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[-]Does anyone have any experience in working with parents at a NYC public school to change things? Our classroom parents are fed up. We have 30 students in a K class, with a para for 2.5 hours in the morning, and occasional parent volunteers (we can't volunteer in our own kids' classroom, per the rules.) So we want to go ballistic, start demanding a full time assistant teacher, and a long term plan for this class. We want to make it more expensive for the DoE to take our calls than pay for the teacher. We'll go to the teachers' union. What advice do you have for us? Thanks.
19 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreOur public system is a mess this much is true, but how much of a mess it really is seems to be about perspective. Before people were able to be so easily exposed to what wealthier people had in general and what the private schools had, parents with dcs in public were not so outraged. sometimes, you have to live with what you can afford.
[ Reply | More ]If they capped the k classes at 25 where would they put the extra kids? Is there an empty classroom or would you lose the art or music room? I don't know of any asst teachers funded by the DOE it's usually the PTAs. Just think through the possible DOE responses before you go ballistic so you can be prepared.
[ Reply | More ]my advice is to shame them by getting the media interested. call gotham schools. call michael winerup at NYT. most important, call leonie haimson at class size matters. you can google for her contact info. she can tell you what to do, and she will really try to help you out.
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nothing wrong with 30 kids in a class. is the teacher good? if not you will just end up with two crappy teachers. no difference between 20 and 30 kids in a class..........I had 32 in my public school classes as a child. the teachers unions have brainwashed everyone that this bad
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[-]Does anyone know the date and time of the Collegiate Open House event in January? I installed new OS on Mac today and my freaking calendar has gone ballistic. I could scream. TIA
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[-]do you think it is an advantage or disadvantage for dalton to visit your child's preschool instead of having the playdate at dalton? what if they come and the kids are making banana bread...how much will they learn about your child? blech.
20 replies [ Reply | Watch | Moreentirely depends on your kid and the year they are having in preschool. if it's a great class and teacher they can make the kid shine much more so than at a school interview. If it's a bad year for your dc, or a lot of kids applying and sibs in the class, it's not good. it's the only school i know of that does this, and they rely heavily on the preschool's recommendations and "favorites"
[ Reply | More ]the schools do an amazing job of planning and helping your kids. i happened to be substitute teaching in a class when a school came. they knew in advance which child they were visiting and the teachers actively set a lesson plan around something the child would really shine at. of course, the child was practically sparkling through the entire visit. you have no idea the things these schools do for your kids to get them into schools. frankly, i went through excisions twice w/ older kids and had no idea this kind of stuff went on. they are doing so much for you behind the scenes. i left that day very, very grateful.
[ Reply | More ]I wonder if all preschools make this kind of preparation or just the ones who send a lot of kids to private schools.
[ Reply | More ]ITA with this and will add that while the Dalton admissions officer does not actually speak to the children, she asks the teachers to have them do specific things. Even if half the class is making banana bread, the kids Dalton (or any ongoing) is actually there to see will be at a separate table doing "special" things set up by the teacher, and their efforts will be assessed by the admissions person (similar to stuff what they have to do on the Dalton playdate, I imagine).
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There are a lot of kids applying to Dalton from my dc's preschool. If the teachers play favorites then I am not sure where my dc stands. If the teacher don't try to influence anything, well, I think my dc will do fine....I hope.
[ Reply | More ]I wouldn't worry about that truly. Mean girl in our grade got in no problem 3 years ago. Teachers struggled with her all the time. She was not liked. Parents were mega mega connected. That's what mattered. And no, we had a boy so it did not impact us in the least (meanness or getting into D). It was just almost hilarious to watch. Goes to show that it really is rarely about the kids in K.
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How does Dalton decide which schools to visit? Can low-profile schools request one?
[ Reply | More ]I am going to answer your question in an entirely different way. If you are white and unconnected it's a disadvantage to be at a preschool that D visits. Here's why: they only visit chi chi nursery schools and they tend to pick up high profile and very desireable diversity at these schools. It does not matter in the least if your child is brilliant that day and your psd positions him to shine. The woman comes with a short list of who she will look at--it's all predetermined and won't even look at your kid if he didn't fit into the formula. the unconnected nursery schools....a child with high scores, who does well on the playdate, much better chance IMO. Good luck.
[ Reply | More ]This is not true. We are at a preschool Dalton visits, and the white unconnected kids do just as well at our school as the diversity kids. They take more kids from the connected preschools, so I'd say odds are the same to better for regular joes than if they were at a no-name preschool that most years gets no one into dalton (or any of the so-called tts).
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keep in mind that some children perform very differently in a class room of 20 kids v. a school play date with 3 other children. for example, if your child is easily distracted by activity around them or can't sit still in circle time, then a class room visit would not be good. on the other hand, if your child can't shake hands and make eye contact and is very shy, then a play date at dalton would not be good. dalton sees some kids both in the preschool class room and also at Dalton - - those kids are really under a microscope!!!
