the dinnersteins of park slope

By Joyce Szuflita
Simone Dinnerstein is a local mom, but she is also a world class classical pianist, the guiding force behind "Neighborhood Classics" coming to a local school near you, and the daughter of two amazing parents. She has just released a new album,"Bach, A Strange Beauty" which I find is a welcome alternative to the Jingle Bell Rock that has invaded my house.

The "Neighborhood Classics" concerts "help build relationships at the local level between neighborhoods and musicians. These one-hour, family friendly performances are hosted by Simone and feature musicians she has admired and collaborated with during her career. The concerts are open to the public and raise funds to benefit the schools' students. Musicians performing donate their performances to the program and the  concerts are organized and administered by PTA volunteers and faculty members."

Simone is currently working with PS 321 in Brooklyn and PS 142 in lower Manhattan, but if you are a school that would like to find out how to participate you should contact her at simoneny@earthlink.net

Simone's talented parents are Renee Dinnerstein, a gifted educator who is currently blogging on the importance of inquiry and play within the classroom. She is hoping to open a dialog among parents and teachers in her blog "Investigating Choice Time". If you check out the album, you will also see the work of her father, Simon Dinnerstein, the wonderful painter. His painting "The Fulbright Triptych" is represented in Simone's CD and in a new book, called "The Suspension of Time" which is coming out in April.

Why live in Brooklyn? The people make the place.

Millennium Brooklyn

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.

PS 133 gets a French dual language program

By Joyce Szuflita
I just got word through a parent that PS 133 (which is getting a new school building in 2012 on 4th Ave. and Butler) is getting a dual langage French/English program in one kindergarten class starting in 2011. There is going to be an open house at the school on Nov. 19 at 9am at their 211 8th St. (at 4th Ave.) location.

They will very likely have a language assessment, similar to the one at PS 58, to determine if a child can be considered a native speaker.

They are looking for a certified bilingual teacher - if you know of one, contact the Principal, Heather Foster-Mann 718-857-4810.

Don’t shout “algorithm conspiracy!” in crowed middle school

It has been brought to my attention that there is a belief among 8th grade parents that the students who score into the specialized HS get their pick of the high schools and the rest of the students get their left-overs.

To the best of my knowledge this is untrue. I have been chasing the details of this process for years, and here is what I understand from talking to the people who understand the algorithm, the timing of the running of the algorithm and the people at the DOE who work in the secret magic cave where the computers do their work.

First, just to throw a trickle of water on this fire, the DOE can be accused of a lot of things but no one can doubt that they go to crazy lengths to try to be fair and whether they succeed or not (and often they don’t), the conspiracy theorists can calm themselves knowing that this is one of the DOE’s first mandates.

• Central enrollment receives everyone’s application in Dec.

• The schools do not know how you ranked them (and they will never know). The schools look at all the students that have placed them on the app somewhere and they internally rank them. All schools “over offer” on their private wish list of students, because they know (from vast past experience) the percentages of students who will opt out for a specialized hs choice. If there is a discrepancy from year to year, there may be some overcrowding in the specialized hs or the 1in12 list school. It happens.

• The algorithm is run for everyone in the beginning of the year and it is designed to benefit the student and their preferences. Really, I had a guy from Harvard explain it to me. It goes down the student’s list and matches them with their highest choice school that has put them on the school’s internal student wish list (plus the location priorities – that was Millennium’s fatal flaw last year) and places everyone – it doesn’t care or know who took the SHSAT, what score they got or who their favorite Beatle is.

• In January the DOE opens new schools. It is possible for all students to resubmit an application to include a new school or two. It is an opportunity for students who have moved into the city after the app deadline and independent school students who have lost their placements to try for a seat.

