New Charter School in Lefferts Gardens!

I just got the exciting news from Hawthorne Street that the proposed District 17 Lefferts Gardens Charter School that will be partnering with the Botanic Garden has the go ahead for fall of 2010. They are waiting on a location but the school hopes to be housed close to the park. Whether you are pro charter or not, this is another option for local families and it answers a need in the community.

"the school will feature an environmental-science program that spans across disciplines. The over-arching idea is that the learning will be "experiential"—meaning that teachers will try to connect what goes on inside the classroom (and out) to children's daily lives. The school plans on working with the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens and the Prospect Park Audubon Center as part of its curriculum." - Hawthorne Street

Sunset Park HS campus

I just got back from touring the Sunset Park HS building.
It is everything that you would hope it would be, spacious, light, and beautiful. Three schools are housed there right now, Sunset Park HS which will grow at capacity to 1600 students (currently with a 9th grade), Brooklyn Prospect Charter (currently with a 6th grade) which will be housed there for two years before they find their permanent home and The Lillian Rashkis School, a district 75 program. I would recommend that all parents of 5th and 8th graders make time to tour the appropriate program housed in this building. They are worth a look.

There is a community barbecue celebrating the opening of Sunset Park HS tonight, Wed. between 5-8pm
The school is located at 35th St. between 3rd and 4th Ave.
Meet the administrators, teachers and students and tour the building.

Lots more boys born in 2004?

There is an interesting thread on the Park Slope Parents list serve musing about the number of boys born in 2004. There are reports that some kindergarten classes around the slope have twice the number of boys than girls. Several popular nursery schools have also been advertising that they are looking for girls and I heard of a threes program that is normally completely full of siblings was offering seats to girls. Is this all just an interesting anecdotal interlude or are there really way more boys under 5 in the neighborhood?

When I was a diaper changing mother of twins we saw cycles. All of the moms that had twins around the same age as my girls had girls, with the occasional fraternal boy/girl in there. A couple of years after that ALL of the moms had boys. It would be interesting to track. Is there a Phd thesis out there that needs to be written? Please get right on it.

Brooklyn Prospect Charter has its location!

Brooklyn Prospect Charter has announced that they will be located within the Sunset Park High School building in the fall of '09. Sunset Park HS will be in a brand new building on 35th St. and 4th Ave. in Sunset Park. The high school will be accepting 400 students next fall in their first year growing to 1600. So for the first couple of years there will be room in the building. Brooklyn Prospect was planning on accepting about 88 6th graders in their first year.

The Brooklyn Prospect Charter says, "We are grateful to Principal Corinne Vinal, Council Member Sara Gonzalez, the Center for Family Life Co-director, Julie Stein-Brockway, Community Board 7 and the Sunset Park High School Task Force who have worked tremendously hard in the creation of Sunset Park High School. We look forward to working closely with them to ensure a seamless collaboration and strong foundation for both schools."

You still have a couple of days to sign up for the Brooklyn Prospect Charter School's lottery. They are extending the deadline to April 5. If you can't do the registration on line call (718) 289-3174. This is an extension of the deadline. Go to their website to register. www.brooklynprospect.org This does not effect the regular middle school application. It is an extra option. You have nothing to loose, and another option to gain.

Brooklyn School of Inquiry

This is information from the Brooklyn School of Inquiry's brochure.
"Within our self-contained classes, you'll find enrichment and a variety of accelerated teaching styles geared toward children with superior intellectual potential."

