Showing posts with label Sunset Park schools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunset Park schools. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2009
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Will Stay As Is
The name is appropriate, at least for now. OLPH has been given a pass to remain a parochial school, still supervised by the diocese. Not everyone was so lucky. Read the Brooklyn Eagle article here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School Info Night in Sunset Park
If you know of families that have a current 5th grade student, pass this information along. Sunset Park could definitely use another option for its students, and many families in the area have probably not heard about this school's upcoming opening. You need a ticket to attend this FREE event. As of today there were 107 tickets available. Those who do not have ready access to the internet can call (718)289-3174. Also, 5th grade families can register and apply with the assistance of their school's guidance counselor.
The Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is hosting its...
Family Information Night
Wednesday February 25th
at Community Board 7 in Sunset Park
Due to limited space, please only plan on attending this event if a member of your family is a current 5th grade student in district 15.
From the email:
Dear Friends of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School,
Our sixth family information night will take place on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 pm at Community Board 7 in Sunset Park For details and to register for this free event click here or go to http://brooklynprospect3.eventbrite.com/. This will be our next to last admissions event before the lottery on April 7th and a great opportunity to find out more about the school.
Please look for our next newsletter in February.
Warm regards,
Dan
Daniel Kikuji Rubenstein
Executive Director/Co-founder
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School
The Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is hosting its...
Family Information Night
Wednesday February 25th
at Community Board 7 in Sunset Park
Due to limited space, please only plan on attending this event if a member of your family is a current 5th grade student in district 15.
From the email:
Dear Friends of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School,
Our sixth family information night will take place on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 pm at Community Board 7 in Sunset Park For details and to register for this free event click here or go to http://brooklynprospect3.eventbrite.com/. This will be our next to last admissions event before the lottery on April 7th and a great opportunity to find out more about the school.
Please look for our next newsletter in February.
Warm regards,
Dan
Daniel Kikuji Rubenstein
Executive Director/Co-founder
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School
Serving grades six through twelve, Brooklyn Prospect will pair students with excellent teachers in a college preparatory environment using the International Baccalaureate program. We will prepare students for success as global citizens and help students develop the love of learning that provides the foundation for personal and professional success.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
CEC 15 to hold Proposed School Presentation and Q&A
A new high school for District 15 isn't all that is in the works. There is a meeting coming up for a proposed new school for Districts 13/15. Check it out and have questions answered. Questions like these:
* Who will attend?
* Is it Pre-K, Elementary, K-8?
* Does it require rezoning?
* Will D13/15 educators participate in the planning of the school?
English/Spanish interpretation is offered; for translation to another language, call (718-935-4267).
Free Childcare is offered. Also call (718) 935-4267 for more information.
When: Thursday, January 22, 7 PM - 9 PM
Where: Middle School 136/821 at 4004 4th Avenue (between 40th and 41st Streets)
What: Community Education Councils (CEC) 13 & 15 will hold a very important meeting with the School Construction Authority and other decision makers regarding the Proposed New School for Districts 13 and 15 (on the current site of P.S. 133, located at Baltic Street and 4thAvenues)
Who: All principals, elected officials, concerned parents, and community partners are urged to attend, with questions and input.
For further information please call Romaine Smith @ 718-935-4267.
* Who will attend?
* Is it Pre-K, Elementary, K-8?
* Does it require rezoning?
* Will D13/15 educators participate in the planning of the school?
English/Spanish interpretation is offered; for translation to another language, call (718-935-4267).
Free Childcare is offered. Also call (718) 935-4267 for more information.
When: Thursday, January 22, 7 PM - 9 PM
Where: Middle School 136/821 at 4004 4th Avenue (between 40th and 41st Streets)
What: Community Education Councils (CEC) 13 & 15 will hold a very important meeting with the School Construction Authority and other decision makers regarding the Proposed New School for Districts 13 and 15 (on the current site of P.S. 133, located at Baltic Street and 4thAvenues)
Who: All principals, elected officials, concerned parents, and community partners are urged to attend, with questions and input.
For further information please call Romaine Smith @ 718-935-4267.
Any Ideas for New School Locations in Sunset Park?
