Joyce Szuflita (chef-leeta)
School Consultant

I came to Brooklyn in 1981, a time when the landladies of Carroll Gardens regularly sent baked ziti up to their tenants. As a scenic artist for feature films, I spent my days in the the warehouses of Williamsburg and brownstones of Bed Stuy with Spike Lee. I bought my kielbasa in Greenpoint on Manhattan Ave., my snails at Hong Kong Market in Sunset Park, and my bread from Caputos on Court St. It turns out that I was learning the territories of school districts all over northwest Brooklyn. As a mother of twins, I gathered the neighborhood knowledge at the soccer fields, the Food Coop, the day camps and dance studios down Court Street from the Bridge to the Red Hook Pool and up 7th Ave. from Greenwood to BAM. I had Brooklyn parenting down pat... until my children were old enough to enter nursery school.

I became obsessed with all things educational. My conversation was peppered with acronyms; SBO, ERB, NAEYC, SLT, UPK, TERC. I scrutinized every new Department of Education press release, and each private school addition. Our friends attended or taught at virtually every private and public school in northwest Brooklyn. I got to know the inside stories and the educators at programs all over Brooklyn.

But all good things come to an end. My daughters got their acceptance letters to two of the nation's best public high schools. What was I to do with this encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of parent's needs?

It was time to turn pro.

Now I scour the internet, tour the schools and interview the players to give you the clearest, well rounded grassroots and official information that can be found.