Their Philosophy: "Brooklyn School of Inquiry believes gifted and talented students require a curriculum of diverse content and great depth to realize their full potential. We are committed to the whole child: our goal is to balance the social, emotional and academic development of our students in an environment that nurtures creativity and fosters divergent thinking. We believe parents play a crucial role in the daily life and long-term growth of their children's school. It is through this vital home/school connection that we will partner with parents to build a sense of responsibility in children about the importance of attendance, punctuality and homework. Together, we will create a community that values sensitivity and respect for others. We support the development of self expression through dance, theatre, music, painting and drawing. Collaboration with many New York City cultural institutions enables us to promote the arts both in and outside of our classrooms."
The Academic Curriculum: "differentiated integrated curriculum, infusing Science, Social Studies and Literacy into thematic studies shaped by the New York State Framework for Grades K-8. The studies will include independent and group hands-on projects to foster questioning and the development of critical thinking skills. Math inquiry will involve interpreting, organizing, and constructing meaning of situations using mathematical models to develop number sense. Homework is a logical extension of the school day and serves to reinforce the skills, techniques, and information learned during school hours."
Language Arts: reading in all genres, and "writing projects including poetry, realistic and historical fiction, feature articles, comic books, interviews, persuasive essays and literary analysis and criticism." Readers and Writers Workshop.
Mathematics: "The curriculum is aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards. The goal is to help students learn to apply mathematics to everyday life and the world around them and to become confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, both verbally and in writing." City College Math in the City Contextual Investigations.
Social Studies: "Students explore their communities and study world and American history and culture, within thematic interdisciplinary units that integrate language arts, music and the arts."
Science: "Our hands-on discovery approach invites students to theorize, hypothesize, observe and draw conclusions using the F.O.S.S. differentiated kits."
Social and Emotional Curriculum: "our counseling program is designed to be preventative an developmental. Guidance counselors will see students on an individual basis as well as during classroom lessons where they'll teach skills and share information in small-group settings.
The program will also include:
Preventive and Developmental Social and Emotional Counseling Program, SENG Model (Gifted Parent Group), Technology Education, Chess Instruction, Arts Integration, Academic Intervention and Enrichment Program.

The description of the different subject areas is similar to the regular citywide curriculum, and programs that are present in many quality general ed schools in Brooklyn. The difference will probably come in the level of support (including developmental and emotional) and the method and rate of acceleration within these programs. If I get any more specifics I will pass them on.

New Brooklyn Citywide G and T schools

According to insideschools blog the new citywide gifted and talented schools that we have been waiting for since last fall have been announced. Two of them will be located in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn School of Inquiry in Bay Ridge (correction: Bensonhurst) will be able to accommodate two kindergartens and two 1st grades next year. The TIER program at PS 20 will have space for one kindergarten and one 1st grade next year. If the citywide G&T policy remains the same the number of students attending likely depends on the number of children who score at the 97th percentile and above whose parents decide to send them to this program.

The Brooklyn School of Inquiry will be housed in a brand new building at 50 Ave. P in Bay Ridge (correction: Bensonhurst). It will open with kindergarten and 1st grade students in the fall and eventually go through 8th grade. The school will incorporate "looping" where a teacher follows a class for two years. According to Pamela Wheaton from insideschools.org Donna Taylor will be the principal. "She is an experienced teacher of gifted classes (she taught in the G&T class at PS 230 in Brooklyn) and is now doing a residency at the Anderson School." It sounds very promising.

The Technology, Inquiry, Enrichment and Research (TIER) program will be housed in PS 20 in the same building as Arts and Letters Middle School in Ft. Greene. It will also enroll kindergarten and 1st grade next fall and is planned to grow to 5th grade. A site is being sought for eventual middle school expansion (correction: "The Department of Education is working to identify nearby middle schools where students in these programs can continue after fifth grade.") The TIER program will be a part of PS 20 with Mr. Keaton as its Principal.

It looks like there will be another school located in the Ave. P building. Rather than being a G&T program, it is a CTT model school. The Academy of Talented Scholars will accept children into kindergarten and 1st grade next year and grow to 5th grade. They will develop skills through inquiry and project based learning, schoolwide enrichment for all students and differentiated instruction through Technology and Arts. Families interested in applying to the school should contact the Brooklyn Borough Enrollment Office.