• In a totally separate process, the SHSAT is scored and the students are placed into the specialized hs by their test score. Then the DOE sends out a letter with the specialized hs seat and the 1 in 12 hs seat for the student to decide which one they would prefer. Remember, all the other students are already placed, they just don’t hear about their seat early. I know for certain that there are students who are placed in specialized high schools who do not get their first choice. I know for certain that there are occasionally some kids who are offered a seat in a specialized hs who don’t receive a 1in12 placement at all. Bad luck, just like the approx.8% of students who aren’t placed in the main round. Lucky for them that they have a specialized or Laguardia as a safety. Here’s where people feel that the specialized students are getting an advantage, in very rare cases the numbers are tweaked slightly if a 1in12 school’s popularity with specialized students will cause an unusual overcrowding, but this is very, very rare because the DOE is already very good at predicting popularity from past numbers and the schools have already considered this in their "over offer" numbers.

• The algorithm is run again for all remaining students to include these changes, but it is not a giant reshuffle, just fitting in students here and there (do you know anyone who ever resubmitted an app in January?) There would be very little movement if any at the selective school level. It seems that what happened at Bard last year was when the second algorithm was run there was a glitch that said it was full and the previously placed students were dropped. When it became clear, those students where offered seats at Bard even though they had been placed elsewhere.

Note: I asked the guy from Harvard about this scenario about ranking your choices on the app.:

Me: What if a student ranked their 12 choices and put Beacon as #12, and for some reason his 1 to 11 choices didn’t have him on their wish list but Beacon did.

Harvard Guy: He would be placed in Beacon.

The reason that doesn’t happen is only because of the large numbers of eager applicants trying for a small school placement. A small school with many hundreds of qualified applicants placing it as their first choice will likely fill the school before it can reach a lower choice. It is not that the school is being exclusive, it is just that they are lucky to be popular, and we all know that being popular is a big deal in high school.

why millenium didn't take brooklyn kids last year

Lisa Bowstead of Big Fish Tutoring (tons of great services, check her out) wrote this clear and accurate explanation of what happened with Brooklyn kids applying to Millennium last year on PSP and allowed me to reprint it here. If you are sad that it seems to be an opportunity that is no longer open to Brooklyn kids because of the vagarities of the number of applicants, I would make your feelings known to the people below.

The priority for selection of students has never changed 

for Millennium HS: 

   1. Lower Manhattan

   2. Manhattan

   3. The rest of NYC

Historically, 30% of Millennium HS freshman class has been from Brooklyn. Given the school's close proximity to many Brooklyn neighborhoods, this was a natural occurrence.

In last year's freshman class, the percentage of Brooklyn residents in the entering class dropped significantly. The reason for this was a sudden increase in applicants from Manhattan who filled the spots before Brooklyn residents were even considered. 

Millennium HS has asked the DOE to remove the criteria which puts Manhattan ahead of all other boroughs. I have just confirmed with Millennium HS that the DOE has yet to grant/implement this change. 

This should be a simple data update... so what's the delay?

If you would like to expedite the removal of Manhattan as a priority over other boroughs for Millennium HS applicants,

please contact:

Millennium HS, your middle school, the DOE, your local City Council person, Millennium HS's City Council person, and/or your other local representatives.  

Lisa@BigFishTutoring.com

"Be the big fish in your pond." 

mom to a rising 10th grader at Millennium HS 

and Brooklyn Resident

twinsburg, ohio

Why drive 8 hours one way to the suburbs of Cleveland? - for the largest gathering of twins in the world. This trip has been my girls' dream for years and this summer they finally got us to agree by saying that they would use it as a topic for their college essays. They know how to deal with us. We figured it would be a silly goof of a weekend. I believe that they will probably attend every year from now on if they can.

On one side it is a small town fair; hot dogs, a couple of rides, a bouncy castle, a parade with antique fire trucks and a talent show. On the other, it is over 2000 sets of twins, triplets and quads of all ages, races, shapes and sizes, gathering for 3 days of unqualified understanding, comraderie and silly fun. I have rarely seen my kids as happy. In normal life, even in twin filled Brooklyn, they are oddities. "Who is older?" and "who is the evil twin?" are the first two questions that they are always asked. They occasionally enjoy the attention but it can also be a burden. During Twins Days they are the normal ones (we singletons are the misfits). Everyone gets it. Everyone has a bond that has no age, race or philosophical differences. It is a beautiful thing.

Side note: they will want you to know that they are not in any of these pictures although they did dress alike and had their picture taken by a National Geographic photographer (watch for the twins edition in Nov. 2011)

SHSAT is looking for specialists

This is not new news but it seems to surprise a great number of people so I thought I would include the link to the very interesting article from The New York Times from Nov. 2005.

