My Dad; living green

I just need to brag on my dad, Richard Kubalak, who turned 80 this year. He and my mother moved to a "community for active seniors" a couple of years ago and he joined the model sailboat club.

My father was an art teacher, librarian and school audio/visual supervisor, but mostly he has been a lifelong user of recycled materials in an effort to have more fun. He made kites out of the Sunday funnies. He once attended a costume party wrapped in bubble wrap with a hidden tape recorder that played heavy breathing sounds. His office and library were decorated with objects that he found or created and we couldn't wait to visit to just hang out in the environments that he made. Give him an afternoon, some toilet paper tubes and a solar battery and stand back. I joked when they moved to Greenspring that there would be a pile of "hall walkers" who had coronaries in front of their door when his motion sensitive, kinetic sculpture jumped out and said "HELLO!" (My mother, a minimalist, decided on a less stressful option)

His sailboat club, located a few miles from the Pentagon, is full of former Navy guys. When my father joined, he began experimenting with different sail materials, and winning races. Imagine the uproar when he showed up with the non-regulation red nylon (which helps him actually see his boat from across the pond). The ultimate triumph occurred the other day when he showed up with a sail made from the wrapper of a Costco bushel of paper towels. Needless to say, he cleaned up in his races that day.

New Interim Acting Principal for PS 20

I just got word that a new interim acting principal has been assigned to PS 20 and by all accounts she is AMAZING. Lena Barbera has been an AP at the lovely PS 261. She had been at 261 since 1996 as a teacher and Math Coach. It sounds like the teachers working with her will have a lot of support because she worked at 261 implementing new curriculum and modeling instructional practices for new teachers. She has been an AP for 5 years. She is a graduate of of Hunter College and Brooklyn College.
For a little more information and a lovely picture (so you can say hi when you see her on the street) you can check out her bio on the PS 261 website

Update: A few people have written to ask what "interim acting" means. "Before a principal or assistant principal is permanently appointed, the DoE often appoints an Interim Acting (IA) principal or assistant principal." this is from the blog jd2718 which explains the appointment process from a UFT teacher's point of view. The interim acting principal goes through the C30 hiring process to be permanently appointed to a school. I was on a C30 committee as a parent a few years ago. A committee is collected of "parent, teacher, school staff, administrator union, and Department of Education (through Region, District etc) personnel." The job is advertised and candidates including the "interim acting principal" are interviewed and their qualifications reviewed. In my situation there was never any doubt that we wanted the interim acting principal to have the job as the best possible candidate. The jd2718 describes it as merely a rubber stamp process. I can't speak to that. I do hope that a new candidate from a strong and well respected program who has considerable skills and experience can bring the school community together.

Teen Treks

My teens are all over the map this summer.

They got back from a great Teen Treks bike trip across Mass. from Albany to Provincetown on the Cape. This is the second trip for one of them and it didn't disappoint. The rain and the Berkshires didn't deter them (although now when we are sitting in a car and they see a slight incline they exclaim "oh no, a hill!") It was a fantastic small group this year and they did everything from Tanglewood to Great Adventure, lots of beaches and two days in Boston. I highly recommend this trip for giving them a real sense of accomplishment and adventure.

We hardly had time to scrape the bike grease off before we headed to the family reunion in Chicago. Chicago is a great town for kids with amazing free summer concerts and programs all over the city (and a great bike path along the lake and its own beaches). It is a little early, but we decided to tour Northwestern as long as we were in the neighborhood. There is plenty to love there and I highly recommend their tour which was "awesome!" We had a very excited tour guide who also happened to be extremely knowledgeable (good job Northwestern, my kids are now looking further west than they were a week ago).

I have to give a shout out to Daniel, junior at Stuy, who I happen to know, follows this blog religiously. He is doing a summer debate program at Northwestern that sounds interesting. It seems that I have a few fans at Stuy, Hi J.! which keeps me from writing anything really interesting about my kids.

Insideschools.org

You all must have heard by now, that www.insideschools.org is having financial difficulties. If you are the parent of a school aged child you know how much they are worth. If you are the parent of an infant or toddler, trust me, New York City is a much tougher place without them. I like to refer to them as the "consumer reports" of NYC public schools but they are so much more; friendly reminders, an active forum, and accurate almost immediate updates on anything school related.

It is very easy to donate.
You can go to their "donate" page
or you can give through paypal.
Please send them a little something for all the good they do everyday. Many people have suggested that they charge a fee. A big part of their mission is to provide accurate, easy to use advice for all parents, including the ones that may not have the funds to pay for it. Please do what you can.