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[-]DC scored 5,7, 9, 9 on ISEE. The 9s are great but the is the 5 a red flag or just one of those things? The real surprise is the 7 (higher than practices). Applying to TT and wondering how these scores would appear to schools. Comments?
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^^^ok, I'm being snarky, but come on, if you are posting here that means you have read the other posts about ISEEs. Those are obviously good scores, and EVERY post said a 5 or even a 4 was okay if they were balanced out by high scores, and obviously your dc's scores were. so I think you should just stop worrying about it -- the scores will appear as they appear. The schools with only a few spaces don't care as much about ISEEs anyway. As long as they are good, they reserve those spots for connected kids or kids bringing something else to the table. They aren't going to take a 9,9,9,8 kid over a 9,8,7,7 if the latter has something else they like.
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Were the 9s in one category, math or verbal, or was there a mix? There are also 2 ability sections and 2 achievement sections. School may look at this.
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We are current parents at Blue School. The school moved to a new building near the seaport this year. I would say it has been challenging settling and growing into the new space. However, we are very happy with our teachers and feel like they have their fingers on the pulse of the class. I wouldn't say the teachers do not have control of the classroom. But, the children have a lot of input as to how the curriculum benchmarks play out in the classroom. Our dc is thriving in the program. I wouldn't say it's a traditional environment, though. It's not the perfect school for everyone, but it is very inspiring and we like it for our artsy, socially-outgoing dc.
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[-]Comment on the strength of the math curriculum at these schools: Cathedral, Trevor, VCS, LREI. First-hand knowledge especially appreciated.
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Cathedral is definitely not TERC! Most privates don't subscribe to "one" math curriculum (TERC, Singapore, Everyday, etc.) like the publics, but instead draw from the best of some/all of them. I know Cathedral does. Cathedral uses manipulatives in K and 1st but at the same time drills in the times tables and other operations via "Math Minutes" ...we find it an excellent program and very bright DC (now in Upper School) is challenged and learning a lot.
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LREI teaches finger counting addition/subtration in 6th grade. Advanced math students in 12th grade are taught fingers & toes counting.
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[-]So where do you send a squirmy ds with a 94 erb for k? What schools might be more accomodating? Pls, no flames.
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[-]ds scored 97 overall on the erb, but the coding subtest was very weak -- in the 50th percentile. will this raise a red flag to admissions?
15 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreIn children, coding is neither a classic IQ component nor a good measure of general intelligence, and that's why it's thrown out by a lot of schools. It measures processing speed, something that, for kids, is less an advanced ability issue than a advanced development issue. That's why boys especially get lots of leeway with this one, since they develop later. For your DC, it could be that his brain is functioning much faster than his hands.
[ Reply | More ]i know first hand that coding or the activity defined as coding is indeed a component of traditional IQ tests. It is not thrown out--it is a relevant metric but it is not definitive for a negative interpretation because delayed motor skills can impact the score. But it is not thrown out nor ignored.
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[-]For progressive schools, which one is better and why: LREI or Calhoun?
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They are both pretty great-- slightly different philosophies. Which one is closer to you?
[ Reply | More ]This isn't what you asked but we loved LREI but hated C and pulled our app. We thought the LS were not in control of their classrooms and that the space was cluttered. But the real issue was the upper school. block scheduling was a failed experiment when we experienced it 20 years ago, and the way C does it, they go without math and other sciences for whole sections of the year. the older kids looked blase. YMMV, but we felt LREI was progressive done right, and also preferred Trevor.
[ Reply | More ]never looked at REI but this wasn't our impression of calhoun at all. the children all seemed engaged and happy, the teachers were mostly enthusiastic. the older kids were anything but blasé, they were doing a mock debate, had done a ton of background homework for it and were totally into it. the whole place just seemed alive. loved it. trevor was nice too, but it didn't have the magic.
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[-]We have now completed all K tours, interviews and playdates, and our first choice is Chapin. We went into the process assuming our top choices would be coeds, and that of C,B,S, Chapin was the least of interest. It goes to show that it really is all about fit and vibe (and where your dc gets in). Some schools that I assumed would be perfect for our family, we didn't like at all.
13 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreWe liked Chapin a lot too, and thought it would be very stodgy. Did you apply to NBS? Spence is our favorite of the girls schools
[ Reply | More ]Interesting, we had a similar view. Expected Chapin to be really stuffy/traditional, but came away with a very warm feeling. I think part of that was due to the parent tour guide - she was amazing. We also had a very good vibe from Therese, but be warned, we did hear that she gives the love to everyone. The Chapin facilities are amazing too. I felt Brearley was much more similar to Chapin than Spence.
[ Reply | More ]That is exactly where we were two years ago! Thought we wanted coed going in, top three were C, B, S in no particular order. DD now at Spence.
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[-]My DC got 7's on everything except vocab. He got a 4 on Vocab. In school he gets grade of 95% or higher on every subject, tried out for LaGuardia and does a little acting. He also plays the drums. He is in 9th grade and REALLY wants to go to fieldston. Is there any hope?
