All We Hear Is Radio Ga-Ga: Is Anyone Really Listening When It Comes To NYC Schools?
Blog · School Choice

All We Hear Is Radio Ga-Ga: Is Anyone Really Listening When It Comes To NYC Schools?

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

Last week, I wrote about The Surprising Integration Skeptics of NYC (It’s Not Who You Think). As one mom on the Lower East Side advised, “Integration activists need to touch base with people they are trying to help” when it comes to proposed school rezoning and mergers. This week, we’re headed uptown for a hearing… Continue reading All We Hear Is Radio Ga-Ga: Is Anyone Really Listening When It Comes To NYC Schools?

A Very Special High School Prom Conspiracy Abetted By A Very Special Teacher.
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A Very Special High School Prom Conspiracy Abetted By A Very Special Teacher.

Glenn Mason1 Comment

“Mister, can we speak with you?” three young ladies asked as they approached me one day between classes. They were there on behalf of a fourth young lady, their friend Danielle. It was prom season and Danielle wanted to go but didn’t have the funds. From time to time I would anonymously pay for things… Continue reading A Very Special High School Prom Conspiracy Abetted By A Very Special Teacher.

In This District, Teachers and Administrators Are Complicit in the Mental and Emotional Destruction of Black Students
Accountability · Blog

In This District, Teachers and Administrators Are Complicit in the Mental and Emotional Destruction of Black Students

Vivett Dukes1 Comment

This week, a veteran teacher on Long Island gave an assignment to her students that required them to create “funny captions” for Reconstruction Era photos from United States history. The teacher is white and, yes, that is very important to note. The assignment would have gone unchecked, had it not been for the grandmother of… Continue reading In This District, Teachers and Administrators Are Complicit in the Mental and Emotional Destruction of Black Students

The Surprising Integration Sceptics Of NYC (It’s Not Who You Think!)
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The Surprising Integration Sceptics Of NYC (It’s Not Who You Think!)

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

As the 2018-2019 school year came to an end last June, incoming families at East Village Community School (EVCS), a progressive Pre-K to 5th grade elementary school in New York City’s unzoned District 1 where state test scores place it at #5 in the District, received the following email from Principal Bradley Goodman (excerpted below):… Continue reading The Surprising Integration Sceptics Of NYC (It’s Not Who You Think!)

Follow the Money and See Where It Goes: NYC Schools Edition.
Blog · Finding the Right School · School Choice

Follow the Money and See Where It Goes: NYC Schools Edition.

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

On Monday, September 23, the Community Education Council of Brooklyn’s School District #16 (Bedford-Stuyvesant) voted to ask New York City to get rid of all Gifted & Talented programs as advised by the Student Diversity Advisory Group (SDAG). There was the by now familiar rhetoric of how District #16’s schools are not racially or socio-economically… Continue reading Follow the Money and See Where It Goes: NYC Schools Edition.

How Does This Success Academy School Leader Transforms a Kindergarten Classroom Into a Family?
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How Does This Success Academy School Leader Transforms a Kindergarten Classroom Into a Family?

nyschooltalkLeave a comment

This is a guest post by Hannah Inglut, Assistant Principal at Success Academy Springfield Gardens. She has been working with Success Academy since 2013, when she started as a kindergartner associate teacher at SA Harlem 1. She won an ETHOS Excellence Award in 2017 and has held a variety of roles throughout her time at… Continue reading How Does This Success Academy School Leader Transforms a Kindergarten Classroom Into a Family?

3 Things NYC Can Do TODAY To Integrate Public High Schools!
Blog · Finding the Right School

3 Things NYC Can Do TODAY To Integrate Public High Schools!

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

I give up. New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza has decreed that the most important issue facing our public high schools isn’t that close to 80% of students aren’t graduating college-ready, SAT scores are well below the national average, or there’s a  lack of access to Advanced Placement (AP) classes. No, according to the… Continue reading 3 Things NYC Can Do TODAY To Integrate Public High Schools!

If You Want Kids To Learn, Get The Teachers Out of the Way, Says This NYC High School Student.
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If You Want Kids To Learn, Get The Teachers Out of the Way, Says This NYC High School Student.

Gregory WickhamLeave a comment

Teachers! What are they good for? Very little. In the beginning, schooling served a purpose. The British Empire needed to produce people who could keep the empire functioning by being cogs in its bureaucratic machine. Nowadays we keep the same system but without the purpose. What I propose is based on the work and research… Continue reading If You Want Kids To Learn, Get The Teachers Out of the Way, Says This NYC High School Student.

Why Was This Teacher Doing The Funky Chicken On 116th Street in Harlem?
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Why Was This Teacher Doing The Funky Chicken On 116th Street in Harlem?

Glenn MasonLeave a comment

I sent out the following tongue-in-cheek email to my family and a few friends on my last day of teaching: Did you hear about the disturbance that took place in Harlem at 11:45am today? Apparently there was this teacher dancing down the streets in celebration. He walked out of the rear door of his school… Continue reading Why Was This Teacher Doing The Funky Chicken On 116th Street in Harlem?

What’s “Enrichment,” Anyway? Can It Really Replace Gifted & Talented Programs?
Blog · Finding the Right School

What’s “Enrichment,” Anyway? Can It Really Replace Gifted & Talented Programs?

Alina AdamsLeave a comment

When I give my Getting Into NYC Kindergarten workshops to community organizations, I explain the differences between New York City’s two types of Gifted & Talented programs. The five Citywide G&T’s are Accelerated. That means that, because there is no such thing as a G&T curriculum, these schools take the standard NYC school curriculum and… Continue reading What’s “Enrichment,” Anyway? Can It Really Replace Gifted & Talented Programs?