No Citywide G & T at PS 20 in Brooklyn

PS 20 will no doubt weather its troubles, but it is sad news for children who tested into the citywide gifted and talented program. One less option is always a sad story. Many parents saw the placement of a citywide program, which would consist of a single class on a grade, into an existing school as a curious move on the DOE's part. Considering the three citywides in Manhattan are full schools (although petite) it enables the teachers and administrators to build school wide programs especially designed for this end of the special needs spectrum. I would imagine that the school wide staff development geared to G&T would be invaluable and help produce fine and sought after programs.

The city has for years placed single G & T classes in general ed schools and although the talented teachers that lead these classes have toiled in solitude (one on a grade) they have done a fine job. It seems to me that the citywide program is serving a different purpose. I believe that was the thinking of the many parents that left their northern Brooklyn neighborhoods in droves to seek out Brooklyn School of Inquiry. Insideschools has reported that because of the huge popularity of the school that they will be adding a third kindergarten to the school and only opening one first grade class.

So, were Principal Keaton's troubles the reason that the program has closed? Was it the fact that it looked like this program, that had been given special development and attention at other schools, a seeming afterthought at PS 20? Was it a lack of focus and expertise in gifted and talented education that put parents off? We won't know. The DOE has a challenge finding the resources, the location and the educators to pull off this kind of program. I think that they have made a great bet in Donna Taylor and Brooklyn School of Inquiry.

Robobaby

The words every mom of a teen is fearful to see in a text, "I got the baby!" These were not so ominous because she only had it for 24 hours, so I texted back, "awesome!" and waited for Robobaby to arrive.

My daughter, as a sophomore, has had "Health" this year instead of gym. It has been a terrific class, which the teacher gleefully describes as having one goal - making sure that none of them gets pregnant. It is much more than that. This class has been so enlightening that I think of it akin to the salad making scene in "To Sir, With Love". Ms. B. is getting them ready for the real world; they rolled the dice to get a job or career (so far, so good), they planned their weddings, wrote vows, made a yearly budget ("why do I have to pay for my husband's deodorant?!"), watched videos of real births ("like, 15 times! disgusting!") assembled their layettes, and finally she brought Robobaby home for a sleepover.

First the school had us sign a paper saying that if anything happens to Robobaby we are responsible for the cost, $350. (I imagine my husband at 2am going at Robobaby with a phillips-head, trying to disarm its crying mechanism.) The kids get the baby for a day (no raw eggs or bags of flour for Murrow!) They have a key that is attached to their wrists with the kind of unbreakable tag that you get at amusement parks so that you can't hand responsibility over to someone else. The key disarms the crying mechanism. The baby records how many times you neglect it or don't support its head. My daughter had to get special permission to delay her baby because she was in a play. For a split second she could tell, Ms. B was thinking, "well, what are you going to do if you had a REAL baby?" and she thought better of it. (Nobody crosses the Murrow Drama Dept.)

So, yesterday afternoon she arrived and was promptly placed in the darling hand painted cradle that held the stuffies and cowbaby. Of course as a new mother, my daughter checked her every 10 minutes because the baby wasn't doing anything. (She had been told it was programed "colicky"). I said, "just wait", and yes, at midnight Robobaby started to cry at irregular intervals until the three of us made my daughter and her progeny sleep on the sofa where we couldn't hear them scream. I am sure that she will get a good grade. She is a very attentive mother. Mostly, I am thankful that she can now stick to a budget, that she knows how much her cell phone costs, that she is thinking about her 401K and that she will make her husband buy his own deodorant.

Dual Language Programs

Thanks to Karen at www.achildgrowsinbrookyn.com for helping me to come up with interesting topics to co-post about.

Parents often want to know if an elementary school has foreign language instruction. Unfortunately, it is rare for a public elementary to have a designated foreign language teacher. Occasionally there may be songs in other languages taught through the music or social studies class, or there may be some language classes through an after-school program. A teacher who is fluent may work a little foreign language awareness into her classroom, but it is not an ongoing program. In middle school the children will be offered language classes usually beginning in the 7th grade, and some may take the proficiency test at the end of 8th grade so that they can enter a slightly more advanced HS class in 9th grade. Often in the smaller middle school programs, Spanish is the language that is offered. A few of the larger schools are able to support a French class as well as a Spanish class. When your child gets to high school depending on the size of the school, the offerings can become very diverse, including Arabic, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Mandarin, Russian and Sign Language.

