Best Public Schools: A New Book & Timely Seminar

If you’re an NYC parent considering a public education for your child, there’s important and timely news to share: A new edition of Clara Hemphill’s must-read New York City’s Best Public Pre-K and Elementary Schools—and a parent seminar featuring Hemphill herself on next Wednesday, January 11.

Here’s the brief scoop on both.

Hemphill is the founder of InsideSchools.org, which helps city parents make educated decisions about public school by providing incisive and balanced reviews of schools (written by trained InsideSchools reporters), and lots of other reliable news, resources, and information about local schools and their admissions procedures. Out of the work on the website, grew Hemphill’s series of Best Schools guides for grade school through high school. Important: The last time the Grade School edition was published was 10 years ago. A lot has changed since then including, Universal Pre-K, the expansion of charter schools, and an expanding number of public schools that middle class parents are willing to consider.

I’ve participated with on many school seminars with Hemphill over the years, and I can assure you that it’s also helpful and inspiring to hear her in person too.

The latest Edition (the 4^th) was co-written with Lydie Raschaka, and others on the InsideSchools team, including Pamela Wheaton and Laura Zingmod.

At next week’s seminar, which is sponsored by Bowery Babes, Hemphill and the InsideSchools staff will tackle these topics and more:

What’s the difference between childcare and Pre-Kindergarten?
What should I look for when I visit?
How do I decide between progressive vs. traditional?
What about gifted programs, charters and other options?
How and when do I apply?

Seminar Details:

Date: January 11, 2017

Time: 9:30-11:30am, 1-hour presentation with Q&A to follow

Location: The New School, Theresa Lang Community & Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor.

Ticket Price: $30, which includes a copy of Hemphill’s new book New York City’s Best Public Pre-K and Elementary Schools, 4th Edition

Click HERE To Buy A Ticket To The Seminar!

Click HERE to Buy A Book!

Eric Messinger is the Editor of New York Family. He can be reached at emessinger@manhattanmedia.com.

Save

FlexSchool

Our mission is to provide an engaging&nbsp;learning experience in a supportive environment where students are free to explore their&nbsp;passions, embrace their challenges and find a community of teachers and friends who&nbsp;understand and accept them as they are. Academics: To meet the unique needs of gifted and 2e learners &ndash; students who may have co-occurring&nbsp;learning challenges along with their gifts &ndash; we provide a gifted-level curriculum with built-in&nbsp;scaffolding, developed by credentialed experts in both gifted education and special education,&nbsp;as well as subject-area experts. Small, discussion-based classes ensure our students can&nbsp;engage in stimulating conversation with intellectual peers while receiving individualized attention&nbsp;and support. Talent Development and Experiential Learning: Central to our program is our strengths-based, interest-based approach to learning. All&nbsp;FlexSchool students pursue personal passion projects and choose from a diverse menu of&nbsp;enrichment activities and electives designed to support exploration and talent development. Our&nbsp;signature FlexFriday experiential learning program provides essential connections between&nbsp;classroom learning and the real world. Executive Functioning and Learning Support: All FlexSchool students have access to an extensive range of accommodations, including&nbsp;breaks as needed, daily executive functioning support, flexible seating, extended time, assistive&nbsp;technology and more. Learning Specialist support is available on every FlexSchool campus. Social-Emotional Learning and School Counseling: Our caring team of certified school counselors, under the guidance of a consulting psychologist,&nbsp;provide robust social-emotional learning and social pragmatics programming. Students are&nbsp;welcome to visit the school counselor at any time &ndash; no appointment necessary. FlexSchool&nbsp;counselors also maintain a collaborative relationship with parents and outside providers. Rolling admissions: We understand that student needs don&rsquo;t always neatly align with the academic calendar, so&nbsp;FlexSchool admits students on a rolling basis. To learn more, join FlexSchool founder Jacqui&nbsp;Byrne live via Zoom for a Virtual Open House. To receive a call from our admissions team,&nbsp;inquire online, email us at admissions@flexschool.net or call 908-279-0787.

Long Island Speech

At Long Island Speech, we recognize the value of every person and are guided by our commitment to excellence. We believe that everyone has the right to better communication in order to improve their quality of life. Our mission is to provide exemplary speech/language and feeding services for each of our patients by our highly qualified clinicians, making a positive difference in the lives of our patients so that they may achieve their highest potential. Through the commitment of our staff, we can maintain a quality of presence and tradition of caring; which are hallmarks for Long Island Speech. Our vision is to be the absolute best speech therapy service provider throughout both Nassau and Suffolk counties. We aspire to be the provider of choice in our industry.&nbsp;We have 9 affiliated offices across Long Island, all participating with most major health insurance companies. We also offer evening and weekend hours. Call 844-5-SPEECH to schedule your first appointment.

St Andrew Avellino School

St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy, voted &ldquo;Best in Boro&rdquo; by qns.com, is a home to students ranging from Nursery through 8th grade. We offer a safe and nurturing learning environment and a family-oriented community where students of all faiths and backgrounds can excel academically, socially and emotionally. The St. Andrew Avellino Catholic Academy Advantage: Engaging and challenging lessons created by experienced and passionate faculty that encourage critical and creative thinking. Traditional teaching approach and educational programs that adheres to New York State common-core curriculum and is accredited by Cognia. Early Childhood foundation in academics, emotional literacy and faith. High-school level Regents classes for advanced learners. Support services for learning differences. Hands-on science experiments in a STEM lab. Art, music, robotics, and physical education classes. Catholic faith formation from religion classes, weekly church liturgies, and Christian service projects. Wide range of programs and extracurricular activities (music, clubs, sports) that cater to the students&rsquo; diverse interests and needs. Excellent Student Outcomes: Above average standardized New York State test scores every year. Graduates attend and succeed at prestigious high schools (Regis, Chaminade, Bronx High School, Stuyvesant, and Townsend Harris) and Catholic high schools in Queens, Manhattan, and Long Island. Graduating classes receive an average of $250,000 in Catholic High School scholarships. Financial assistance is available for families that qualify. Early morning drop-off and afterschool care are available.