When parents ask me why I’ve written a book called “Getting Into NYC Kindergarten,” and one called “Getting Into NYC High School,” but NOT one called “Getting Into NYC Middle School,” I explain it’s because the NYC middle school process is so convoluted and varies so much from district to district, I couldn’t write one… Continue reading Middle School Mayhem: Prospective Admissions Changes… And Their Consequences
In addition to taking the “ridiculous” Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) which I so cruelly forced him to study for, my 8th grade son also auditioned for the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art & Performing Arts. (Yes, that’s really what it’s called and that’s really how it’s punctuated, although most… Continue reading Do NYC Arts High Schools Set Extremely High Standards… In Everything But Academics?
The big buzz word in New York City education is: Diversity. On October 26, 2017, yet another plan was announced, this time promising to bring diversity to Lower Manhattan’s District 1. District 1 is already a choice district, in that families are not limited to a local zoned school, but can apply to any school… Continue reading It’s Not My Kid’s Job To Make Your Kid’s Educational Experience Better
As I wrote last week, it’s school application time for 2018 in New York City! Public high school applications are due on December 1 (excluding Specialized schools). Public Middle-School applications will become available in November and are also due on December 1. Kindergarten Connect, for all public school general ed programs, is scheduled to open… Continue reading Mistakes Parents Make When Ranking NYC School Choices, From Pre-Kindergarten to High School
(This is a guest post from Raymond Ankrum, Sr., the Executive Director of Riverhead Charter School. It was originally published here on his blog.) SUNY, a nationally recognized charter school authorizer for New York State has recently made headlines for approving a new, innovative approach of allowing its high-performing charter schools to certify their own teachers. Charter schools in recent… Continue reading This School Leader Considers SUNY’s Controversial Plan to Allow Charter Schools To Certify Their Own Teachers
It’s school application time in New York City! Parents of four-year-olds are taking advantage of every to advantage to prep them for entry into public Gifted & Talented programs, private schools, and the hybrid Hunter College Elementary. Parents of 5th graders are wrestling with the convoluted process of middle-school admissions. Meanwhile, 30,000 8th graders took… Continue reading Do Parents Know How To Choose the Best School in NYC?
(New York School Talk exists to offer a “safe space” for parents, teachers, students, and anyone invested in public education. Most of our bloggers support charter school expansion in New York City. Not all of them do. We deeply value all voices and believe that differing opinions can lead to enlightened strategies to address what… Continue reading Sharing Space Doesn’t Make For Safe Schools
In May, The New York Times blamed school choice for why the NYC high school application process is so complicated and traps the neediest kids in the weakest performing schools. I countered that the problem wasn’t the concept of school choice, but that a weak K-8 educational system left many teens with few choices by… Continue reading Your Cheat Sheet For Figuring Out All Your NYC High-School Choices – And How To Get Them
“They were bullshit!” said my Dad. I burst out laughing . My soft-spoken father, who most often could be found reading history books and playing chamber music when he wasn’t teaching social studies at John Bowne High School in Flushing, so vehemently negative about the courses he took while earning his M.A. in education! At… Continue reading “Why Would Anyone In Their Right Mind Lower Standards?”: Charter Schools Win a Round
For her last post in Education Week’s Bridging Differences blog, education scholar and advocate Deborah Meier writes: The notion that we can leave (education) to the whims of individual parent choice in marketplace fashion is problematic. Good parents are inclined to put their own children’s immediate interests first. Meier, as her bio states at the bottom,… Continue reading Beyond The Zone: All Your NYC Elementary School Options (And How To Get Into Them) Explained!
