public high school choice rant

By Joyce Szuflita
Forgive me for too many CAPS ahead of time.

I have been hearing a lot about the "second round" this year, like you get another shot at the choice you want late in the spring. GUYS! the DOE doesn't work that way!! The "supplemental round" is for students who have NOT RECEIVED ANY CHOICE in the main round. Your placement in the main round is where your child will attend for freshman year, no ifs ands or buts. The students in the supplemental round get to choose from the schools that have seats still available.

But "ah ha!”, you say, "what about the Specialized HS kids who get to choose between a two schools?! Aren't the schools that they don't take from the main round left over in the supplemental round?" NO!!! everyone (who has placed a seriously good number of good fit schools) is placed in the main round and all the schools get "over offers" -many more students than they can hold. The DOE has historical data from years of experience how many kids are going to take their Specialized HS seats (or private school, etc.) and how many are taking their 1-12 list seats. If a few more kids choose the Specialized HS, the classes are a little fuller there, but all the seats at the highly sought after, selective schools are still full, full, full. The process this year is NO DIFFERENT than previous years. The DOE always ran the WHOLE algorithm before the Specialized round placements where announced. They have always known in early Feb. where EVERYONE is placed. They just didn't release the info, because they did that New School Fair, and students had the option to add a new program to their list before they got their results. The problem was that the conspiracy theories abounded AND it pushed the supplemental and appeals process way too late in the year. This is a process that handles upwards of 90,000 kids a year. They will not entertain picking and chosing in a second round and if you are banking on getting no choice so that you can pick off Beacon or another favorite in a "second round" you are taking a bad gamble with your child's future.

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?

college knowledge

By Joyce Szuflita
We are almost done sending the freshmen off to school. I have gathered a couple handy sources that you may want to add to the college file.

• 2 charming articles from the Motherlode about the send off: sending a son off, sending a daughter off

• tax deductions: (I really had no idea!) this article from Prospect Heights Patch is Awesome!

• I need this book: The iConnected Parent by Barbara K. Hoferand Abigail Sullivan Moore, I have gone to lengths (sometimes great) to not be a total helicopter parent, but the temptation to stay in contact electronically when they leave is too emotionally satisfying to be healthy - for me even more than for them

• linens: after doing the round of BB&B, Marshall's, Target and Amazon we broke down and got the cheapest XL Twin dorm sheets from Residence Hall Linens, and they were good quality too, go figure.

• computers Caroline at Ivan Expert told us what to get (Macbook Pro 13") plus the external hard drive and dropbox for backup. Then we all signed up for skype. I upgraded our homeowner's insurance so that when their roommate steps on the laptop they can get another one and they registered them with campus security. One college had the Microsoft Office for free download as long as she is a student, the other had a link for a cheaper version.

• our favorite dorm room items: shower caddy (small, light, holds everything and the handles don't break off), most dorms don't let you have microwaves or coffee machines but we are hoping this super cute water kettle will pass, this cheap cute and useful drawer unit comes disasembled so it is easy to take in the car and put together on site, and finally the must have dorm poster of 2011

How is it going being a sudden double empty nester? I will tell you in two weeks when we return from the March Through the Arch at Northwestern to the shambles of our once gracious apartment. I do crave a little peace and quiet, no more skyrocketing emotions and last minute fire extinguishing, and the invitations for cocktails from our long lost friends seem to be sincere.

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.

great allegheny passage and c & o canal bike trek

By Joyce Szuflita
If I was going to design the perfect 340 mile bike trek, it would be two completely flat, car free, shaded stretches, separated by a 20 mile downhill coast through beautiful farmland, with charming trail towns conveniently placed for lodging, food and homemade ice cream. When I was told that there were no up hills, I just didn't believe it, but it was not misrepresented and I did not disgrace my family. This is two combined trails; the GAP (Great Allegheny Passage - a Rail to Trail) and the C & O Canal Tow Path. The direction you take makes a difference - definitely go from Pittsburg to DC and not the other way round (and don't just do half starting at Cumberland like many people do, because you just miss the best stretch of road!) We did it all in 10 days (approx. 34 miles a day). We were two families (4 parents and 3 high school grads). We stayed in hotels, hostels and B & B's for the first 5 nights and then alternated camping in the free sights provided with hotels for the second week. These paths do go over the eastern continental divide but the grade is so low on the way up that it is truly not noticeable (believe me, I would be complaining if I had noticed). Our friends first did this trip with their son when he was 8 years old, but I think that it is the perfect trip for 12 years and up (you need some endurance). There were a lot of father/son duos and college roommates (both young and old) on the trail. The trail on the Pennsylvania GAP portion was very well maintained cinders. The C&O varied wildly in maintenance from newly packed clay to stone chips and muddy ruts, but aside from sore bums we had no injuries. You don't feel the heat on a bike because there is always a breeze.

