education for her son Wesley, a lively, loving, and artistic nine-year-old with Down Syndrome. When the family lived in Montclair, New Jersey, Wesley was fully included with his typical peers. The family’s move to Brooklyn Heights was based on… Continue reading Wesley’s Story, Part II: “You’re Telling Me That a Child in a Wheelchair Would Be Denied a Ramp?”

Is An “Unenriched” Spring Break Worth Living? (Hat-Tip: Socrates)
Blog · School Choice

Is An “Unenriched” Spring Break Worth Living? (Hat-Tip: Socrates)

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

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)

My Son Has Autism and This School Taught Him to Say ‘Mom’
School Choice

My Son Has Autism and This School Taught Him to Say ‘Mom’

nyschooltalkLeave a comment

(This is a guest post by Violet Stevens, a 44-year-old mom of four living in the Bronx, New York City. Her youngest child, Niko, is on the spectrum. She has two passions, autism awareness and God. It was originally published at Education Post.) At 5, my son, Niko, was still in diapers. He didn’t know… Continue reading My Son Has Autism and This School Taught Him to Say ‘Mom’

Parents to Chancellor Carranza: “It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button on Mayor de Blasio’s Failing Education Agenda”
Accountability · School Choice

Parents to Chancellor Carranza: “It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button on Mayor de Blasio’s Failing Education Agenda”

nyschooltalkLeave a comment

Hundreds of public school parents joined education reform organization StudentsFirstNY and other advocates on the steps of City Hall today to urge new Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza to hit the reset button on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s failing education agenda. The parents want Carranza to deviate from the path laid out by former Chancellor Fariña and… Continue reading Parents to Chancellor Carranza: “It’s Time to Hit the Reset Button on Mayor de Blasio’s Failing Education Agenda”

Letting My 14 Year-Old Make His Own Educational Decisions
Blog · School Choice

Letting My 14 Year-Old Make His Own Educational Decisions

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

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

Want To Know What New School Chancellor Will Do In NYC? Take a Look At San Francisco! (And How It Worked Out….)
Accountability · Finding the Right School · School Choice

Want To Know What New School Chancellor Will Do In NYC? Take a Look At San Francisco! (And How It Worked Out….)

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

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….)

NYC High School Admissions: What the Department Of Education Refuses To Admit
Accountability · Finding the Right School · School Choice

NYC High School Admissions: What the Department Of Education Refuses To Admit

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

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