The exception in elementary school is a dual language program. This is a language immersion program in which half of the class is made up of native speakers in one language and half is native speakers in another language. The day is split with language instruction in both languages for the full class (morning in one language, afternoon in the other) with the goal of creating students who are fluent in both languages. There is a great effort made to be consistent and separate the two languages (each consistently written in its own color ink or on different colored paper). In some schools the same teacher teaches the full day in both languages, in some, two teachers switch off teaching in their own language. The regular on grade curriculum content is covered using both languages. The full immersion may start in kindergarten or 1st grade depending on the school.

District 15 has several dual language programs; the Spanish/English program at PS 24; Spanish/English and Chinese/English at PS 94, and the new French/English program at PS 58. PS 1 has had a program in the past but they were not able to get back to me with current information before I filed this story. Children are assessed for their fluency to be considered for the program. Sometimes a few children from outside of the zone may be allowed to participate to fill out the class. These programs are very popular and there can be waiting lists or lotteries to gain a seat.

For more information:

PS 24

427 38 Street Brooklyn, NY 11232

Parent Coordinator: Tamara Estrella

Phone: (718) 832-9366

PS 94

5010 6 Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220

Parent Coordinator: Diana Leon-Gonzalez

Phone: (718) 435-6034

PS 58

330 Smith Street Brooklyn, NY 11231

Parent Coordinator: Joan Bredthauer ex: 3

Phone: (718) 330-9322

There is also a lot of information on their website: www.ps58.org

The interest in and richness of these programs is getting attention in other districts as well. PS 307 in district 13 has been studying the Spanish/English and Mandarin/English programs and has been doing community outreach all year in the hopes of opening their classes in the fall of 2009. Call them and speak to Ms. Davenport, the Principal. She is a great spokesperson for the program. PS 46 is also looking into dual language and having a meeting for interested parents on Monday, June 8 at 5:30pm. A group of parents in district 14 is working with the French Embassy to find a partner school for a French/English program there.

P.S. 307 Daniel Hale Williams School

209 York Street Brooklyn, NY 11201

Principal: Ms. Roberta Davenport

Phone: (718) 834-4748

P.S. 46 Edward C. Blum School

100 Clermont Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11205

Phone: (718) 834-7694

Interest meeting, June 8, 5:30-7pm

District 14 parents (or any parents) interested in a French dual language program in Williamsburg should email frenchinwillyburg@gmail.com

and if you feel comfortable include this information:

parents’ name, child’s name, year entering K, email address, phone, zone, district, exposure to French (Anglophone, half-francophone or Francophone)

Author/Illustrator talks to schools

I just heard Melanie Hope Greenberg speak to several elementary classes this morning at the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. She is the author/illustrator of many picture books including "Down in the Subway" and her current "Mermaids on Parade". She was adorable and so interesting and the room of 60 or so kids just ate it up. She describes her process in a very engaging way. She walked us through the illustration process from her plans through preliminary sketches to the finished work. She described the editing process and how it is helpful and hard sometimes. She showed us pictures and told us stories about her inspiration and gave personal details that she weaves into her work, which made us feel like real insiders. The kids were jumping out of their seats to ask questions and she spoke to them with an ease that let me know that she was with her people. Today she was speaking in conjunction with the show of her work in the youth wing of the Central Library (free to the public through June 13)

She is always available to speak to local elementaries. All you PTA's should call her to set up a program for your librarian!

Also a little shout out for the libraries. If you have a little to spare they are in dire need. You can contribute to your own local branch too. No amount too small.

They are also planning a special start to summer reading festival on June 4. Come sign up for your summer reading goodies and have fun in the plaza. That is a school holiday so come and enjoy the library! More information on that shortly.

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.

High School Choice, Supplemental Round

If your child didn't receive a placement in the first high school choice round or you want to appeal a high school placement you should use the insideschools report as your guide. It is thorough and has some good suggestions for schools in every borough. If you don't like the school to which your child was assigned you may appeal, but it is very rare to have an appeal granted. Sometimes the numbers just don't work out and some very good schools still have spots. Sometimes really promising new schools need some help getting their numbers the first couple of years. Just because schools have spots left over doesn't necessarily make them undesirable programs, the same way that there are terrific students out there that didn't get placements. You just need to find each other.
These are some schools that I think may be attractive to Brooklyn parents:
Bedford Academy: This small selective school has a 4 year graduation rate of almost 95%.
Brooklyn High School for the Arts: This school has a focused student body that produces beautiful work. It is centrally located at the transportation hub by Atlantic Center.
City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (City Poly High): This brand new school has a dynamic principal and a great partnership with Poly Tech. It is located right downtown and is poised to be a very strong program.
Science, Technology and Research (STAR) at the Erasmus Campus: This early college program is rigorous and successful.
Sunset Park High School: This brand new school is in a brand new building. A very experienced and talented principal and tons of community support make this school a good bet.
Global Learning Collaborative: This Manhattan school has a partnership with the Asia Society. The students will participate in project based, experiential learning.
High School for Language and Diplomacy: This new program also has the Asia Society as a partner. The principal is a former diplomat and Chinese will be integrated into the whole curriculum. I was very interested in this program at the New HS Fair.

