what i am hearing in the nyc school help echo chamber

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By Joyce Szuflita
This is not a large sample and it is from a very narrow range of residents in northwest Brooklyn, but it is pretty consistent, so I thought that I would report on the buzz from where I sit.

In the effort to make some decisions about how to deal with school in the fall, these are the assumptions parents who talk to me are making. Conflicting assumptions are often held simultaneously, thus making any action impossible or wildly uninformed. They are all just feeling around in the dark. One thing to point out - I don’t know any more than you do, but I do have a calm head.
Assumptions:
Everyone who can, will move out of the City (forever, for 6 months, for 2 years).
This is the time to buy in the City.
Everyone will flee to private school for the smaller class sizes and student: teacher ratio (for 1 year, or forever).
Everyone will flee to public school because of the economy and the deficiencies of Zoom School.
Everyone is going to hire a tutor and home school.

First off, don’t assume. Take this one moment at a time. It is probably too early to tell what emerging plans will be put into place on the public or private side, what the economy will look like and how Covid will react.
Look at your family and your child and try not to make a fear based move (City or not, public or not).
Resiliency and flexibility (along with creativity and humor) will get us through this. There are likely to be some opportunities as things sift out, but they will likely be most available to people who remain patient and keep a cool head.

People who panic drown.


i like art in high school, but I don't want to be a professional artist

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i like art in high school, but I don't want to be a professional artist

By Joyce Szuflita
Who says you have to pick your career in high school?
The high school art audition programs get the reputation as being only for the singularly passionate or wildly talented. The idea that the “Fame” school (LaGuardia) is only about becoming a professional artist and dancing on cabs is overrated. When searching for high schools, many students disregard those programs immediately, because they don’t think of themselves as “those kids” or as talented enough. If you have no interest, then they are not for you. If you like doing whatever (performing or visual arts) and wouldn’t mind digging deeper, then you should investigate further.

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why I love middle sized high schools

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why I love middle sized high schools

By Joyce Szuflita
High Schools in NYC are either 500 kids or 4000. That is very odd.
While there are many good high schools that are tiny or giant, my optimal size is 1000-2000. That is 250 to 500 students in the graduating class; enough to have lots of sports, arts, electives and extra-curriculars but small enough that you have probably run into everyone in your class at least once. The academic and social biodiversity that this size promotes is healthy. You can find your people, but it won’t take you four years to do it.

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High School Admission information for fall 2021

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By Joyce Szuflita
We have dates:
Register to take the SHSAT or audition for LaGuardia by
Oct. 21, 2020
Dates for the Boroughwide High School Fairs (positive thinking!) under “Virtual Tours and Attending Events”:
Oct. 3-4 and Oct. 17-18, 2020
Dates for the Specialized HS test- under “Take the SHSAT”
Locations to take the SHSAT- under “Take the SHSAT”
The deadline for high school application is Dec. 4 2020.

We have Admissions Guides!
The Regular HS Admissions Guide
The Specialized HS Admission Test Guide (practice tests)

Go to Inside Schools to think about your list and use their advanced filters.

Go to individual school websites to see if they have any virtual tourish information yet.

How has remote learning been going?

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By Joyce Szuflita
Everyone wants to know. I don’t get enough reports to make any judgements. One problem is that individual teachers and individual students will have personal challenges that have a big impact. Which schools had the best plan and the best support for their staff is the question. Are there schools where there is a lucky cluster of teachers who have embraced this challenge or show a talent for drawing out and engaging their students remotely?

I would be happy to take your comments about your experiences. It is also wildly important that you send in reviews to www.insideschools.org about your in school in normal times as well as remote school experiences for next year’s parents who will be searching for K, 6th grade and 9th grade. I can’t tell you how important this is for your neighbors. Please, please do it now. If you are a student, try not to dig into personal grievances. Tell about the good and the bad. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Be fair but be specific.