You will do better to play to your strengths on the SHSAT and if you have limited time or test prep funds it may be a significant piece of information for you.

road trip

I have logged a lot of hours on the road with my family (masking tape down the center of the back seat). This is the summer of college tours so we will be doing even more. I choose to drive because then I don't have to be the one turning around to constantly monitor the food and fun in the backseat. Now that the girls have their music for the road, things have gotten a lot quieter back there, but there are some family traditions that they still enjoy participating in. I do believe that my family's love of brain teasers has been instrumental in their success on the SHSAT (it isn't why we did it, but they have years of experience with logic puzzles). The best test prep is an active mind.

50 miles. Every 50 miles there is a little treat, something to eat, a little game or activity, another chapter in Harry Potter on CD, a brain teaser or minute mystery from one of the many stoop sale books that we have collected. We add 10 miles for every time they ask if it is 50 yet, and we take away 5 if they have used the roadside clues (signs, mile markers or mph) to estimate how far we have gone (no fair looking at the odometer!)

"which one is not like the others" This is a game we have been playing since they were very small. The only age requirement is that the child understands rules and that this is a game for fun and not for winning. The leader thinks of four things - one of which doesn't belong and everyone guesses which one. Sometimes people guess the right thing but for the wrong reason. The answer has to be guessable by the people who are playing and even though there may be many right answers the only one that counts is the answer that the leader is thinking of. The more creative the quiz and the answer the better. People are thinking up new quizzes as fast as they are guessing.

ex. Gettysburg, Antietam, Yorktown, Manassas: answer Yorktown

guesses could be Yorktown because it was a revolutionary battle or Yorktown because it only has two syllables

ex. lettuce, potato, corn, apple: answer apple

it could be that the apple is the only fruit, or that it is the only one that isn't a body part (head of lettuce, eye of a potato, ear of corn)

Greatschools.org has some good articles about traveling with kids.

how many g&t kids scored at 99?

Insideschools has the answer.

In 2009 a grand total of 1000 children scored in the 99th percentile on the citywide assessments for kindergarten gifted and talented programs.

The "99s" account for 56% of the 1788 students who qualified for citywide G&T programs by scoring at or above the 97th percentile on the tests...

An unofficial report puts this year's 99th percentile number about 300 above last year's total. The NY Times looks at the equity of the test and debating the approaches to testing, and numbers of children scoring in the 99th percentile by district.

scoring changes for next year

The Board of Regents approve scoring changes to grade 3 to 8 Math and English tests. Essentially, they have decided the tests and scoring are too dumbed down. State scores have been going up while the scores on the NAEP National Assessment of Educational Progress have remained flat.

"Senior Deputy Commissioner John King said, 'The data shows that schools responded to the assignment they were given – they worked hard to help students achieve standards as measured by the state tests that were being given at that time. And more students did, in fact, pass those tests. The problem is that those exams didn’t sufficiently test students’ abilities – the bar was set too low. But we are changing that now. It’s time to end the annual debate about whether our tests have become easier and to put to rest questions about what it means to achieve proficiency in New York.'” - NYSED press release

School, district and state results will be released July 26. I assume that the students will get their results in August as predicted.

"Cut scores classify student proficiency into one of four performance levels based on their test performance; currently, the levels are defined as follows: Level 1, not meeting learning standards; Level 2, partially meeting learning standards; Level 3, meeting learning standards; and Level 4, meeting learning standards with distinction."

tips from the audition/screened workshop

The Screened/Audition workshop for public high school choice at Brooklyn Tech this week was pretty short and sweet considering the weather and the wealth of subject matter. You can find the great, detailed audition advice as a pdf file under the July event date.

Here is the take away and some answers to interesting questions that I stayed to the bitter end to record:

The interview/audition panel is not trying to trick you. They are truly interested in you and what you have to present and they want to see your best and understand your interest or passion.

This is not American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance. You are auditioning for a conservatory not a production. They want to see technique or potential in anything you do. That means a pretty traditional approach.

