Only The Blog Knows Brooklyn » EDUCATION

Learn How To Blog With OTBKB: Starts Dec 2 at BAX

louise crawford — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:46:50 +0000

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Wednesdays | December 2 – December 16 | 7:00 – 9:00pm

$45 for the workshop (no drop-ins)

Learn how to blog with Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, in a hands-on
workshop covering technical, creative and conceptual issues. In this
class we will discuss blog design, how to write a great blog post,
top-ten tips for new bloggers, search engine optimization, social
networking platforms and more.

You don’t need to know a thing about blogging. All you need is the desire to blog!

Louise Crawford
runs Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn and is the Smartmom columnist for the
Brooklyn Paper. She produces the annual Brooklyn Blogfest and Brooklyn
Reading Works, a monthly literary reading series at the Old Stone House
in Park Slope. As a freelance writer her work has appeared in Newsweek,
the Associated Press and BKLYN Magazine. She has taught How to Blog
workshops at BAX, Adelphi University, Baruch College and at
Writersat-the-Beach in Rehobeth, Delaware.

Good, True & Beautiful: Brooklyn Free School

louise crawford — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:38:31 +0000

I discovered this video after looking at an interview with Peter Loffredo. This one is about the Brooklyn Free School, an experimental school founded by Alan Berger. You can find other Good, True & Beautiful videos directed by Scott Colthorp at Vimeo.

Swine Flu Vaccinations in 125 Small Public Elementary Schools

louise crawford — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:47:03 +0000

From the NY Times:

School nurses will begin giving free vaccinations on Wednesday at 125 small public elementary schools, all with fewer than 400 students, said the commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley. “We have 40,000 doses set aside for the first wave of schools, which we feel should be adequate,” Dr. Farley said.

He
said nurses would probably vaccinate 15 to 25 children a day until the
supply was exhausted. The order in which schools will receive the
vaccine can be found on the city’s flu Web site.

Can’t Afford Summer Camp: Do It Yourself!

louise crawford — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:35:01 +0000

Here's an excerpt from my latest story for the Associated Press: Can't Afford Pricey Summer Camp? Go DIY. Parents with tight summer budgets get creative—and so do their kids.

Alma Schneider's 8-year-old daughter loves fashion. Her neighbor owns a wedding couture business. It was a match made in DIY heaven and an answer to a problem faced by other cash-strapped families trying to make it through summer without pricey kid classes and camps.
"It costs too much money to send all my kids to camp. It's just not possible," said the Montclair, N.J., mother of four.
Charging $150 per child, Christine Sapienza led a week of "fashion camp" for Schneider's oldest, Ilah, and five pals. She showed the girls how to make fancy T-shirts, wrap skirts and button bracelets while Schneider entertained her three other kids.

The group put on a fashion show for parents the last day, and Sapienza surprised each girl with an inexpensive portable sewing machine.
"The kids had such a great time we're doing another week of it in August," said Schneider, a food blogger who plans to charge $60 per family for her own healthy cooking camp next month.
"I'm a community minded person," she said. "If we all shared our skills and talents we wouldn't have to outsource everything. It's a great model to learn from each other's expertise."
Other parents facing hard financial times are joining the DIY camp movement as they try to survive the muggy months.
Stephanie Reyes in Brooklyn, N.Y., charges $60 a day per family for a playground romp, an art or science activity and a theater performance put on by her campers. She throws in a snack and a nap back at her place for eight to 12 kids, including her 6-year-old son Milo.
"They even get to design the props and costumes," she said.
One planned outing a day.

Elizabeth Laura Palmer and her cartoonist husband, Tom Palmer, haven't taken on the children of others, but they took on a camp mentality for their two girls due to tight finances that precluded far more expensive programs. They created a schedule: Up at 8 a.m., breakfast and out the door for one major outing each day.
Without a plan, Palmer said, she had been afraid Molly, 7, and Violet, 4, wouldn't make it out of the house this summer. "The kids would be content to stay at home, read, play Barbies and imaginary games," she said. "But by 3 or 4 they'd get restless and start fighting."

Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn: RIP Legendary Bed-Stuy Principal

louise crawford — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:32:32 +0000

Here's an excerpt from DITHOB's obit on the legendary principal at Bed Stuy's Boys and Girls High School.

