Inside Schools Review

[Ann Biddlecom]

Hi.

 

Heads up about the Inside Schools Review (thanks to Liz Koch for the news).

Anyway to showcase this in the April PTA newsletter?  Pass it along to the teacher listserv?

 

It is a TERRIFIC review (though in all honesty the part about 50 folks coming to PTA meetings is...well...a stretch..unless we average in participation at all the social events!  :-) 
http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=447 

 

Text is below.

 

Ann

On the day we visited PS 261, 2nd graders were hard at work on a grade-wide project about post offices. Outside one class, children from other grades quietly read in the hall while waiting to "buy" handmade stamps, while in another class students sorted letters to prepare them for delivery. In another classroom, students and their parents were enjoying a variety of squash-based treats to celebrate the culmination of a unit of study on the vegetables. Our articulate and energetic student guides explained that projects like these make learning fun at PS 261.

These projects also embody the school's strongest features: a collaborative spirit and an active cadre of parents. The faculty members, most of whom go by their first names, work together to build consistency within grades, and they also bring their individual personalities into their classrooms. Teachers are "professional, smart, and dedicated--they make the building," said Zipporiah Mills, who became principal in 2004 after working at nearby PS 59.

The school's arts focus and reputation for diversity are evident in the classrooms, which are attractive, colorful, and full of students who are cheerful and engaged in their work. From kindergarten, where we saw children chattering animatedly to each other about the days of the week, through 5th grade, where students were working in teams in the science lab to build load-bearing boats, children are encouraged to express themselves as they learn. The art teacher, who was helping students create Native American crafts when we visited, said her PS 261 students are the "most artistic, creative kids I've ever seen."

Daily academic instruction is often structured around in-depth projects; for example, 5th graders study government by holding debates and mock elections, writing letters to officials, and visiting Washington, D.C. Instruction is supplemented with local field trips, to local farmers markets and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Most students are working on grade level, but the school still offers all the kids supplemental academics--enrichment for some; tutoring for others. The school uses the 37.5 minutes added to the school day in 2006 for small group instruction after the regular school day; in the lower grades, teachers work with their own students, and in the upper grades, students break into groups by skills. A Saturday Academy that focuses on test preparation is especially popular among parents of 4th graders. The school also recently hired a second guidance counselor to ease the middle school application process, as more and more families are opting to stay in public schools; many enroll at MS 51 and MS 88.

Mills said the school's biggest challenge is finding the money to support all of the projects faculty and administrators would like to get done. But "whatever our challenges are, we rise" to them, she said, noting that parents and teachers raise a lot of money. An active Parents Association holds special events regularly to foster a sense of community and raise money for programs as well as supplies requested by teachers. The association also produces a monthly parent newsletter, attracts at least 50 parents to monthly meetings, and maintains the school's extensive Web site.

Special education: In addition to providing services for students who require them, the school has "collaborative team teaching" (CTT) classes in grades 2 through 5. In those classes, two teachers, one with special education certification, lead a class with a mix of special education and general education students.

After school: About 250 children stay until 6 p.m. for classes in African drumming, martial arts, Arabic, baking, dance, yoga, and other subjects, all taught by parents and working artists from the neighborhood. Enrollment costs $14 per day.

Admission: The school has typically had some slots for students from outside the neighborhood, but the number of spaces has dropped steadily in recent years as more students in the zone choose to attend the school. (This school is featured in New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools. Philissa Cramer, December 2006)

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[Rachel D Godsil]

What a wonderful -- and true! -- picture of our school. Congrats to Zip,
Lena, the rest of the administration and our fabulous teachers!

Rachel

Rachel D. Godsil
Professor of Law
Seton Hall University School of Law
One Newark Center
Newark, New Jersey 01702
(973) 642-8957

Ann Biddlecom
<annbiddlecom@yah
oo.com> To
Matt Fenton
03/15/2007 04:53 <newsl...@thefentons.com>, "Mills
PM Zipporiah \(15K261\)"
<ZMi...@schools.nyc.gov>, Lena
Barbera <LBa...@schools.nyc.gov>,
Carmen Perez <cper...@nycboe.net>,
Rose Beau <rbr...@aol.com>, Rachel
Godsil <gods...@shu.edu>, Teri
Brajewski <te...@twbdesign.com>,
Audrey Patton
<nicp...@hotmail.com>, Carla Lino
<carl...@yahoo.com>, Nadine Jervis
<nad...@prestonbailey.com>,
wil...@williammoree.com, Class
parents & grade reps
<ps261cla...@googlegroups.com
>, Chris Peyser <cpe...@yahoo.com>
cc
Liz Koch <liz...@yahoo.com>, Ann
Biddlecom
<abidd...@guttmacher.org>
Subject
Inside Schools Review

Hi.

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