Category: Public School

Pre-kindergarten registration for this school year ends on October 28, 2011!

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There is still time to enroll in a Pre-K program for the 2011-2012 academic year!

You can still enroll your four-year-old in a Universal Pre-kindergarten (UPK) program at a public school or an early childhood community-based organization (CBO) program. Universal Pre-kindergarten programs are free for children who turn four by December 31, 2011 and live in New York City.

To find a UPK program in your area you can:

The deadline to register is October 28, 2011. Be sure to contact the Pre-kindergarten programs in your area to find out about availability. Openings will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.

When you go to register, bring the following:

  • Your child
  • Proof of residence (two documents)
  • Child’s birth certificate or passport
  • Child’s immunization records

For more information about Pre-kindergarten programs, visit the Department of Education's website, review Early Childhood resources, or call 311.

See previous post for additional details on the NYC 2011-2012 Public Pre-K Admissions process.

Source: DOE Website

NYC Gifted and Talented programs Applications for the 2012/2013 School Year

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Parents of 4 year olds, applications for the New York City public schools gifted and talented programs for kindergarten admission in the 2012-2013 school year have begun.  Deadlines for city’s program is are much earlier this year than last so now is the time to take action.

There are 2 different gifted and talented (G&T) programs available – the NYC Department of Education's (DOE) public school G&T program and Hunter College Elementary School.  Each program has it’s own distinct screening test.

Hunter College Elementary School (HCES) is a NYC elementary school for intellectually gifted students administered by Hunter College, not the DOE.  If you’re thinking of applying to HCES you will need to complete the application and have your child tested now.  See our timeline here.  HCES uses the Stanford Binet screening test.

If you’re applying to a NYC DOE G&T program, you have a bit more time, but you will need to complete and submit a Request for Testing (RTF) form by October 28, 2011.

All details are available in the DOE G&T handbooks online.

Important dates:

September 26, 2011 - Families begin submitting RTF Forms

October 28, 2011 - Deadline to submit RTF Forms

October 2011 - Gifted and Talented Parent Information Sessions – see flyer for dates and locations

January 3–February 10, 2012 – Current K-2 Public School Students, OLSAT/BSRA testing at school sites

January 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 & 29, 2012; February 4 & 5, 2012 - Current DOE Pre-K Students and Non-Public School Students OLSAT/BSRA testing at selected sites

Mid-April 2012 - Score reports and applications with available G&T sites communicated to eligible students

April 20, 2012 - Applications due

Week of May 21, 2012 - Placement offers communicated to families

Week of June 4, 2012 - Deadline for families to accept/decline placement offer

 

The DOE will be conducting G&T information sessions in all 5 boroughs starting next week.  DOE staff will give a comprehensive presentation and answer parent questions.  G&T Handbooks will be provided.

Manhattan, October 5, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Brandeis High School, 145 West 84th Street

Staten Island, October 6, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., New Dorp High School, 465 New Dorp Lane

Queens, October 11, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Long Island City High School, 14-30 Broadway

Bronx, October 12, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Theodore Roosevelt Educational Campus, 500 East Fordham Road

Brooklyn, October 18, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., MS 113 Ronald Edmonds Learning Center, 300 Adelphi Street

Bronx, October 19, 2011, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., P.S. 121 Throop, 2750 Throop Avenue

 

Things to note:

Test used is the OLSAT/Bracken, same as last year.

Kids who attend Pre K at DOE public schools are tested at their current schools.

Non-Public and Charter School Students must submit the RTF form online or to one of the Enrollment Offices listed on the back of the form by the deadline. 

NYC Test Scores for 2010-2011 School Year

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Overall test scores for the 2010-2011 school have been released and are available here.  You can find out your child's individual score by signing in to ARIS and entering their OSIS number.

Students scores need to be at Level 3 or higher in order to be grade level proficient.

Performance Level Label
Level 1 Below Standard
Level 2 Meets Basic Standard
Level 3 Meets Proficiency Standard
Level 4 Exceeds Proficiency Standard

Overall, 43.9 percent of city students in grades 3-8 reading and 57.3 percent in math met the standards.

New York City Schools institute sensible bed bug policy

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Bed bug infestations are a huge problem in New York City. Major hotels, retail shops and corporations have been affected in the past few years.   I think it's only a matter of when, and not if, your individual school will be infested.  That's why the city's previous bed bug policy didn't go very far in resolving instances of bed bugs in schools.  In fact, the city says that bed bugs are not a major problem for schools, but many parents and teachers say otherwise.