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.

NUTS again

This was one of my earliest posts, but I went to parent teacher conferences last night and I think that it is still relevant.

I invented a new sport in my mind tonight. “In my mind” is my favorite kind of sport because I always win. I went to Parent/Teacher conferences at Murrow. We are blessed with a “Type A” perfectionist. I have nothing to complain to her teachers about and it is usually a 3-minute love fest. (Hey, I like my compliments cheap and often) The trick is to see all of the teachers in the 2 hours allotted. I need my teacher face time.

Let me explain the rules. You wait with hundreds of other parents in a giant shivering mass outside the school doors like it’s a Who concert with festival seating. (Imagine how those teachers feel, trapped inside with only an endless line of “issues” before them) If you are an “elite” NUTS player like myself, you have a list of teachers and room numbers coded by location. In a school the size of Murrow, this is key. You race to the farthest room, sign your name on the list outside the door and repeat on all lists in the near vicinity. Then you send your husband who is having trouble reading the map to sign up on other floors. (This may be a tactical error) If you are positioned outside the door when your name comes up on the list, you may go in and have your 3 minutes. If you arrive back to the classroom after your name has already been called you go to the end of the now endless list. The art of it is to fit in a couple of the less popular teachers between the majors. The team who finishes all their conferences in the least amount of time gets to go home and have a stiff drink.

10pts off for brow beating the poor student organizing the list outside the door.

5pts for doing the quick switch with the team right behind you on the list when you arrive just a minute too late.

2pts off for getting cornered by the candy sellers

10pts for giving them a $5 and not taking any candy

5pts for snagging a chair

10pts off for erasing names ahead of you on the list

10pts for visiting the phys ed. Teacher

Good Luck and may the GAMES BEGIN!

Numbers

I was just running some numbers from the DOE's PreK directory.

The totals that I list here are not the number of applications or first choices. They are the total number of choices made on all of the applications. We don't have enough information to know definitively how difficult it is to get a spot in your zoned PreK, but comparing the differences in the various districts is interesting. When you compare the numbers of available PreK seats to the number of Kindergarten seats there is a wide discrepancy in many schools.

3403 applicants for preK seats in District 15 (Carrol Gardens, Cobble Hill, Red Hook, Boerum Hill, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park to Park Slope South) according to the DOE. This doesn't include the numbers for the Brooklyn New School and the Childrens school which we can safely assume are in the hundreds.

Total number of full time seats available are 743, this number DOES include the New School and the Childrens school.

Total number of part time seats available are 360 part time seats (2.5 hours) which are not popular with the majority of parents who work.

2350 applicants for preK seats in District 20 (Bay Ridge)

Total number of full time seats available are 242

Total number of part time seats available are 576

839 applicants for preK seats in District 13 (Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill, Western Bed-Stuy)

Total number of full time seats available are 642

Total number of part time seats available are NONE

1003 applicants for preK seats in District 14 (Williamsburg/Greenpoint)

Total number of full time seats available are 588

Total number of part time seats available are 108

Some of the total number of seats and the breakdowns are off because occasionally information for a program is listed as N/A. Not sure why.

Pre-K Registration

This is my report on the Public PreK Information Session
There is a session Wednesday March 4 at 6:30 at Brooklyn Tech HS. All sessions will cover similar material but it is a good forum to get your questions answered.

The directories and applications for Public PreK will be available on Friday, March 6 at your local Elementary School, online and at the District Enrollment Offices. The DOE is holding information sessions all over the city for the next 2 weeks. All the sessions will give the same info. Thank you to Kim Cobb and her great crew for really trying to make this process better and for giving props to the parents who worked so hard over the year to fix the system. After you read this and go to an info session and pour over your directory on Friday, if you have questions, the best way to get them answered is to write: ESEnrollment@schools.nyc.gov While you are at it, say hi to Michael, who will probably be answering your question. You can call 212 374-4948 but it will take much longer. Remember, there are a lot of you and not a lot of them.