• no costumes, props, feather boas, spangles, bare midriffs, ruffles or florals. Anything that distracts from you and your real talent is a turn off. Be modest and simple in your attire, and age appropriate in your prepared piece (no King Lear).

• no R&B, rock or pop tunes when you sing. If you are trying for musical theatre sing only classic Broadway (look to Rogers and Hammerstein, or Lerner and Lowe, etc., not the rock musicals)

• If you are trying for a vocal program, the same advice stands. If you can sing a song in a foreign language convincingly it is great. They are looking for long melodic lines to really hear your voice (rock and popular songs are more about the rhythm and that is not what they want).

• you can audition for different talents (instrumental, dance, art) and if you play more than one instrument you need to check with the school to see if you can audition on more than one.

• If you play a large instrument, bring your mouth piece, sticks, etc., they should have one that you can use (I would double check with the school though)

• instrumentalists: it is important for you to be able to read music. The sight reading will be important. It is not as crucial for a singer, but a plus.

• visual artists: if you do cartoons or graffiti or anime, you may include one example but they want to see how you handle formal elements, not style. Can you draw? handle color? experiment with materials? understand something about composition? If you don't have anything that shows that - start working on some pieces particularly for your portfolio.

• if you have 3D pieces you may include some photographs of them in your portfolio, but they should be clear and it helps if you put in something for scale (a ruler, a hand) and if you have large canvases and they can be rolled it is better to bring the originals than photos of them. 

• your portfolio doesn't need to be expensive, but it needs to protect your work and show that you respect it enough to keep it safe, neat and clean

• they are interested in an artist's process, bring your sketchbook or notebook if you keep one regularly

• take time to experience and talk about your art form. Practice talking about your artwork with someone. Think about the artists in your discipline that you admire and talk about why. Do you go to museums or galleries as an artist? Do you go to dance, or concerts or plays? Practice talking about how you feel about what you see and how it influences you.

• dancers: you may have real proficiency in salsa, African, tap, hip hop or other forms but ultimately you need to have some grounding in ballet and modern. If you don't have experience in the classical forms, you better start now.

• often the auditions overlap. Don't worry - let your guidance counselor know as soon as possible and the schools will accommodate with an alternate date. Do not try and audition at two schools on one day.

• it may be a long day. Bring water and a snack. Get a good night's sleep. Be professional and polite the minute you walk in the door (you never know when an auditioner is taking a break to go to the bathroom or walk around)

• Are the arts schools good academically? These programs all have AP and honors classes. These are not "easy" schools. Students are expected to go the extra mile and excel academically as they would in a regular program.

• take time at the High School Fair to ask how each school weighs the audition (at some schools they give more weight to academics than to the audition). Do they want you to show creativity or traditional technique? First, read each school's detailed audition instructions in the directory and then come with your specific questions to the fair.

high school research on insideschools.org

If you don't know www.insideschools.org and adore them (perhaps you are an independent school parent who is just dipping your toe into the icey waters of public high school) they will soon become your new best friend - after me of course.

Some helpful hints to get the information that you need.

• sign up for their email alert newsletters - you will never miss a deadline

• look up the school page within their site and click "more school data" on the upper level of the review and "read our full review" to get all the good stuff

• the information on the upper panel of the review is current, even if the review might be a couple years older

• if you have trouble finding the school by name, don't get frustrated typing the name a million different ways, immediately go to "location and level" and enter the zip and "high school" or do an advanced search and list the same, zip and level it works EVERY time!

• they are also more than reviews; the blog, news articles and forums are all chocked full of great information

• remember that they are a non profit and they need your help to keep doing the impressive work that they do, send them a little gift, they deserve it!

Greene Hill School

I got a little note from the Greene Hill School this morning and I thought that I would pass it on.

"Greene Hill School is thrilled to announce that we have found a truly spectacular permanent home for the school at 39 Adelphi St. The school building -- which has been in continual use as a school for more than 100 years -- has large classrooms with floor to ceiling windows, a library, an auditorium with a stage, and an outdoor play space. We are so pleased to be able to stay in the neighborhoods that inspired Greene Hill and invite you to contact us to learn more about out program for the fall.