Williamsburg Northside Grows Up

Williamsburg Northside's Director, Amy Warden, just wrote to tell me that the school is going to open a K through 5th grade school called Williamsburg Northside School. in the fall of 09. They will start with a Kindergarten of 20 students. It will be located at 70 Havermeyer St. They are anticipating one class on a grade of 20 students each.

I am touring the raw space with Amy next week and I will blog about all the details then.

The Coop School

Brownstoner brought us great news that the Coop School has a new home. It will be located at 87 Irving Place between Putnam Ave. and Fulton St. in Clinton Hill. I just got done talking with them and I have a few more details.

They are expanding to 5 classrooms, starting age 2 and exiting age 5 in September. They will be able to let in 50-60 families as opposed to 10-15 in their existing space. They also have a space available to rent. The ideal tenant would offer other programs that would benefit the community at large such as an after school, child/family therapy, or regular events.

Park Slope School House and PreK

Thanks to the Park Slope Parents Listserve and Gowanus Lounge for bringing us news of the Park Slope School House (formerly the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center). There are ongoing tours. Call Natasha Corlette at (718) 768-4873 to schedule a tour. They will stay in their location on 6th St. until they are able to move to their new location, anticipated to be in the South Slope on 5th Ave.
The Director will be Ashley Davis who is the current Director of the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center. They are hoping to keep all of the teachers and staff of BCCCC in their respective roles at the new school.

For those of you that are looking for a Public PreK program. You should sign the petition for an Early Childhood Center in District 15. There is some talk about the 14th St. Armory as a possible location. I have heard Brad Lander's name associated with interest in this project several times. I would contact him as well as all of the candidates coming up for City Council election if you are feeling strongly about this issue. Contact Jim Brennan's office as well.

Live and In Person!

I am giving some talks at the end of the month.

"Public Schools 101: Intro to the NYC School System, Registering for PreK and Kindergarten"

I will be giving lots of practical information about what to know and how to proceed and I will bring my "big map" but I won't be discussing individual schools. It is a lot of information in a small amount of time, so I am afraid, no children please. There will be a Q & A.

$25. per person or $40. per couple

You must RSVP to me (not the venue) for a specific date and location, space is limited and just in case of changes, I would like to be able to contact you.

Williamsburg/Greenpoint

Monday, Jan. 26, 7-8:30 pm

Mamalu 232 North 12th St. (718) 486-6312

Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill

Tuesday, Jan. 27, 7-8:30 pm

NY City Explorers 388 Atlantic Ave. between Hoyt and Bond (718) 625-6923

Clinton Hill

Thursday, Jan. 29, 7-8:30 pm

Still Hip 283 Grand Ave. between Lafayette and Clifton Pl. (718) 398-0008

Dumbo

Saturday, Jan, 31, 1:30-3 pm

Pomme 81 Washington St. at York St. (718) 855-0623

Prospect Heights

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 7-8:30 pm

NY City Explorers 186 Underhill Ave. between St. John's/Sterling Pl. (718) 399-6923

South Slope

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 7-8:30 pm

Hootenanny Art House 426 15th St. at 8th Ave. (718) 369-0528

Brooklyn Prospect Charter School

Okay 5th graders, check this out. It is another public middle school option for students who live in District 15.
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School will be choosing students from District 15 in a true lottery (no special provisions made for gender balance or diversity, although they are hoping for it-it should happen organically) They will pick students who live in District 15 (it seems that those of you who live outside the district and go to elementary within the district will probably be out of luck because of priorities set by state regulations for Charter schools) They will start with a 6th grade of 88 students (4 classes of 22) and add a grade each year through 12th grade. There will be a waiting list and that list will probably have some movement. The lottery will take place on April 7 and you will hear about placements in mid April. Signing up for the lottery doesn't impact your choice list for the rest of the district middle schools. This is a separate process. You can sign up for the lottery right now online under the student section.

What this means is that there is another option, outside of the regular middle school process. You can essentially get two local placements in the spring and be able to choose between them, as well as any placements outside the district that you are pursuing.