I went to the first information session last night and here are the main things that are different from last year.
You can apply for the PreK lottery online.
They have tried to make the application more user friendly.
You can apply to more schools.
There is a new column in the Directory that tells you how many families put each school as 1st choice last year to give you an idea of your chances (it doesn't tell you how many are in-zone families, or how many siblings were accepted) correction: it lists the number of families that applied for the school in round one (no matter what choice that they placed it as) as well as the number of seats in the preK program.
None of the paperwork is going to Pa. this year.

If your child turns 4 in the calendar year 2009 (their 4 year birthday is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 2009) and you live in NYC, your child is eligible for Public PreK in Sept. 2009. This doesn't mean that there are enough seats to go around.

This is NOT a first come first served process. You have a little time to weigh your choices. The application deadline is April 3. All applications are treated the same whether they are returned March 7 or April 2.

1. You need to get your hands on a Directory. You can pick one up on Friday March 6 at your local PS, find it online or at a DOE office. The application is included in the Directory or online. The Directory includes programs at local Public Schools. These are the schools that you try for in the lottery. It also includes a list of CBO's (Community Based Organizations) You need to go to those programs individually and talk to them about their individual application processes. They are not included in the lottery.

2. You need to know what school zone and District that you live in. The zones are your immediate neighborhood and the District is the larger area. The zones have weird shapes and the school that is closest may not always be your zoned school. It has nothing to do with your zip code. You can find that out by calling 311 and telling the operator your exact street address. (This is easy and fast to do)

3. This process is a lottery, but there are priorities. If you have an older child attending the school you get first priority. To make things complicated (and fair) there is priority within the sibling group (first zoned sibs, then sibs with no zone or no preK at their zoned school, then out of zone in district, etc.) If you are in the zone you get second priority. If you are living outside the zone but inside the District you get third priority. If you live outside the District you have fourth priority. Essentially, if you want the priority you need to place that choice first. Because of the new Kindergarten pre-application process, children who will be attending K in fall 09 will be technically considered sibs in a school. There is a special place to list them on the application because they are not currently in the school.
You can list as many choices as you like, but the likelihood of getting a spot if you live outside the zone of a popular school is small. Keep in mind that PM half day classes are often the least sought after spots even in popular schools. The column in the directory that shows how many families placed a school as a choice and how many actual seats it has will be very telling in making your decision.

4. The application deadline is April 3. It seems like a really good idea to do the online application. They have done a lot to make it user friendly and to help you to avoid mistakes that might be made filling out the paper app. When you send it online they immediately send an email receipt and you can receive the result the week of May 18 as an email and a paper letter. If you want to make changes to your online app. after you have sent it you can log on again, change the info and resubmit it before the deadline. The last one you send is the one that counts. You can list multiple programs in the same school as different choices (eg. "AM" program is one choice, "Full time" is a second choice and "PM" could be a third choice). If you decide to fill out the paper application BE VERY NEAT. NO ABBREVIATIONS IN THE ADDRESS. Double check your code numbers. Mail it in the envelop provided (don't use any fancy envelops or return receipt or Fed Ex). Make copies of your application before you send it. You must wait for your receipt about 3 weeks. The placement decisions will arrive the week of May 18. When you receive your placement bring your child and 2 proofs of address, child's immunization record and Birth Certificate to register at the school according to the instructions you will receive. There will be no waiting lists, but there will be a second round if there are unfilled seats. Placement in a PreK program does not guarantee placement in that school for Kindergarten.

Heh Parents of Twins! Siblings who are the same age (twins, step siblings, foster children etc.) are considered together. There is a special place on the application to indicate that two siblings are filling out two applications at the same time. If one gets a seat the other will get one too as long as there is another seat available. If one gets a seat and the other one doesn't let them know at Enrollment and they will do their best to help. I really believe that they will.

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.

Ethical Community Charter School

Hurray! another new school for Brooklyn! I just spoke to Dr. Susan Stengel the Director of the Ethical Community Charter School. Their location should be announced shortly, but since their lottery is coming up soon (the first week in April) you should put in your application now. Registering for their lottery doesn't keep you from any of your other choice schools, it just gives you one more choice, and who knows it may be right around the corner.

They are ultimately going to be K to 12, but next year they will be accepting 60 Kindergarteners and 60 first graders for 3 classes on a grade. Ethics, service and social justice are the principles that will inform the school life. Their educational model is progressive, inquiry and active learning, with an interdisciplinary subject matter. They are dedicated to creating a vital home and school connection with an "open door" policy for parents. Integrated arts and differentiated instruction are part of the school's vision.

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.