Match day: High school offers bring excitement and anxiety to NYC’s eighth graders
For years, Anthony Block De Jesus, an eighth grader at the School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Brooklyn, has been dreaming of a career on Broadway. He’s hopeful that he’s on his way: He learned on Thursday he’d been admitted to the vocal performance program at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art […]
NYC schools bring back chicken dumplings, French toast sticks, burritos after outcry
Facing mounting criticism over cuts to popular school lunch items, New York City officials are reversing course. School cafeterias will once again feature French toast sticks, bean and cheese burritos, and chicken dumplings, an Education Department spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Those items should reappear later this month or in early April. Officials eliminated the popular foods […]
NYC budget director blames cafeteria menu cuts on too many kids eating
New York City slashed popular items like chicken tenders, dumplings, and cookies from cafeteria menus in February because too many kids were eating, a city official said Monday. Jacques Jiha, director of the Office of Management and Budget, offered the surprising explanation at a City Council budget hearing in response to questions from Education Committee […]
Summer Rising will face reduced hours this year. Here’s what NYC families should know.
Applications for New York City’s free summer programming opened Monday to all children in kindergarten through eighth grade. But in the wake of budget cuts ordered by Mayor Eric Adams, middle schoolers will face significantly fewer hours of enrichment programming this summer. Launched in 2021 with federal pandemic relief funding, the Summer Rising program was […]
The Youth Mental Health Crisis Needs Our Attention
The headlines are difficult to ignore these days. One cannot help but feel a bit of anxiety when consuming the state of our affairs in the news — war, climate, and the economy. So you may turn to social media instead for an escape? Perhaps consuming manicured images or videos of travel, food, and design […]
Digital Detox: Why Schools Are Swapping Laptops for Paper
Every teacher reading this has an opinion on the subject: Do students learn better from screens or from traditional, physical paper? While we know cell phones are not great for kids, some schools are now starting to question this 1-1 technology approach schools have submitted grants for and worked so hard to obtain for their students since the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The list is out: See which curriculum is dominating NYC’s reading mandate
New York City kicked off its new literacy curriculum mandate this year, requiring elementary schools in nearly half of its districts to choose among three curriculums. One pick dominated: Into Reading, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Teachers wondered whether the same curriculum — which has won mixed reviews from educators — would continue to gain traction, […]
As NYC overhauls literacy approach, one public school gets phonics help from nearby private school
Clasping a deck of pale yellow flash cards, Sloan Shapiro delivered a phonics lesson she’s taught countless times at her Manhattan private school for children with reading challenges. “Q — U — Queen — Kwuh,” Shapiro chanted, pointing at the letters “Qu” printed on a card above a cartoon drawing of a queen. A chorus […]
