Adequate ventilation can curb the spread of COVID. Here’s what we know about ventilation inside NYC schools.
From Chalkbeat: Inside a century-old red brick building on the edge of Manhattan’s Chinatown, Joanne O’Neill and her custodial staff have been hustling. In the morning, two hours before students arrived for summer camp, approximately 70 window air conditioning units were flipped on, and all windows – the primary source of ventilation in the building […]
Universal lunch may help NYC students view their schools as safer places, a report finds
Universal free lunch doesn’t just provide meals for children. New York City’s school food program improves students’ perceptions of bullying, fighting, and safety at their schools, according to a new study. The report, from Washington D.C.-based think tank Urban Institute, used New York City students’ responses to annual surveys as well as school meal participation […]
NYC to increase special education services for Bronx students following settlement
From Chalkbeat: A federal district judge has approved a settlement agreement between the education department and disability rights advocates in the Bronx, resolving a four-year-old lawsuit that challenged the city’s process for allocating certain special education services. The settlement, in effect for three years, requires the education department to make a series of changes to […]
My students thrived last year because they weren’t policed (The COVID era showed us why punitive policies don’t work
From Chalkbeat: A couple of years back, one of my students, a fifth grader, had an emotional outburst that led him to leave the classroom and run around the school. There was no plan in place for how we, as teachers and administrators, would handle a crisis like this. It ended with adults chasing the […]
Critical race theory debate hits New York City public schools
From Chalkbeat: Maud Maron was taken aback during her son’s recent fifth grade graduation when school administrators took a moment to acknowledge that the school building sits on land once taken from Native Americans. “I was like, ‘yes, that is true,’” Maron recounted. “But, as it turns out, for the better part of human existence, […]
To keep Summer Rising running at one Bronx site, each day brings a new staffing puzzle
From Chalkbeat: In the brightly lit library at P.S. 382/M.S. 447 Creston Academy in the West Bronx, middle schoolers excitedly jostle around a camera to record interviews of each other. Across the hall, in the cafeteria, elementary school students draw self-portraits in quiet concentration. In the auditorium, hip hop thumps as rising middle schoolers on […]
NYC’s budget deal pilots smaller class sizes, dedicates millions to COVID learning loss
From Chalkbeat: New York City lawmakers approved Wednesday a record-high budget that will send billions more to schools, including for testing and tutoring students next fall, and a pilot program to reduce class sizes, a longtime goal of many local education advocates. The $98.7 billion spending plan marks the largest and final budget under Mayor […]
Will NYC schools offer a remote option this fall? Officials are hedging.
With Mayor Bill de Blasio promising a “full” reopening of the city’s schools this fall, some parents have been asking a basic question: Will there be a fully virtual option for families who want it? A clear answer is hard to come by. De Blasio said in March that “my expectation is we’ll have to […]
