What online website should I use to learn about public schools?

By Joyce Szuflita
Inside Schools. Period. We are so lucky to have them. They are a NYC institution. They “get” us. They are nuanced, they are thoughtful, they are looking past the numbers, which can lie (or at least mislead).

Please STOP reading the grades and rankings on Great Schools. Although, feel free to read the blog. And also, please no more Niche or their ilk (they are all you have for Independent Schools, I’m afraid, but not any more accurate or insightful than for public school ratings with even less data). When families ask me, “what is the difference between a ‘9’ and a ‘6’?” I know they are using Great Schools. The answer is, “‘3’.” And yet, these are reputable websites that are doing their best to grade and/or rank schools with data that is crunched by big data people, but when we are talking about real professionals and families in communities that big data doesn’t understand, there are serious blind spots.

I don’t normally have occasion to look at the array of Great Schools grades laid out on the local map, but this week I chanced across one and I spit milk out of my nose. It bore little to no resemblance to the schools that I know. It was wildly cockeyed in both directions. If you are looking to move to the suburbs, you don’t have anything else to go by, and as inaccurate as it is, that is all you have…but in Brooklyn where you have the deep study of the New School for NY City Affairs and the professionalism and insight of education journalists who have studied every school in the City for over two decades - why would you go anywhere else? Because it doesn’t distill school quality to one number or letter? Because it doesn’t put them all in a line? Different people want different things. Different children need different things. Two different institutions can both be “good” AND different. When you try and cram the world into a line, you get a crazy line that is as unfair as it is inaccurate.

I know that I am telling you to turn away from information in a time when there is so little out there for you. That info is not always completely weird and off center. All I am asking is that you don’t make it your first or biggest resource. You should use your own eyeballs (through a virtual tour or open house, please God) in combination with the data and culture interpreted through Inside Schools, with a possible ‘grain of salt’ cross reference with Great Schools. Remember, there are a wide range of thoughtful schools that could serve your child. School (when it is in session) is 6 hours within 24, and 180 days within 365. Your child’s successful outcome may have as much to do with your good nutrition, making sure they get enough sleep at night, your reading to them every night, your modeling good habits, your thoughtful expectations and enrichment, your using big words, your turning your phone off and making eye contact with them, your expressing your own passions and hard work and respect for others, as weighing the difference between a “9” and a “6”.

Good luck, and remember that Inside Schools is an underfunded not-for-profit. In these last hours of the year, please send them a check, as I will.

How do I find universal prekindergartens?

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.

Ah Prek, where for art thou?

by Joyce Szuflita
If you are looking for Prek information now and not finding it, your problem is that you are being too proactive.

Touring season for public school doesn't usually start until late Oct. The application for prek may not open until Feb. and application deadline may be in March. We don't know yet because the DoE only works in the present tense and that is too far away.

Touring the public school options will likely go through March.
Touring the NYCEEC's (preschools, Head Starts, daycares that have done the paperwork to run a UPK location) are something that will probably end in Dec/Jan.

The DoE is also moving away for their very thorough printed directories (saving trees is a good thing) to their glitchy on-line search functions (which is not such a good thing). I find the search parameters very confusing and unsatisfying. Search on a laptop if you can, use Google Chrome.

To get on the DoE’s email blasts, go here.
To scan the information currently available go here.
To browse the glitchy search function go here. Scan down to the very bottom of the page and follow the prompts.

I searched a random address and it gives me a narrow grouping around a mile radius, but I can't expand the radius. It doesn't make distinction by district, where there is priority for public schools and prek centers according to zone and/or district. When I screened for the subway line, it left off very important options. The fact is that I know the schools exist and had to click many different parameters to actively find schools that I knew I was looking for. If you are not in this position, you would miss important options. If I didn't know they existed I might never have found them

When you click on the program (by the star at the bottom of the listing). It doesn't give you any information about admissions priorities - which I know the different kinds of schools have. You have to dig into the Quality Snapshot to see how many seats are available, to give you an idea about whether you have a chance of getting in or not. Enrollment, if you are reading, these are some of my concerns.