The Daily Challenge, NYC's only Black Daily, in today's edition reports
the passing of Frank N. Mickens, long time Principal of Boys and Girls
High School, the Pride of Bed Stuy, author, activist and fighter for
equal opportunity in education. Mr. Mickens reportedly passed away in
his sleep Thursday morning. Mr. Mickens began teaching in 1968,
becoming principal of Boys and Girls HS in 1985. He retired from the
NYC Department of Education in 2004.

Mr. Mickens was known as a no-nonsense disciplinarian, as witnessed in
the photo above as he patrolled the halls, here with a walkie talkie,
often with a bullhorn. He showed that by getting kids to respect him,
themselves, and each other, it was possible to turn a problem-plagued
school around. He fought for school improvement and school funds, and
many scholarships and incentives were made available to his students.
Under Mr. Micken's tenure, the school had 85%+ college bround
graduates.

Mayhem in Albany Means Department of Ed is Now the Board of Ed, Again

louise crawford — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:07:34 +0000

Due to the mess in the Assembly Albany, at midnight on July 1 mayoral control of schools ended, which means that the Board of Education is back in business. At some point during the day the newly reconstituted BOE voted to keep Chancellor Klein in
command. They elected Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott as president, and called
on state senators in Albany to pass the Assembly’s mayoral control
bill.

Here's the story from Inside Schools:

The newly reconstituted seven-member board will be made up of five
members , one appointed by each borough president, and two members
appointed by Mayor Bloomberg. Yesterday, Bronx Borough President Ruben
Diaz, Jr., formally announced the appointment of Dr. Delores Fernandez as the Bronx representative. According to The New York Times,
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will appoint his chief of
staff, Carlo Scissura, to the board while Manhattan’s Scott Stringer
will appoint his legal counsel (and former Advocates for Children staff
lawyer), Jimmy Yan, on an interim basis. ~~There is no word yet on the appointees from Queens, Staten Island, or the mayor~~.

Check out GothamSchools’ step-by-step guide to the post-mayoral control school system for more information about what’s next for the city’s schools.

UPDATE (11:07 a.m.): We have just learned the rest
of the appointees to the BOE: for Queens, Deputy Mayor of Education and
Community Development Dennis Walcott; for Staten Island, Deputy Borough
President Edward Burke; and for Mayor Bloomberg, First Deputy Mayor
Patricia Harris and Deputy Mayor for Operations Edward Skyler.

Change in Public School Calendar: School Starts September 9th

louise crawford — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:34:12 +0000

I just heard from a member of the United Federation of Teachers that an
important change to next year's calendar was made late last night. Next year public school starts on Wednesday September 9th not September 8th as originally planned. Here's why

Okay, you may have heard this already, but I just got an email about this
less than an hour ago.

The NYC Dept. of Education has just changed the school calendar for next
year – tonight!

I'm a UFT member, and we signed an agreement a few days
ago to change our starting day to the day after Labor day, as opposed to before
Labor Day. This would put it in line with the way it used to be before our last
contract.

But the principal's union objected, because that meant we were coming back
the same day as the kids. So tonight, they signed a NEW agreement changing the
day the KIDS start to the Wednesday after Labor Day. That's one day later than
they originally planned on.

Here's a link to the official calendar. You'll notice it says "Revised as
of June 25, 2009".

http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F5C4C865-B4FF-45BE-A396-536C0695EEDB/64220/20092010SchoolYearCalendarRev.pdf

Free Talks in June with Joyce Szuflita: Navigating High School and Middle School Choice

louise crawford — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:01:05 +0000

Joyce Szuflita, of NYC School Help, is presenting a free talk called
"Navigating HS Choice". In her talk, she will focus on how to manage the process calmly
and understand the procedures from a parent's point of view so that you
can focus on what is most important, finding a good fit school for your
child.

She won't be discussing individual schools at this venue.
Students are welcome.

This Wed., June 3, 6:30 to 7:30 at the Carroll Gardens Library (396 Clinton St, Brooklyn (718) 596-6972/Union St.) near the Carroll St. stop on the F train, and

Tues., June 16, 6:30 to 7:30 at the Park Slope Library (431 6th Ave., Brooklyn (718) 832-1853/9th St.) near
the 7th Ave. stop on the F train.

RSVP to joyce@nycschoolhelp.com with the date that you will be attending.

