Category Archives: Education
Calvin Covington was driving a bus full of sixth-graders home from Intermediate School 77 on Thursday afternoon in Ridgewood when he smelled smoke. He passed Eliot Avenue on Fresh Pond Road around 3:15 p.m. and dismissed the scent as coming from the gas station at the intersection. After another mile, he still smelled the smoke and then the acrid odor of wires burning. He pulled over as soon as he could at 74th Street and 58th Avenue in Maspeth and … Continue reading
Community Board 6 announced their capital and expense budget for 2013 at their monthly meeting on Feb. 8, which aims at saving a local school program that could disappear at the end of the 2011-12 school year. Each year, the board must put together a list of 10 local items that they believe need additional funding for the 2013 fiscal year. The board submits this list to the state government. This year, the board put more funding for the Beacon … Continue reading
Schools Rebuke plan to Replace Teachers: Bloomberg Wants to Close, Reopen Schools to get $58 Million
By Jeremiah Dobruck Updated below Grover Cleveland High School’s assistant principal Michelle Robertson bellowed at Mayor Michael Bloomberg. An immigrant from Barbados herself, she told the mayor about students in her English class who arrive not knowing how to speak the language—and a year later, pass the state’s English Reagents Exam. She yelled out how the largely immigrant population at her school in Ridgewood competes with specialized high schools in math and science contests. “We know our students are not … Continue reading
With bullying becoming an increasing concern among parents and children, one Woodhaven resident is hoping to introduce a form that could give children an avenue to combat bullying at their school. Evelyn Delorbe, a member of the Parent Teachers Association at Middle School 210, introduced the bully form at the Our Neighbors of Ozone Park meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The form would allow kids from 5th grade and up to anonymously report to the school a bullying incident or … Continue reading
If a city plan goes through later this year, a number of Queens-based high schools could have their teacher staffs cut in half in time for the 2012-13 school year. After the Jan.1 deadline passed for the city and the teacher’s union to agree on teacher evaluations, the city proposed a turnaround plan, which would see grant money come to the 33 schools on the Persistently Lowest Achieving list (PLA) but would also include cutting up to 50 percent of … Continue reading
Parents rallied Tuesday at their local Community Education Council meeting, putting pressure on the Department of Education to install a new system for parents to request bus service for kids who must walk a hazardous route to school. At the CEC 24 meeting that covers a swath of Queens including Middle Village and Ridgewood, parents in the audience cheered as the council voted unanimously to support a resolution asking to reveal an opaque process that parents say covers life and … Continue reading
Students from Christ the King High School had a taste of civic activism this week. Chilly winter weather couldn’t dim the smiles and determination of more than 50 students and four faculty members from Christ the King High School as they boarded the bus for the 2012 March for Life in Washington, DC, which was held on Monday Jan. 23. A welcome guest on the bus departing from Middle Village was Msgr. Edward B Scharfenberger, Pastor of St. Matthias Parish in … Continue reading
In his State of the City address, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made it clear he wants to leave a lasting mark on education and proposed changes that could affect students and teachers in Queens and the rest of the city. During the Jan. 12 speech at Morris High School in the Bronx, Bloomberg pushed his ideas to attract high-quality teachers to New York, retain them with the possibility of $20,000 raises and make it easier to fire underperforming teachers. “The education … Continue reading
It’s finally time – the kids are old enough to go to school! But which one? The first thing a parent should do when choosing a school is to consider what your child needs. Sometimes location is key, sometimes a child has a special need, or interest. Whatever the case, Queens has a school that will be the perfect fit. The application deadlines vary a bit from school to school, but most preschools and elementary schools go through the process … Continue reading
The passage of 2011 has brought us to the threshold of yet another year– our 35th year of publication. Looking ahead we wonder what changes will shape 2012. How will our community be affected by the political climate? Will our quality of life issues be successfully addressed by local legislators and law enforcement or will cuts continue to erode our services? Will our elected officials bring enough money to their districts to bring about improvements and change in addition to … Continue reading
With Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s formal signing on Tuesday, the state has cut the MTA payroll tax for public and private schools, meaning that local private and parochial schools could be saving more dollars. The agreement comes as part of a statewide bill—passed by the state legislature last week—that aims to reform the state tax code, expected to provide nearly $700 million in tax relief for middle-income taxpayers. As part of that, private elementary and secondary schools, as well … Continue reading
After four months of rehearsing each song and dance routine, the Christ the King Musical Theatre group’s hard work paid off as it presented “The Beatles –A Musical Revue” last weekend. The three shows, which were held at Christ the King High School last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, featured two hours of classic Beatles songs spanning their entire discography. The group performed 34 songs divided into two sets with a short intermission in between. According to John Bellington, co-director of the musical, … Continue reading
Teachers in Ozone Park are reaching out to their fellow New Yorkers upstate recovering from Hurricane Irene by donating some simple, but valued appliances. As people living in Schoharie County—located in upstate New York—are still picking up the pieces from the devastation of Hurricane Irene, PS 65, the Raymond York Elementary School in Ozone Park, has donated several television sets the school owns to recovering households there, as part of an outreach program with Schoharie County Junior/ Senior High School. … Continue reading
Parents residing in Community Education Council District 27 made it loud and clear last week that they want no part of a controversial proposed plan offering their children enrollment in six schools outside of their original schools. Two weeks ago parents around the district received a notice from the city Department of Education that offered fifth graders the option of applying to six schools, including Brian Piccolo Middle School 53 and The Academy of Medical Technology—both in Far Rockaway—Eagle Academy … Continue reading
Local parents with their children turned out in numbers over the weekend as Howard Beach native Frances O. Scarantino launched the first in a line of children’s books she has authored. “Felicia Gets Ready for Day Care” is written from a child’s point of view and will help both parent and child transition into day care. It gives some helpful ways for both child and parent to alleviate some separation anxiety and make going to day care a pleasant, reassuring and … Continue reading