I am hoping that when we get closer to application time, that more information will be available.

good behavior online and college placement

By Joyce Szuflita
I LOVE Devorah Heitner! Here is an email that I got from her:

I've witnessed this far too many times: parents and educators trying to keep kids in line with threats about college admissions. This is totally misguided. 
Here are a few good reasons not to do this:
1) It isn't true: 99% percent of the dumb things kids do wouldn't rise to the attention of admissions officers: silly selfies, bad words in group texts, being annoying, inappropriate, or over-disclosing. We may wish for our kids to eschew these behaviors, but we are lying if we say they will keep them out of college.
2) It isn't so important: Getting into a highly selective college is no guarantee of a great life/career. Attending a less selective college, trade school or community college could be part of a path to a great life/career.
3) It is not the point: We should teach our kids not cheat in school, not to be unkind on social media, and not to make cruel jokes--because we want them to be an ethical person, a trustworthy friend etc.
It's Not Just About College Admissions is in Washington Post's On Parenting section today.

2013 test scores

By Joyce Szuflita
For the next year, parents are going to be asking me why they should take a chance on schools that have less than 50% of kids performing at grade level.

Consider this: tests that were given before schools had even seen the curriculum (that the tests were based on) and were so poorly designed that many children couldn't possibly finish them are not worth considering.

You can't rely on the scores to determine a quality school. You are going to have to trust your eyes and your gut.

Read these for more reasons to ignore these stats.

What the drop in new standardized test scores really means - Washington Post

Shock Doctrine: five reasons not to trust the results of the new state tests

nyc school progress reports 2011

By Joyce Szuflita
So what is the deal with the letter grade that the schools get from the DOE? It is not a rating of the school's quality as a whole and even if it was I would be sceptical because a single grade rating is too rigid and one dimensional to tell the story of whether the school is right for you or not. There is a great simple explanation from the fabulous Clara Hemphill on Inside Schools. Clara suggests that you look more closely at the School Survey results which you can find on the school's page within the DOE's website. I also think that you should consider the Quality Reviews, what your friends and neighbors say, and mostly - your own eyes. Also, many of these schools are so new or the demographics are changing so rapidly that the data is non-existent or behind (remember that you have to wait until a population reaches 3rd grade before you will see how they test).

These reports are trying to figure out how well the school is taking its most struggling learners and helping them to succeed - not the students in the school as a whole. This is important to determine because we have many kids in the city whose needs must be addressed but it is not necessarily helpful as a blanket measure for parents to determine how well the school is addressing the needs of their on-grade and above-grade learners - these kids are not considered in this letter grade. The schools are also compared to their "peer" schools and the progress and performance grades are mostly determined by the year's test scores of those challenged learners. There are two problems here. First, the demographics in several neighborhood schools are changing rapidly, so the "peer" rating may be way out of wack and the test scores which begin in 3rd grade relate to a different peer group. Second, the Board of Regents has been rescaling the test for the past two years and the test scores have been fluctuating wildly - same kids, same teachers, same curriculum, wildly fluctuating numbers. How can you track progress when the metric that you are using has been all over the map for the last 3 years?

A school may wave around their A grade at their open house. Good for them. They may be doing a good job with their struggling learners. A lower grade may be a warning to them that they need to change the way that they address those specific learners or it may just be a giant hurdle of paperwork that they have to cross the following year. How can you trust a rating that fluctuates so wildly in stable schools?

IEP help

By Joyce Szuflita
This guide, designed to help families developing an Individualized Education Program for their student with disabilities is published by Autism Speaks Family Services and it seems to be very clear and helpful.

Advocates for Children has numerous programs and resources to help families and students.

Carol Greenburg at NY Special Needs Consulting is a Parent Advocate who helps families navigate the process of getting appropriate services for your child. She is the parent of a child on the spectrum as well as an adult with Aspergers Syndrome, so she has been there and understands it all from the inside out.

This article, Tips for Changing Schools, from the Child Mind Institute might be helpful when starting a new school program.

pta: put this in your fundraising 'must do' folder for next year!

By Joyce Szuflita
Do you want an eco-friendly/healthy/creative way for your school to raise funds and partner with organizations that help kids overseas go to school? Tired of buying cheap t-shirts, water bottles, wrapping paper and chocolate? Say yes (that chocolate isn't that good).

Check out PortraitPressFundraising.com. This great system was developed at Brooklyn's own PS 295 by a local mom. A class or school can request a kit. The students create self-portraits that put their individual personalities and creativity at the heart of each fundraiser. This artwork is then printed on high quality, eco-friendly products like tea towels, pillow cases and tote bags. They even give you the marketing materials!

