The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Still Looking For the Right Public School For K, 1 or 5?

It's craaaazy right now y'all. For new parents, finding a decent school that feels right is a riddle wrapped in an onion wrapped in a DOE rabbit hole. But somehow, it almost always manages to happen. I know literally dozens of families that have made it work. They're at PS295 or PS 8,9 or 10 or PS705 or Brooklyn New School or Arts and Letters or Community Roots or Compass or PS261 or the school both my girls are at PS38, or 33 or 39 or 118 or Children's School or a ton of others. This idea that public schools in NYC suck is old news. It's simply not so. I mean, it's no Dalton or St. Anns or Packer...those schools seem to have money to burn, though there are plusses and minuses to any school. But what you get in return for your not-money is the knowledge that you're part of a great ongoing experiment in publicly funded education, and that you're part of the melting pot that is NYC. It's fun. There's lots for parents to do, lots of advocacy, lots of cultural nuances, lots of super committed teachers and adorable children. I'm not kidding. I've been super involved and I gotta say there's nothing more humbling and ennobling than being part of the solution, in ways small & large.

So here's some good advice for today. There are still some spots in Kindergarten, First Grade and Fifth Grade at local District 17 trendsetter PS770. Call 718-221-5837 and ask for Principal Jessica Saratovsky. I know lots of parents who have found a warm and loving home at this relatively new school, called The New American Academy, headed by the innovative Shimon Waronker. Here's a post I did on the school: The Q's School Tool PS770.

Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. I promise.

3 comments:

Brent O'Connor said...

Great school right here in D17. Amazing, high paid, committed teachers, strong and engaging community, smart and accessible headmaster, and HUGE classrooms. We have two kids at PS 770 and looked at many options in Brooklyn and Manhattan and found nothing compared to this unique learning model.

Anonymous said...

It would be great if you could share some of the work you are doing in your kids school, as well as the challenges of doing such work. Would be instructive for all of us who want to go into NYC public school with open eyes and open minds!

Clarkson FlatBed said...

terrific idea for a post! will do...