For the full article, click on the following link from The Brooklyn Heights Courier:
The School Construction Authority and city Department of Education (DOE) “rely heavily” on local residents for tips about possible [new school] locations, Kenrick Ou, SCA’s director of real estate, explained at a recent meeting of District 15’s Community Education Council (CEC).
“A lot of the challenge is the size of the property,” Ou said. “We would need 40,000 square feet,” he explained. “That’s very difficult to find.”
The SCA and DOE are looking to build new schools in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bay Ridge, Park Slope and Sunset Park.
“Sunset Park has been a very challenging neighborhood for us to site in,” Ou explained.
The SCA can be reached at 718-472-8000.
The School Construction Authority and city Department of Education (DOE) “rely heavily” on local residents for tips about possible [new school] locations, Kenrick Ou, SCA’s director of real estate, explained at a recent meeting of District 15’s Community Education Council (CEC).
“A lot of the challenge is the size of the property,” Ou said. “We would need 40,000 square feet,” he explained. “That’s very difficult to find.”
The SCA and DOE are looking to build new schools in several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bay Ridge, Park Slope and Sunset Park.
“Sunset Park has been a very challenging neighborhood for us to site in,” Ou explained.
The SCA can be reached at 718-472-8000.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
OLPH on the List of Threatened Schools
The NYT and CBStv.com have stories about the Catholic School troubles around the City. I'm sure most news sources have stories, but those were the first two that I found.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help looks so solid standing there on 5th Avenue. It's hard to believe that it is in danger of being shut down. It will be quite a blow to the area if the school shuts down.
Our Lady of Angels in Bay Ridge is also on the Brooklyn list.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
District 15 Pre-K Petition - and Potential Accompanying Controversy
Some Park Slope parents are concerned about the availability of UPK in the near future, and they have organized a petition to encourage the formation of an Early Childhood Center for Northern District 15 (of which Sunset Park is the southernmost neighborhood). Check out the text here, and see if you want to sign. The petition calls for the ECC to be "along the F line," which clearly makes it not something readily accessible to Sunset Park. MySidewalkChalk has a post about the availability of spaces in various elementary schools in District 15, and she also has a link to the petition. A comment (the first, and so far only, one) to the post brings up possible reasons for the location request:
I admit that I'm not well-schooled (pun intended) on the specific data, but I do know that the poorer end of Sunset Park - the southern end has always been ripped off by the park slope end. This seems to be racial in nature. The northern end tended to be white (third & fourth generation Italian, Polish & Irish), while the southern end saw more ethnic change. Before I would consider signing this petition, I would want to give serious consideration as to where the pre-k population is growing. The southern end is experiencing the highest birthrate in the city - in part due to Asians "beating" the one child per family China rule by being here in the U.S. Walk any side street - 40's, 50's and see the number of pre-K and about to be pre-K kids. The new residential construction in the south end and the number of undocumented residents in basement apartments and 7 families to a 3 family building is huge. South S.P. will be busing pre-k and k kids out of the neighborhood in big numbers.
I'm a fan of more schools, early childhood centers, and UPK no matter where they are. However, the commenter has a point about where population surges seem to be. Despite the explosion of 4th Avenue Condos in Park Slope, it would seem that Sunset Park has a huge fertility advantage where population growth is concerned. Of course, what things look like to the human eye are often mitigated by raw data. I'll see what I can find - although most data is years old by the time it's available.
Sunset Park has a 120 seat Early Childhood school with a solid reputation already. It also has a very long waiting list, which demonstrates need for additional programs. Check out what insideschools.org has to say about The Magnet School For Early Childhood. In addition, a new Pre-K school is set to open in 2010 on 4th Avenue and 64th. It is supposed to be able to handle an additional 18 or so Pre-K through 2nd grade classes. That will probably mean another 80 or so seats for Pre-K. It's not entirely clear which district it will serve, although its location on the northern side of the elevated highway seems to indicate District 15. Enough to supply Pre-K for Sunset Park? Probably not, but it's a start.
Thanks again to Joyce at MySidewalkChalk for her ability to disseminate information!