Please, please share as much concrete information as possible.
If you feel that you can comment about your school below (you may do so anonymously):

  1. how old is your child? and if it is a positive review (lets try and stay positive)- what is your school?

  2. how often and how long is their interaction with their teacher each day?

  3. if you are having a good experience, do you credit it to the talent of your particular teacher or has there been institutional/school backup?

  4. is there any one particular thing that is most effective?

What should 5th graders do to prepare for middle school admissions in the fall?

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What should 5th graders do to prepare for middle school admissions in the fall?

By Joyce Szuflita
With the knowledge that much is yet to be revealed there are definitely things that you can do now to prepare for the fall. The City is starting to address concerns about admissions and the Chancellor has scheduled Admission Engagement Sessions by borough to allow you to weigh in on the changing admissions process.

First, you should know that even if you have a zoned middle school (and that is rare) you will be able to rank schools in your district of residence (and in the district where your child attends public school - which is usually the same district).

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high school admissions in fall of 2020

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high school admissions in fall of 2020

By Joyce Szuflita
WARNING: EVERYTHING THAT YOU READ HERE IS CONJECTURE. I AM TOTALLY GUESSING.

So everyone has been asking me what is going to happen in the fall. Ummmm, I know that I am very confident in my pronouncements, but the thought that I would know what the virus, Governor, Mayor and Chancellor will do in Sept is a wonderful vote of confidence. I appreciate it.

The City is starting to address concerns and the Chancellor has scheduled Admission Engagement Sessions by borough to allow you to weigh in on the process.

Here is what we don’t know:

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Prek placements and wait lists 2020

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Prek placements and wait lists 2020

By Joyce Szuflita
Prek placements are out. Check your account in MY SCHOOLS for results.

Placements:Many people are happy. Congratulations to them.
Of course, I am hearing from families who have gotten placements way down at the bottom of their lists or schools that they haven’t ranked at all. The City will make every effort to place you in a school from your list, but they don’t guarantee you something from that list. Families are often surprised that they got a low placement. That application is a list of your preferences, that is all (very important but not strategic). You are likely to preference very popular programs that can’t possibly take all the students who apply, and small programs that don’t have enough seats for all the families who may have a high priority.

Your ranking of the school doesn't advantage or disadvantage you for a placement. Families often think that their ranking of the schools equates to leverage and it doesn't. Watch this vimeo to get an idea about the algorithm.

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News about Brklyn Prospect Charter school in 2020

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News about Brklyn Prospect Charter school in 2020

By Joyce Szuflita
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School has several schools in District 15 and District 13.
Currently:
Downtown Elementary School in D13 K-5th grade
Clinton Hill Middle School in D13 6-8th grade
Windsor Terrace Middle School in D15 6-8th grade
Brooklyn Prospect High School in D15 9-12th grade

First, there will be a new Elementary School in D15 in the fall of 2020 - Windsor Terrace Elementary

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essential prek information

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essential prek information

By Joyce Szuflita
Here is what you need to know about placement:
You will be ranking up to 12 choices on your MY SCHOOLS application through March 16, 2020. Don’t wait until the last min., the website often gets glitchy. Take screen shots of any trouble you have and of your final list, just in case you have difficulty. You can always fix it at the Family Welcome Center if you tell them of your troubles in a timely way.

  • The biggest misunderstanding about prek is that you will be attending at your zoned school. There are about 75,000 kids on a grade in NYC. There are around 30,000 prek seats in public schools. Those seats, depending on the neighborhood, will go first to siblings of zoned students and then occasionally to some zoned students. The other 40,000 seats will be in a variety of places; NYCEEC’s, Prek Centers, a few Un-zoned schools and a few Charter Schools.

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how does kindergarten placement work?