Here is a brief list from the trip:

• 3 high former train trestles (the photo is taken from the first one - there are railings)

• 3 lonnnng dark tunnels (super fun and very disorienting)

• 75 antique C & O canal locks

• 1 continental divide

• 1 twenty mile coast downhill (worth mentioning twice)

• 4 rivers (Ohio, Youghiogeny, Casselman, Potomac)

• 1 beautiful 6 mile detour that did have some hills (not part of the official trail)

• 1 almost disastrous hotel reservation in Harpers Ferry (on a 4 lane highway)

• 1 round of drinks at the bar, courtesy of the hotel in Harpers Ferry

• 4 soaks in a river (Youghiogeny - cold and Potomac - warm)

• 1 Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece (Falling Water)

• 3 nights camping

• 1 raccoon, 6 fauns, 5 woodchucks, 7 turtles, 2 herons, 1 buzzard, 3 bright green caterpillars, countless songbirds and butterflies

• 1 spider museum (women's bathroom)

• many, many trains

• 0 cars (except in the first 13 miles leaving Pittsburg)

• 2 very brief rain storms (just enough to cool us off)

• 5 blown tire tubes, 2 repaired luggage racks, 1 cracked axel, 1 cracked rim

• 2 panniers bounced off mid ride

• 1 lost bathing suit by the side of the trail

• 3 Ruben sandwiches, 5 crab cakes, many Caesar salads and a coconut cream pie

• 2 root beer floats

• 1 one match campfire

• 7 happy campers

that's right! i am traveling 334.5 miles on a bike this summer with all my camping gear

By Joyce Szuflita
So what does a middle aged, soon to be empty nester do on her summer vacation? She ships her bike to Pittsburgh and travels under her own steam with the camaraderie and encouragement of her super fit family and their adventurous childhood friends to Washington DC. It is called the Great Allegheny Passage and connects to the C&O Canal tow path - motorized vehicle free! (I guess that means no ambulances or Enterprise Rent-a-Car pick ups)

We will do 10 days of biking (I have been assured that it is flat, flat, flat, but I grew up in the shadow of the Skyline Drive so I am skeptical) with stop overs to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water and see the grandparents in northern VA. What will you see when you book a consult with me in August? Tanned, toned and ready for the Albany to Montreal trek or beaten limp noodle? Kind of exciting isn't it?! We will be camping a bit and staying in the little towns along the way a bit. I will be out of the office from July 16 to July 31. I am not sure that I will be able to update on our progress along the way, but I will eventually give you a full report.

Wordsworth for parents of all graduating students

By Joyce Szuflita
I heard a wonderful interview with Priscilla Gilman on Leonard Lopate's WNYC show yesterday. Her memoir is called "The Anti-Romantic Child" about her son with hyperlexia. It sounds like a terrific book, but I had a driveway moment (while parallel parking) when she read an excerpt from "Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth. Yesterday was my daughters' effective last day of high school. It is over. We did a good job; they did a good job. It is time to push them out of the nest with a brave face. So for all of you getting ready to leave the fours, 5th grade, 8th grade or 12th grade...

--That time is past,

And all its aching joys are now no more,

And all its dizzy raptures. Not for this

Faint I, nor mourn no murmur; other gifts

Have followed, for such loss, I would believe,

Abundant recompence.

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!

teens on the train

Overheard on the F train heading northbound, crossing through the sunlight at Smith and 9th.

Girl 1 (stylishly urban, approximately 16 years):

"Everybody at Beacon lives in Park Slope."

Girl 2 (working her own unique style, the same age):

"Or it just seems like they do, they spend so many nights there"

"I heard that it used to be that nobody from Manhattan ever came to Brooklyn!"

"Weird."

"I love Boerum Hill. It is sooo pretty. Dumbo too."

"Yeah, good restaurants. Brooklyn Heights is kind of just houses. I love Red Hook."

"Have you eaten at The Good Fork? It is awesome."

"My dad is totally into Ocean Parkway. He bikes there."

"My mom wants to retire to the Upper West Side!"

"Big dreams!" (all of us laughing)

handwriting

By Joyce Szuflita
I realized a year or two ago that I haven't the faintest idea what my children's (almost adult) handwriting looks like. I can tell the difference at a quick glance between my parent's similar hands (frankly I could since I was little and scrutinizing Santa's package tags for clues to his origin). I can forge my husband's curlie q's (although I never would!). I remember being very proud when my Japanese Art History Professor (who taught calligraphy) complimented me on my handwriting.

My kids are super fast typists! The problem is that their handwriting is not practiced or fast and when it comes down to SAT and AP tests, they have to hand write quite a bit and it has to legible.

Is penmanship a dying art? Check out this interesting article in the NY Times, The Case for Cursive.

Many schools use "Handwriting Without Tears" to help early writers.

Does anyone know any other good handwriting resources?

PS 20 and Sean Keaton

Inside schools just reported,

"Sean Keaton, former principal of PS 20 in Fort Greene, was acquitted in a Brooklyn court last week of "menacing in the third degree," a charge stemming from an altercation with a teacher in the principal's office in 2009, Department of Education officials confirmed. But the DOE would not say whether Keaton would return to his post or whether the interim acting principal, Lena Barbera, would stay.

 Go to insideschools.org for the rest of the story.

PS 110 in Greenpoint

By Joyce Szuflita
PS 110 in Greenpoint is a wonderful school.

Why?

• an experienced and gifted principal who has been a teacher in the school for decades. She fosters collaboration with her talented staff and is very receptive to parents.

• a beautiful new yard and computer lab

• an energetic and creative science teacher who loves her subject and translates it to the kids. The first day they play with the materials to get familiar with them and guess what they may be about. The next day they start to work with the FOSS curriculum.

• a long standing partnership with Mcgolrick Park where the students do planting and supplement their science curriculum.

• music teacher who starts teaching with recorders, then the kids move to Music and the Brain on keyboards and then guitars

• great dance program that includes ballroom dance, African dancing and drumming, Mark Morris and square dance

• integrated art in the classrooms and a partnership with VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies) which used fine art to teach critical thinking skills

• a new dual language French program starting in 2011 (4/29/11 - PS 110 has found a French teacher but there were not enough fluent French speakers to create a dual language classroom. They are currently working on making it a French enrichment)