More about Greene Hill:

Greene Hill School is a newly established progressive elementary and middle school located in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill Brooklyn. Conceived by neighborhood parents and educators, Greene Hill is an engaging, supportive and socially responsible community of active learners. In September 2010 GHS will offer small classes for children ages 4-8. Greene Hill School is currently accepting applications for children 4-8. If you are interested in visiting the school, please email us at info@greenehillschool.org or call 718.230.3608 to set up an appointment. www.greenehillschool.org"

I can't wait to see the new space. I would also like to add that they have a progressive focus, very knowledgeable directors, rich classroom environments and now that they have a space of their own, I think that they will really take off. Did I mention that they are among the Independent school bargains?

gifted and talented waitlist (i just said that to get hits)

There is NO waitlist for gifted & talented and NO appeal. So you may ask (and you have been asking!), what happens if families decline their offers and there are extra open seats?

Here is the answer. The DOE "over-offers". They do this at all levels of gifted programs (middle school as well as the Specialized HS) with the expectation that there will be a certain number of families that will opt out. Over the years they have a pretty accurate idea of the numbers. If fewer families opt out, the classes will be a little larger. If more families opt out the very few left over seats in highly popular programs are filled by the children who test in the summer. There are a number of families who move into the city from outside after the request for testing is filed in the fall, and they can request a summer test date. If the new students score high enough they are offered the leftover seats. Don't be too jealous of them - the seats are few and far between and they are biting their nails with no back ups in sight right through the summer. Occasionally siblings may also take the left over slots. If a student has a sib currently attending a school and the younger sib scores high enough to qualify for a seat in the school, occasionally they fall through the system. The very occasional empty seat enables the DOE to rectify this situation.

On a different waitlist matter:

The Daily News and the NY Times both have reports on PS 163 on the west side that had way too many g&t offers and the school has instituted a waitlist for parent's registering for the seats that have been offered. It appears that there will be an additional class added to accommodate the overflow.

So, families who have been offered a citywide or districtwide g&t seat, you should decide on whether you are accepting the seat or not and register. If you don't and you haven't already registered at your zoned school, charter, magnet, etc. you will be left without a seat. Remember, the DOE honors the last registration, so if by some crazy fluke you get word that you are offered a seat in some other random school over the summer, the last school that you register at, is the one that your child will attend.

high school parent coordinators

NY 1 reported that School's Chancellor, Joel Klein, will allow high "school principals to lay off parent coordinators and abolish the position as a way to combat the city's money woes." This policy only affects high school parent coordinators. The budget situation is extremely serious and it is seen as a way to give principals move room to adjust their budgets. "A spokesman says the Department of Education feels high school parents may have less of a need of the services provided by parent coordinators."

No one wants to see teachers laid off or budgets slashed, but on a purely personal level I know in my heart that my daughters success in two large public high schools was due in large part to the efforts of their parent coordinators. In a million ways, they have given our family crucial support and now that we are heavily into the college search, their efforts have greatly enhanced the talented but limited resources of the schools' college office. I just sent off two very heartfelt letters to the principals of my daughters' schools. It is the least that I can do in thanks for service above and beyond the call of duty.

middle school letters

Well, at least the waiting is over. I will say congratulations to those of you who are happy with your choices. For those of you that are interested in an appeal, you should talk to your guidance department right away. If your child got one of their top few choices an appeal will very likely be futile. The DOE will rightly argue that if your child placed the school high on the application and they gave it to your child that there is no reason to appeal. If your child got their fifth or sixth ranked choice or they were placed in a school that they didn't rank or they were given no choice at all, you should appeal. There will be some movement even in the most popular programs. Parents will opt for a "school based application school", a private or charter program and that will leave a few seats for a student making an appeal.

Now that you are not elementary school parents anymore, I recommend that you check out the blog parentsofnyteens.blogspot.com and join the fabulous yahoo group of the same name. This incredibly caring group of mostly Brooklyn parents (tell your "otherborough" friends because they are welcome too) is the support group we all need - answering questions about Axe deodorant, alcohol use, school reviews, coed sleepovers, places to buy prom dresses, tutors, testing and all things college.