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how does kindergarten placement work?

by Joyce Szuflita
This is what is going to happen:
You are now ranking up to 12 choices on your MY SCHOOLS application. Don’t wait until the last min., the website often gets glitchy. Take screen shots of any trouble you have and of your final list, just in case you have difficulty. You can always fix it at the Family Welcome Center if you tell them of your troubles in a timely way

  • You don’t need to rank 12, but why not add a few thoughtful choices as insurance.

  • You don’t have to rank your zoned school, but you will still likely get placed there, because it is the school for which you have the highest priority.

  • You are not “guaranteed” a placement in your zoned school, although it is VERY likely.

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How do I find universal prekindergartens?

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By Joyce Szuflita
Where are the free preks in Brooklyn?
You can search on the DoE’s MY SCHOOLS platform (“browse” the directory at the bottom of the page), but it doesn’t show you zone lines which are important priorities for some programs. It will only show you schools within a mile of your house, unless you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the search and click the forward arrow. That shows you schools within two miles, but doesn’t include the previous search, so you can’t see schools in context.

Do you want a simple map that lays out the options in one place? Here is last year’s Prek Directory. I have edited and condensed it to fit in this blog.

Why don’t they publish this online? I can’t tell you. Call 311 and complain.

New Independent School in downtown Brooklyn in 2020: The Whittle School and Studios

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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

Brooklyn Eagle

Daily News

WSJ to follow shortly this week.


How to find your zoned school, 2.0

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How to find your zoned school, 2.0

Updated 12/22
By Joyce Szuflita
You are not necessarily zoned to the elementary school that is closest to you. Almost everyone only has one zoned school. There are many zoned schools within a district, but you don’t have the same priority access to all of them. You are not guaranteed a seat in your zoned school at kindergarten. That is too strong a word, although the DoE will make every effort to place you in your zoned school and in most cases it is wildly likely that there will be a seat for you.

The DoE’s website is here. I recommend that you use Google Chrome (seems to be the least glitchy search engine for this).
Most parents will start and end with the “Enrollment” tab, although there is a wealth of information buried in here in many different tabs. I particularly like “About Us”: “Insights and Reporting” and “School Planning”.

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Prek: when you engineer a complicated electronic search, you restrict access in two ways

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Prek: when you engineer a complicated electronic search, you restrict access in two ways

The ability for families to search for UPK programs in the fall and early winter, solely by using the convoluted MY SCHOOLS browse is a problem for me. When you design the way people can access information in a complicated and specific path, people who don’t think in the same way and people with different devices will be disadvantaged. I have no doubt that the search will be useful to many eventually, but the lack of a simple static online map as an additional and extremely necessary resource is a joke. It also doesn’t cost you a dime.
READ TO THE END TO GET A THE LIST.

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More about rezoning in D15

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By Joyce Szuflita
First, as many of you know, the rezoning plan for Bococa including PS 15, 29, 32, 38, 58, 261 and 676 has been postponed to distribute information more deeply and engage the community in the planning. As far as we know the current zoned lines will be in place for 20/21 admission season. So all of you with 2015 bday kids applying for kindergarten - it will be business as usual.
Any changes will be made in the fall/winter of 2020 and take effect for kids entering the schools in fall of 2021. Any students currently attending the school at that time in K-5th grade will be unaffected by the rezoning and can remain in the school even if their home zoning status changes.

The District has announced that there will be a new rezoning effort made in Sunset Park

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stuff to keep in mind for middle school search 2019

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stuff to keep in mind for middle school search 2019

By Joyce Szuflita
Tours and open houses are booking now. Go to schools’ individual websites for info. There is a mania for naming schools things that often has nothing to do with what is going on in the school. Don’t judge too quickly by the name. Also, all of these schools have to cover the same curriculum and they only have three years to do it. They will often only talk about the stuff that makes them different. MOST of what they do will be THE SAME. It is different deal at high school where the schools can wrap up the basics required for a NYS diploma in a couple of years and you spend significant time doing AP’s, IB’s, College Now classes, electives or pre-career classes. Middle schools are more the same than they are different!

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