They will follow the International Baccalaureate program and hope to be certified within 5 years. There is a big emphasis placed on a holistic approach to learning and integrating disiplines. A 30 minute a day Advisory with a faculty mentor will be an important component to help students work on their literacy and study skills. They aspire to provide PE daily. Visual Art will be part of the core curriculum with other artistic disiplines introduced through a partnership with BAM. The Board is recruiting experienced teachers with at least three years experience and Masters Degrees. There is an Executive Director (who lives in the neighborhood) who comes to the job with an impressive track record of teaching as well as working in school administration. He will act as a general manager. The Principal of the Middle School has longtime experience teaching and leading programs as well as being trained in the IB program. The Board of the school is made up of educators and business leaders and will have a parent member.

There will be no uniforms. The calendar will follow the regular DOE schedule with additional afterschool tutoring and a Summer Academy. The language taught will be Spanish. The jury is still out on whether they will have captive lunch or not. Because the program will be academically rigorous, homework will be a factor, but because teachers will work closely together, it shouldn' t be overwhelming. The location is not finalized yet. The location will be made public before students chosen in the lottery will have to accept their seats. The Board is hoping for a location close to BAM to make it easy to participate in their arts programs.

Stoop Sale Diaries #1

So my husband and I are stoop sale freaks. We know all the regulars, buyers and sellers. (A shout out here to Leslie, we still have your picture frame) We have seen the demise of the taped flier, to be followed by sidewalk chalk and Craig’s listings. We can read a sale. Recent breakup – lots of the ex’s belongings going cheap and “how to buy a puppy” books. World traveler – Frommer’s, Rick Steves, Time Out wherever and lots of small wooden carvings. Out grown the quirky collection – Pez, rusty lunch boxes, ice cream scoops. Long time neighborhood resident – clothes for under a dollar, paperbacks 50 cents, haggling is a sport not an insult.

Here is the #1 rule of selling – every sale you will make is an impulse buy for your customer. It doesn’t matter that you paid too much for your item new, and then never used it. On the street it is worth $2. If you are in it for the money, you will do better on eBay. The tradition of stoop sales in my humble opinion (as a seller as well as a buyer) is to get the stuff out of your house and recycle to someone who will love it. The more you buy, the cheaper the price should be.

This is what we found on Sunday:
3 Christmas Cd's (including Paul Revere and the Raiders Christmas)
a free bottle opener/10 second digital recorder
Ultimate Outburst (in the plastic, for use at the family reunion this summer)
Glitter batons for the two little girls downstairs
A small fan for my hot head husband
A wireless router (ours just broke!)
A wooden massage roller
The Illustrated History of the British Invasion
Various necklaces
A bright pink velvet evening jacket with lots of details (great with skinny jeans and the pink ballet flats we got last spring)

Every week you will inexplicably see the same book title over and over at all of the sales. The title changes from week to week. Some randomness expert needs to write their PHD dissertation on this phenomenon. This week every sale had Time and Again by Jack Finney, a book we enjoyed and bought several copies of to give to friends. More than the usual Harry Potters were also present.

We had some great conversations too; where to camp, hitchhiking in the Pacific Northwest, the best places to eat in Sullivan County, what it is like to own an Airstream, neighborhood choirs. Whether you buy or not, it is the easiest way to make small talk with your neighbors. Stoop sales give me a reason to stroll in the beautiful weather with my sweetheart and love all my funky neighbors (except the costume jewelry guy that is at every sale 5 minutes ahead of me)
Happy shopping!

The 14th St. Armory may be open by the spring

The 14th Street Armory Field House has finally been completed and has a sponsoring organization, which seems to have been the biggest holdup. The Prospect Park YMCA is partnering with the Field House in one of the city's largest community recreation and education centers. At the ribbon cutting, Bill de Blasio said, "by spring school groups and people in the community will be using the space." It has been said that local schools will get priority time in the facility. There are plenty of schools in the neighborhood without gyms that need a space for their phys. ed. programs.