By Joyce Szuflita
The PAR Team recommended that the vote for rezoning be moved to late winter or spring. With the deadline for fall 2021 kindergarten coming up on Jan. 19, 2021, the recommendation is that any re-zoning plan go into effect for the 2022-23 school year.
The map for the re-zoning will be publicized in the new year, in line with vote.
One aspect of the possible proposal is to transition PS 676 to a middle school.
That’s all she wrote for now.
By Joyce Szuflita
Update 2023: This school never opened.
The Whittle School and Studios is opening in the fall of 2020, upstairs in the Macy’s building on Fulton Mall. Larry Weiss, former Head of School at Saint Ann’s and Brooklyn Friends, is going to be their Brooklyn Campus Executive Chairman.
Info events: Nov. 14 Brklyn and Nov. 21 Manhattan
More information all about admissions. They have early admissions as well as a regular timeline through Ravenna. They will eventually be early childhood through high school but they are only accepting applications Prek through Kindergarten at this point. Contact them for more information.
It is all just beautiful PR so far. We will all be curious to see how they develop.
Washington Post - deep background on Chris Whittle the founder
WSJ to follow shortly this week.
By Joyce Szuflita
There are many unanswered questions, but finally the rumors about where Arts & Letters is probably relocating can be answered! They are likely moving and merging with PS 305. I have lots of questions about how prospective families will be considered, like, will it now be an exclusively zoned school rather than non zoned? Will it be some kind of hybrid? Will there be additional seats for K or MS? Inquiring minds want to know! I think this sounds like a great solution. A merge helps A&L find a new permanent home and it help bring thoughtful attention and popular muscle to 305, a local school that is drastically under-enrolled. It also helps PS 20 where A&L was formerly co-located. They now have room to come into their own.
Here is the parent blast from the Principals involved about it:
By Joyce Szuflita
There are lots of reports about locations for new public or charter school programs. While the news may be exciting, for many families they won't be open in time for your child to access them. Many of them are for 300 seat schools. Just so you know, that is a tiny school. Just because it is a new school site, doesn't mean that it will be a new school, or that it will mean rezoning in the neighborhood. There are several schools looking for new locations to expand; International Charter School of NY (D13, looking for room to grow to 5th grade), Success Charter Cobble Hill (D15, looking for room for their middle school), Arts and Letters (their community and their co-located school, PS 20 have preferred that the schools each have their own space), We just can't predict what the space will be used for ahead of time. Remember PS 133 used to be a zoned school in D13 - it is now an unzoned D13 school that serves both D13 and D15. Lots of things can happen.
By Joyce Szuflita
Two big District 13 middle school announcements came in today.
Dock St. and M.S. OneBrooklyn.
Woo Hoo!!
By Joyce Szuflita
New school alert. We knew it was coming- the beautiful new building on E. 8th St. between Kermit and Caton is almost done. PS 130 has been rezoned and "split-sited" and will be occupying part of the building. MS 839, a small school (300 students when they are at capacity in 3 years) will be opening in the fall. If you are interested, sign up for email alerts on their website. All District 15 5th graders can apply by asking for a "New School Application form" from your school. That application is separate from your main application. If you receive an offer to MS 839, you will still have your main round middle school offer and you choose between the two. A little more school information here. Can't wait to learn more!
By Joyce Szuflita
There is a new STEM based Independent School opening in Brooklyn in fall of 2014. They are a for-profit K-12th grade program that will be housed in new construction in Red Hook on Sigourney Street.
They have an in interesting pedigree. They began as a charter school network in Arizona, Texas and DC and they have grown to become one of the most highly respected High School programs in the country according to US News and World Report. They have 14 charter programs and they are opening 2 new independent schools in Brooklyn and San Jose, Ca. The school is accepting applications for K-10th grade (there may be some "bridge classes" depending on enrollment). Tuition is $23,500. for all students. There may be merit scholarship (no needs based financial aid) opportunities in the second year and beyond.
The HS program is 3 years with a 4th year "Essentially, 12th grade Capstone courses transition students from student-centered learning to independent learning. Capstone students study subjects like Category Theory, Organic Chemistry, Quantum Mechanics, Differential Equations, and Game Theory. These courses delve deeply into advanced material and are roughly equivalent to upper-level college courses. The result is that BASIS students enter college prepared to excel in at least intermediate-level college work." - Basis Charter website
Specific admissions information is coming shortly, including applications. They don't have age cut off set yet. They are happy to talk to families on an individual basis about this. There isn't any open house information yet, but I will list it here and in the newsletter when they are scheduled. Student:teacher ratio, 15:1 (first to fourth grade); 25:1 in middle school and smaller again in high school.
By Joyce Szuflita
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School, the local International Baccalaureate 6-12th grade charter program, beloved of Park Slope families, is opening a growing K-5th grade in downtown Brooklyn for fall of 2013.