SHSAT is looking for specialists

This is not new news but it seems to surprise a great number of people so I thought I would include the link to the very interesting article from The New York Times from Nov. 2005.

You will do better to play to your strengths on the SHSAT and if you have limited time or test prep funds it may be a significant piece of information for you.

high school research on insideschools.org

If you don't know www.insideschools.org and adore them (perhaps you are an independent school parent who is just dipping your toe into the icey waters of public high school) they will soon become your new best friend - after me of course.

Some helpful hints to get the information that you need.

• sign up for their email alert newsletters - you will never miss a deadline

• look up the school page within their site and click "more school data" on the upper level of the review and "read our full review" to get all the good stuff

• the information on the upper panel of the review is current, even if the review might be a couple years older

• if you have trouble finding the school by name, don't get frustrated typing the name a million different ways, immediately go to "location and level" and enter the zip and "high school" or do an advanced search and list the same, zip and level it works EVERY time!

• they are also more than reviews; the blog, news articles and forums are all chocked full of great information

• remember that they are a non profit and they need your help to keep doing the impressive work that they do, send them a little gift, they deserve it!

charter schools?

People feel strongly about charter programs. My role is to let parents understand all of their options. Charter schools are publicly funded programs. They are often housed in public school buildings. Sometimes the relationship is good, sometimes it is strained. It is good for parents to know if the school is going to have to move. This is very disruptive to any program.

Charter schools are not zoned. They choose their students by lottery. They are required to give priority in the lottery to families who live within the district where the school is located. When the school is new or under capacity they may often have extra seats and take children from outside of the district. There is no downside to registering for lots of charter programs. You don't need to rank them, or decide which one you like better until you are offered a seat. They often call families from their waitlist. Why not register for every one you like? Charter schools do not have Prek programs. They often begin in Kindergarten and may be K - 5, K - 8, K - 12, 6 - 8, 6 - 12, or 9 -12 programs.

Charter schools are not under the DOE's jurisdiction so they may use a different curriculum, different hours and hire teachers in different ways. They still have to take the same NY state tests and they answer to their own individual Board of Trustees to maintain their charter.

The Brooklyn New School and the Brooklyn Children's School accept their students by lottery but they are NOT charter schools. These schools do have prek programs. To search for Charters in a NYC Charter School directory.

looking online for a good school

There are a number of sites that show information on local schools. They often have links to real estate sites that show properties in the area.

insideschools.org is above all my favorite. It is a local non profit run by Advocates for Children. It has a tremendous reach and depth and the first thing any parent worried about schools should do is sign up for their newsletter alerts and send them a little tax deductible thank you for the incredibly good work that they do. (I am not affiliated with them, I just love them.) You can "Ask Judy" a question, browse their forum, check their calendar, and most importantly read their reviews. The data at the beginning of the review (test scores and numbers) are updated every year and any change in principal or location is added right away. Because they review every school in the city, some reviews are a couple years old, check the dates at the end of the review. Remember that all parents that comment on schools are on a mission. They either love the school or hate it and it is difficult to get an objective reading of how much the parent body as a whole feels. If you have trouble searching for the school by name, also try searching by zip and age level, one of these two ways always gets results.

schools.nyc.gov is the Dept. of Education's website. There are individual school pages here (go to find a school). You can find copies of state and city reports on each school under the "statistics" tab on their school page. I recommend browsing the menu on the homepage, often publications, calendars and procedures are listed here or downloadable as pdf files. This is a very large deep and sometimes confusing website. If you find a page that you like, bookmark it so that you can find it again.

https://nyccharterschools.org/ is a searchable NYC database of charter schools

greatschools.org is a national site where you can search by city, or address, district etc. The search tool is clumsy at best and it is difficult to browse. The comparison of local schools also gives a weirdly haphazard and incomplete mix and sometimes elementary, middle and high schools are incorporated in the same list. For a national site that doesn't really address the complexities of the NYC school system, it is the best by far. They give a number ranking to the schools that is mostly based on test scores which can be misleading and are only a small indication of school's quality. There are parent comments and lots of general articles.

schooldigger.com searches by zip or address or city and gives a clear map of public elementary choices, but their ranking system is out of date and based on scores. They have very clear links to real estate if you are looking for that.

All the others are just lists of addresses.