She is also speaking on "Navigating Middle School Choice" on
Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 to 7:30 at the Park Slope Library (431 6th Ave., Brooklyn (718) 832-1853/9th St.) near
the 7th Ave. stop on the F train.

It’s May 29th: Do You Know Your Child’s Public School Placement?

louise crawford — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:43:07 +0000

Public middle school and kindergarten parents are still waiting to hear where their kids will be going to school next year.

Stressful?

You bet.

Schools have been told that the letters are going out this week. Why does this remind me of last year? They kept saying, the letters went out, the letters went out. And we waited and waited.

One theory: the DOE is trying to send out the special needs and general ed placements at the same time. Last year special needs letters didn't arrive until mid-June aggravating parents of special needs kids who said they felt like second class citizens in the school system.

Advice from Joyce Szuflita of New York School Help:

As long as we are all waiting on pins and needles, I suggest that
parents present a calm and confident attitude to their children that
the placements will come and when things settle down it will all be
fine. Away from their children they can express their outrage to any
DOE and public official who will listen, that this process is too
extended, too opaque and too stressful on children and their families.

President Obama Likes Charter Schools

louise crawford — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:50:32 +0000

I found this map of NYC Charter school on this website. Seems to me the Bronx and Brooklyn top out the list of charter schools in NYC.

SCHOOLS BY BOROUGH

Bronx

2. Bronx Charter for Better Learning
3. The Bronx CS for Children
4. Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls
8. Family Life Academy Charter School
10. Grand Concourse Academy Charter
16. South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts
17. South Bronx Classical Charter School
18. The Bronx Charter for the Arts
21. Bronx Academy of Promise Charter School
22. Bronx Charter School for Excellence
23. Bronx Community Charter
25. Icahn Charter School 1
26. Icahn Charter School 2
27. Icahn Charter School 3
38. Harriet Tubman Charter School
52. Bronx Lighthouse Charter
58. Hyde Leadership Charter
59. KIPP Academy Charter School
68. Bronx Preparatory Charter School
79. Green Dot New York Charter School
80. International Leadership Charter School
82. New York City Charter HS for Architecture, Engineering, & Construction Industries

Brooklyn

5. Brooklyn Charter School
6. Community Partnership Charter School
7. Community Roots Charter School
12. La Cima Elementary Charter School
20. Beginning with Children Charter
24. Brooklyn Excelsior Charter
29. East New York Prep Charter
30. Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant
31. Explore Charter School
39. Hellenic Classical Charter School
40. Leadership Prep Charter School
43. PAVE Academy Charter School
45. Achievement First Brownsville Charter School
46. Achievement First Bushwick CS (Elementary)
47. Achievement First Bushwick CS (Middle)
48. Achievement First Crown Heights CS (Elem.)
49. Achievement First Crown Heights CS (Middle)
50. Achievement First East New York Charter School
51. Achievement First Endeavor Charter School
53. Brooklyn Ascend Charter
60. KIPP AMP Charter School
67. United Federation of Teachers CS (Elementary)
69. Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate Charter
71. Kings Collegiate Charter
74. Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School
77. United Federation of Teachers CS (Middle)
83. Williamsburg Charter HS

Manhattan

1. Amber Charter School
9. Girls Preparatory Charter School
11. Harlem Day Charter School
13. Manhattan Charter School
15. Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem
19. Harbor Science & Arts Charter School
28. DREAM Charter School
32. Future Leaders Institute Charter
33. Harlem Link Charter School
34. Harlem Success Academy
35. Harlem Success Academy 2
36. Harlem Success Academy 3
37. Harlem Success Academy 4
41. Mott Haven Academy Charter
55. Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy I Charter Upper Elementary, Middle
56. Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Acad I High
57. Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy II Charter Elementary School
59. KIPP Academy Charter School
61. KIPP Infinity Charter School
62. KIPP STAR College Prep Charter School
65. Ross Global Academy Charter
66. St. HOPE Leadership Academy
70. Harlem Village Academy
72. Leadership Village Academy
73. New Heights Academy Charter School
75. Democracy Prep Charter School
78. New York Center for Autism Charter School
81. John V. Lindsay Wildcat Academy Charter School

Queens

14. Peninsula Preparatory Academy Charter
42. Our World Neighborhood Charter School
44. VOICE Charter School
63. Merrick Academy Queens Public Charter School
64. The Renaissance Charter School