10 replies [ Reply | Watch | MoreAs I posted on another one of these threads, here is a very good example I found on the internet: You may be perplexed by the fact that the test scores on the ISEE are lower than that of previous standardized tests your child has taken. But in order to understand ability or achievement test scores, you need to be familiar with the group against whom the student is being compared, i.e. the norm group. The norm group for ISEE is the population nationwide who are applying to independent schools, a highly competitive population vs the norm group for other standardized tests that is the whole nation. To illustrate the significance of the different norms, a student's reading score at the 87th percentile level on a National Norm might equate...
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[-]Did you choose to send your child to a TT elementary school because (a) it is best for their well-being while they are school-age or (b) it will make them a more happy/fulfilled/successful adult?
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[-]DC scored 5,7, 9, 9 on ISEE. The 9s are great but the is the 5 a red flag or just one of those things? The real surprise is the 7 (higher than practices). Applying to TT and wondering how these scores would appear to schools. Comments?
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[-]Anyone else to admit to DC getting one or more 4s on the ISEE (for 6th grade entry). What schools are you applying to? Trying to decide if we're still in the game.
14 replies [ Reply | Watch | Morei think its okay not great. grades may offset. depends on where you are hoping to get in
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You may be perplexed by the fact that the test scores on the ISEE are lower than that of previous standardized tests your child has taken. But in order to understand ability or achievement test scores, you need to be familiar with the group against whom the student is being compared, i.e. the norm group. The norm group for ISEE is the population nationwide who are applying to independent schools, a highly competitive population vs the norm group for other standardized tests that is the whole nation. To illustrate the significance of the different norms, a student's reading score at the 87th percentile level on a National Norm might equate to the 50th percentile on the Independent School Norm. Imagine a universe of 20 children. T...
[ Reply | More ]I see what you're saying, but since my DC is up against the very group she is being normed against, it doesn't matter how this score is 'good' in comparison to other tests that norm with everyone.
[ Reply | More ]NP: there are the same five people posting on here, you can't get a picture of the overall application pool from this place.
[ Reply | More ]NP: Thanks for posting that. My dc hasn't taken it yet and I am having anxiety about it that I am desperately trying to mask from dc. I am hopeful that whatever the score, it will be treated as one part of the puzzle of an application from a wonderful kid/nice family and not sink or ace it in any way.
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Did you have your interview already? Did you get a sense whether DD did well on them? They can do a lot to outweigh the test scores.
[ Reply | More ]We were told at our private elementary school that there are some "score" schools that won't accept low ISEE scores - HM, Trinity and Dalton. Other than those schools anything is possible.
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[-]Any School at Columbia moms on? Would love to get an insider's point of view. Also, curious to hear from those who toured.
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If you're still watching this thread...what do you think of the teachers? Are they engaging and creative? Is there a tight community? Are you happy there?
[ Reply | More ]For the most part, the teachers are really really stellar - there is a big focus at the school on teacher development, providing them with lots of very interesting and out of the box opportunities which I think really strengthens their ability to do cool stuff in the classroom as well. They take the integrated curriculum apporach seriously with themes across all subjects in the grade and they do very interesting technology work. Some teachers are better at this then others, but on the whole I think the faculty is extremely talented. The school has many different communities, and I don't think there is the same "overall" community that one finds at other privates, and I think this is because of the nature of the school - the families are c...
[ Reply | More ]op: Many thanks for your thoughtful response. So, what are the downsides? I'd love to hear both positive and negative. fwiw, I thought the class size, the support for dc with sn, and the facility were really impressive.
[ Reply | More ]OK, the downsides in my opinion are that they don't do a great job with kids who are big outliers - kids who are really struggling or kids who are tremendously academically gifted (neither of which I have but have seen friends' experiences). I don't think there is a consistent pedagogical or disciplinary system in place where all the teachers are on the same page (i.e. at a school like Bank street where there is a philosophy driving the school as a whole and everyone is on board and following the same basic tenets). The School is like a collection of many very talented professionals that often work well but each are sort of doing their own thing. There are many transitions throughout the day which is good as there are so many specials but ...
[ Reply | More ]But really both the biggest plus and the biggest difficulty are the same in my opinion - the diversity of the families at the school means that you are trying to provide a private school education/approach to a pool of students/families that have widely varying backgrounds and opinions, and to students that have not been "screened" like they are at other schools. This is the thing we like most about the school, but it is a very difficult mandate to carry out and they can struggle with it.
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[-]what schools have notified sibs/legs? saw PSD congratulating someone today.
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[-]I'm wondering if anyone can share information about great public elementary schools on the UWS and UES. We are considering moving back to the city and I'd love some information on real public school options. Many thanks,
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[-]have the $$ for private ($500k income - one kid) but chose public - not because we "believe in" public - but dc got in to a citywide and it seemed like a good deal
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