By Joyce Szuflita
Heather Foster-Mann, PrincipalI am sure you have heard by now that PS 133 (temporarily located in the St. Thomas Aquinas building on 4th Ave. and 8th St. for the last 3 years) has become a "school of choice" for both District 13 and 15. It will return to its old site (4th Ave. and Butler) in fall 2013 and move into a brand new much larger building.
There are a few changes. First, the zone for PS 133 has gone away. The few blocks that made up the zone have been absorbed into the neighboring PS 282 zone. We don't know exactly how registration will be handled but it is likely that if there are more people applying than there are seats available that there will be a lottery for the seats. It is a big school to fill and there will be lots of seats available.
Read MoreBy Joyce Szuflita
I mentioned that I had some experience in a new school in the last blog and I thought it might be interesting for you to know a little more about that experience, lest you think I am just making all this "positive change" stuff up. I am sending this out as a love letter to the families considering the "new program" in Park Slope, PS 705 and New American Academy in District 17, PS 414 in Williamsburg and the myriad of new charter programs that are popping up in many districts, including BUGS Middle School that I hope will find a home in fall of 2013. My kids attended a local, diverse, strong and established elementary - our new school experience came at middle school. If you think that this doesn't apply to your situation - let me say that it I think it is a lot easier to "pioneer" at elementary when the kids are little and mostly under the influence of their parents.
By Joyce Szuflita
We have been waiting for word on several changes that are expected to land on the neighborhoods (particularly Park Slope) before the new year. It appears that the DoE is flying some trial balloons. Let me stress that nothing is set in stone yet! This should be decided by Jan. of 2013.
Here are the players: District 15 schools that are full to bursting (321, 39, 107)
District 13 school, PS 133, that is getting a brand new and lovely, large building on 4th Ave. and Butler on the border of Gowanus and Park Slope - is moving back to that new building in the fall of 2013
St. Thomas Aquinas School building on 4th Ave. and 8th St. where the students from PS 133 are being housed until their new building is done, will be vacant for a new program in fall of 2013.
By Joyce Szuflita
I had a great interview yesterday with Eva Irizarry, the new Principal of Brooklyn Arbor, a public school program. The school, which will be also be known as PS 414, will be opening a kindergarten, first and second grade in the PS 19 building in the fall of 2012. PS 19's upper grades will be phasing out in the next couple years and new children entering the building will be attending Brooklyn Arbor. Zoned families can all be served at the school, but the zone also contains PS 319 and some zoned families choose to begin there at K. PS 19 was in its first year of a Magnet Grant. It looks as though the Grant, whose theme is "Global and Ethical Studies" may be split between PS 19 and Brooklyn Arbor. That is being confirmed shortly. The application period for in zone families will be extended to 3/16 for kindergarten, but there are many, many seats available for families from outside of zone and when approved shortly, magnet applications will be available for those families. Those applications can be made throughout the spring.
By Joyce Szuflita
I am getting a lot of questions about Success Charter Schools' plans to open new schools in District 15, 14 and 13. Charter schools like any school should be judged individually on their own merits. Each school is a workplace and like your job they can be collegial and supportive or toxic. Once you have a great boss who supports and trusts her talented and hard working staff, you need the students and parents to "bring it!". Then, what is the educational model that the school will attempt to adopt? What kind of schools will these new schools be? We just don't know.
By Joyce Szuflita
New High Schools are always coming online and are usually announced shortly before the New HS Fair in Jan. but news of Millennium II has leaked so Lisa Gioe made an announcement to her parents at MS 447 Math and Science District 15 last night.
Millennium 2 will be opening in the John Jay HS complex on 7th Ave. and 4th St. in Park Slope in Sept. 2011 with Lisa Gioe as principal. It will be a replication of the popular Millennium HS with the addition of an ASD NEST program like the one that has been instituted at 447. I believe that this may be the first program of its kind in a HS. It will also be an "advanced Exploratory Program supporting internships". It will not be a choice on the Main Round application. If you would like to add the school to your list of HS you can do it during the short period after the New HS Fair in Jan. when you are allowed to resubmit the application and add new programs that will be starting in fall.
Currently MS 447 has two very experienced Assistant Principals, Sharon Mahabir, who has been with the school since its founding and Dawn Faraj who had also been the Math Coach and a long time asset to the school. One of them will likely be tapped for the 447 principal's job.
It will be interesting to see if the Millennium brand will draw more local families to the John Jay building. I am also concerned for the lovely and focused students from Research that I heard speak recently in support of their school. A co-location is always a rocky process, but it doesn't necessarily have to be one that harms the existing schools. I hope that all the programs will grow in strength with the attention that will be directed to the building.
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