I admit that I'm not well-schooled (pun intended) on the specific data, but I do know that the poorer end of Sunset Park - the southern end has always been ripped off by the park slope end. This seems to be racial in nature. The northern end tended to be white (third & fourth generation Italian, Polish & Irish), while the southern end saw more ethnic change. Before I would consider signing this petition, I would want to give serious consideration as to where the pre-k population is growing. The southern end is experiencing the highest birthrate in the city - in part due to Asians "beating" the one child per family China rule by being here in the U.S. Walk any side street - 40's, 50's and see the number of pre-K and about to be pre-K kids. The new residential construction in the south end and the number of undocumented residents in basement apartments and 7 families to a 3 family building is huge. South S.P. will be busing pre-k and k kids out of the neighborhood in big numbers.
I'm a fan of more schools, early childhood centers, and UPK no matter where they are. However, the commenter has a point about where population surges seem to be. Despite the explosion of 4th Avenue Condos in Park Slope, it would seem that Sunset Park has a huge fertility advantage where population growth is concerned. Of course, what things look like to the human eye are often mitigated by raw data. I'll see what I can find - although most data is years old by the time it's available.
Sunset Park has a 120 seat Early Childhood school with a solid reputation already. It also has a very long waiting list, which demonstrates need for additional programs. Check out what insideschools.org has to say about The Magnet School For Early Childhood. In addition, a new Pre-K school is set to open in 2010 on 4th Avenue and 64th. It is supposed to be able to handle an additional 18 or so Pre-K through 2nd grade classes. That will probably mean another 80 or so seats for Pre-K. It's not entirely clear which district it will serve, although its location on the northern side of the elevated highway seems to indicate District 15. Enough to supply Pre-K for Sunset Park? Probably not, but it's a start.
Thanks again to Joyce at MySidewalkChalk for her ability to disseminate information!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sunset Park Educational Forum a Success
Read a wonderful summary of the news disseminated to Sunset Park Parents here on the educational blog MySidewalkChalk. The post comes complete with informational run-downs and how-to instructions for applying to the new high school. Check it out.
Monday, June 30, 2008
State of the Sunset Park Playground
Here's what the latest weekend of downpours did to the Sunset Park playground:
Gowanus Lounge has an update on the condition of the "next to and a part of LICH" playground (it's two, actually, isn't it?). Some equipment is in disrepair, and there is trash in the usual collection sites (corners, under benches, in the bushes). The photos look a little old, so if the shown items are still broken, that's pretty pathetic on the part of upkeep. Also, the complaints about stagnant water bubbling up with each step on the rubber tiles are pretty gross. And happily, we only have lots of squirrels and pigeons; they seem to keep away the rats. However, while broken equipment and putrid water is of concern, definitely, the trash doesn't look as delicious as ours usually does. No adult diapers, or baby diapers, for instance. And nothing like this very well enjoyed corn husk:
A commenter on GL pointed out that parents could organize a group of volunteers (like Carroll Park has) to stay on top of major concerns and show active interest in the condition of the playground. Another suggestion is to call 311 to report specific condition issues. Unfortunately, LICH has so many money issues plaguing it lately that I doubt it will step up concerning the playground unless it has to. The parents will need to be active, and they might even need to get their hands dirty. Ewww! 311 can be a long telephone call, but sometimes it actually prompts action. I have made my morning call to 311 (see next post), now it's someone else's turn.
Gowanus Lounge has an update on the condition of the "next to and a part of LICH" playground (it's two, actually, isn't it?). Some equipment is in disrepair, and there is trash in the usual collection sites (corners, under benches, in the bushes). The photos look a little old, so if the shown items are still broken, that's pretty pathetic on the part of upkeep. Also, the complaints about stagnant water bubbling up with each step on the rubber tiles are pretty gross. And happily, we only have lots of squirrels and pigeons; they seem to keep away the rats. However, while broken equipment and putrid water is of concern, definitely, the trash doesn't look as delicious as ours usually does. No adult diapers, or baby diapers, for instance. And nothing like this very well enjoyed corn husk:
A commenter on GL pointed out that parents could organize a group of volunteers (like Carroll Park has) to stay on top of major concerns and show active interest in the condition of the playground. Another suggestion is to call 311 to report specific condition issues. Unfortunately, LICH has so many money issues plaguing it lately that I doubt it will step up concerning the playground unless it has to. The parents will need to be active, and they might even need to get their hands dirty. Ewww! 311 can be a long telephone call, but sometimes it actually prompts action. I have made my morning call to 311 (see next post), now it's someone else's turn.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Public School Issues in NYC
Yesterday's Brian Lehrer show had a segment on Sandra Tsing Loh's ideas about middle-class parents and their ability and obligation to affect change in urban public schools.