Prior policy was that a school official had to collect physical evidence of bed bugs and mail them to an office in Queens, in order to initiate a treatment in their affected school.  With the new procedure, The Department of Education has set up a new email address, bedbugconcersn@schools.nyc.gov, for complaints about bed bugs in NYC schools.  School officials now have the option of emailing photographic evidence of bedbugs to the DOE for a much quicker response, instead of mailing them and waiting days for an answer.

Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, pushed for these changes and hails the win as, "An important victory in the fight to rid NYC schools of bed bugs."

Have you had instances of bed bugs in your school?  Let us know how it was handled.

Education News For Week Ending July 31, 2010

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Education news this week has been breaking at a dizzying pace.  This interview with on Democracy Now with Diane Ravitch, a professor of education at NYU, New York University, and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Leonie Haimson, a public school parent and executive director of Class Size Matters, is well worth a read.  Here are some highlights: Continue reading "Education News For Week Ending July 31, 2010" →

Pre-K Registration Round 2 for 2010-2011 School Year

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Round 2 Pre-K admissions for the 2010-2011 school year are underway.  These are pre-K options for families who applied in Round 1 and did not receive an offer, as well as opportunities for families who are applying for the first time for pre-K options at both DOE sites and community based organizations.

Directories and applications are available online and at borough enrollment offices.  The deadline to submit an application is Friday, July 30. Offer letters will be sent to families in late August.  See our previous post on the subject for additional details.

If you live in Distritct 3, an additional Pre-K section will open at PS 191 (210 West 61 Street).

For more information, visit the Pre-Kindergarten Admissions page on the New York City Department of Education website.

NYC Pre-K applications for the 2010-2011 school year

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It's the most wonderful time of the year (not!).  The Preschool application season has begun anew in New York City for the 2010-2011 school year.  Here's the deal - if your child turns 4 years old before December 31, 2010 then you can enroll him/her in a public school pre-k program that starts in September 2010.  That's the easy part.  How to do so will take a bit more effort on your part.  But do not despair, I'll help walk you through the process. Continue reading "NYC Pre-K applications for the 2010-2011 school year" →

massive school cuts

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PS 180, like every other school, has been hit by the budget cuts. Every day it seems like another service is being cut. Our principal has been the master of getting money from stones, but even he is saying that we need to organize NOW. So a great PTA meeting this last Sat. I have to say I am impressed in that I have not seen a drop in PTA meeting attendance. We're starting grant writing workshops in earnest. I touched base with a friend who is VP of a firm that specializes in grant writing for non-profits, so once we're on our way she can help with polish.
ALSO our school has been awarded the 2010 Outstanding Early Childhood Program Award. Apparently it has been many years since a Public School has won this award which is given by the NYC Interagency Early Childhood Professional Development Institute. So that's pretty awesome....

In addition to grant writing workshops which I'll be attending, I'm also arranging a Feb cocktail party with raffle and a letter writing campaign to some local officials who are pretty open about wanting higher office. Time to get better at playing the game...

PTA meetings

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The PTA meetings are well attended at 180. We had about 30 parents at our November meeting and it's great to see that the "Jag Dads" (our school mascot is a jaguar) are really getting active. The school has an amazing auditorium and the dads are planning a monthly movie based on a book. The idea is to read the book, see the movie and have a discussion after. Of course moms are welcome, but the idea is to have dads make this their night and I'm all for it!

We discussed budget cuts and how it will impact the services we have now. We're ok for the short term, but if there has to be such drastic cuts next yr, we're in trouble. I've joined the fundraising committee, I'll see what we can drum up....our first raffle is this week. My company, as usual, has donated sevices :)!

Brayden adores, adores his teacher and his classmates. He runs to school every morning and even his teacher remarked at what an amazing , loving group of boys are in the class. They hug each other each morning and pat each other on the back. Can't believe how cute they are!

Charter school fight for space in New York City

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In my school district, the choice of public schools leave something to be desired.  That's why I was very excited to learn of plans for the first public French-American charter school in New York City to open here in September 2010.  My enthusiasm has dampened a bit since I've started researching and reading about charter schools and the recent charter school movement in New York.

Charter schools are a key part of President Barack Obama's plan for the reform of our education system.   NYC's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, also thinks that charter schools play a vital role in improving the city's public education system, and has made increasing the number of the city's charter schools a key initiative of his third term.

An article in today's New York Times discusses the city's strategy, thus far, of awarding space to new charter schools.

It's a debate that will only get more and more contentious as more public schools are closed down to reopen as charter schools, themselves public schools but supported with private money.  Personally, I disagree with this tactic and feel that this is a way of privatizing our public schools, which I ABSOLUTELY disagree with.  Why can't we invest in improving the schools we currently have?!

Should we continue to open new charter schools or should we work on improving our current schools?  Please leave a comment and tell us your thoughts.