The show sparked a mini-conversation on the Sunset Park Parents message board. Appropriate enough, since many middle-class parents in the area choose to send their children to daycare and early education outside of the neighborhood. Others choose private/parochial options. Naturally, this is a middle-class decision to make since the option just isn't there for those who can't afford it.
As Sunset Park changes, and as more families with the monetary ability to choose where to send their children arrive (it seems to be the destination of choice for those priced out of Park Slope and Bay Ridge), the desire to affect change for the better in the public schools will hopefully grow. Parents who have flexible schedules, or families who are able to have a parent stay at home can definitely make schools better learning environments. Some of the more daily methods of affecting change include volunteering for trips, calling teachers, visiting the school and principal, being active on the School Leadership Team/PTA, contacting the Parent Coordinator and Principal for both positive and negative feedback, sending notes in with your child.
Every child deserves an accepting school atmosphere. Every child deserves to be challenged and experience success in the classroom. Every child deserves to have a school that is clean, safe, and welcoming. Sometimes, the system seems so huge that nothing can be done. However, every school, no matter how huge, is made up of individuals - real human beings. It can be incredibly intimidating to a parent who doesn't know the system, has trouble with the language, has a remedial level of reading ability, or is just is too exhausted to "deal." It's up to the parents who can navigate the system with (more) ease to work towards a better neighborhood school. (I guess I have no excuses as an employee of the DOE.) In the end, it will make school choice a lot more friendly and inexpensive and local than it is now.
I'll move my soapbox to the side now.
An article, "Grading New York's Public Schools," in Gotham Gazette also came out yesterday. It addresses several questions about measuring improvement (or failure), and there are several "expert" essays included.
For information about individual schools, check out Insideschools.org. You should know that principals know when they are coming to check out the schools, and while glaring issues in a school cannot be hidden (PS 169 in Sunset has classes held in the hallways sometimes?), principals can choose/encourage certain teachers to speak with the representatives. And the custodial staff can make sure to give an extra polish to the floors and bathrooms. Still, it's a very good resource as ONE piece of the puzzle.
The show sparked a mini-conversation on the Sunset Park Parents message board. Appropriate enough, since many middle-class parents in the area choose to send their children to daycare and early education outside of the neighborhood. Others choose private/parochial options. Naturally, this is a middle-class decision to make since the option just isn't there for those who can't afford it.
As Sunset Park changes, and as more families with the monetary ability to choose where to send their children arrive (it seems to be the destination of choice for those priced out of Park Slope and Bay Ridge), the desire to affect change for the better in the public schools will hopefully grow. Parents who have flexible schedules, or families who are able to have a parent stay at home can definitely make schools better learning environments. Some of the more daily methods of affecting change include volunteering for trips, calling teachers, visiting the school and principal, being active on the School Leadership Team/PTA, contacting the Parent Coordinator and Principal for both positive and negative feedback, sending notes in with your child.
Every child deserves an accepting school atmosphere. Every child deserves to be challenged and experience success in the classroom. Every child deserves to have a school that is clean, safe, and welcoming. Sometimes, the system seems so huge that nothing can be done. However, every school, no matter how huge, is made up of individuals - real human beings. It can be incredibly intimidating to a parent who doesn't know the system, has trouble with the language, has a remedial level of reading ability, or is just is too exhausted to "deal." It's up to the parents who can navigate the system with (more) ease to work towards a better neighborhood school. (I guess I have no excuses as an employee of the DOE.) In the end, it will make school choice a lot more friendly and inexpensive and local than it is now.
I'll move my soapbox to the side now.
An article, "Grading New York's Public Schools," in Gotham Gazette also came out yesterday. It addresses several questions about measuring improvement (or failure), and there are several "expert" essays included.
For information about individual schools, check out Insideschools.org. You should know that principals know when they are coming to check out the schools, and while glaring issues in a school cannot be hidden (PS 169 in Sunset has classes held in the hallways sometimes?), principals can choose/encourage certain teachers to speak with the representatives. And the custodial staff can make sure to give an extra polish to the floors and bathrooms. Still, it's a very good resource as ONE piece of the puzzle.
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