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Good first impression: Hardly a glitch in ‘one of the smoothest’ school openings
Sep 12, 2008 11:53 AM
Patricia Applegate, dance teacher at JHS 259, Brooklyn, puts her students through their paces on the first day.
More Good first impression photos
At schools across the city on Sept. 2, teachers reconnected with students and parents as the new school year got off to a mostly problem-free start.
“Today’s opening of schools was one of the smoothest I can remember. If every day could go as smoothly as today, this will be a great year,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten, who managed to visit schools in four boroughs that day despite a broken toe suffered at the Democratic National Convention.
A regular class takes place in the small gymnasium at JHS 259, Brooklyn — and there’s another class on the other side of the partion at right.
Weingarten noted that the union’s officers and staff visited “hundreds of schools today, and while there were sporadic problems, the system — and our leaders — solved most of them. The level of cooperation the last few days has been truly impressive, and I hope it continues.”
First stop on Weingarten’s itinerary was PS 62 in the South Bronx, where she and UFT Vice President Michael Mulgrew joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, principals’ union head Ernest Logan, UFT Chapter Leader Robert Fernandez and a slew of other elected officials in greeting students, teachers and parents.
The school, with its new auditorium and library and a recently sandblasted exterior, was showcased by Bloomberg to the city’s invited media because its students have made dramatic progress on state tests over the last six years. In 2002, just one-third of its 4th-graders were meeting or exceeding grade-level standards. Today, nearly seven in 10 4th-graders meet or exceed standards in math and almost half are meeting or exceeding standards in reading.
“PS 62 is a sterling example of what a school can accomplish when administrators and educators collaborate for the benefit of their students,” Weingarten said.
Parent Francesca Sarita and students (from left) Nancy Carrion, Naomi Hidalgo and Abigail Carrion seem happy that school has started as they arrive at PS 62, the Bronx. We’re not quite sure about Joshua Carrion (right).
Declaring the school, in one of the most depressed sections of the Bronx, “a haven for kids,” Weingarten said, “You have stable staff and administrators working together to provide students with a quality education.”
As an example of that collaboration, she noted that when the staff recently used funds provided by the City Council to buy furniture for the faculty conference room, the principal chipped in and had the room painted.
The mayor used the school’s success as evidence that mayoral control of schools under his administration has been a success.
Then off to PS 199, a high-performing school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, which also houses the grades 5-8 experimental Center School, where Weingarten met Katy Rosen, PS 199’s principal, who called her staff “the best teachers in the city.”
Serious overcrowding in the building has forced some classes to be held in hallways and a music class to be held on the auditorium stage. Another classroom was closed because of suspected PCB contamination.
Teacher Robyn Pensak told Weingarten that she despaired of the lack of communication on safety issues between the Department of Education and the school.
Greeting students and parents as they arrive at PS 62, the Bronx, on the first day of classes are (counter-clockwise from left) Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, UFT President Randi Weingarten, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernie Logan and UFT Vice President Michael Mulgrew.
At JHS 259, the William McKinley School in Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton section, the UFT contingent joined City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Borough President Marty Markowitz and area Councilman Vincent Gentile in a guided tour led by Principal Janice Geary.
JHS 259 was another school that has improved over the past few years, and Quinn noted that “the last time I remember being here was after a bomb scare.”
The visitors saw an impromtu dance performance, where teacher Patricia Applegate had a dozen students performing salsa, meringue and jitterbug numbers.
The school’s hallways were adorned with murals, all created by students after school hours. Deftly combining art and literacy, different murals depicted Depression-era American life and elements of Greek mythology, while displaying poems written and collected by the late Jackie Kennedy as well as student poems about the painted topics.
Art teacher Tom Buxton, who directed the project through a grant from Parents as Art Partners, said the students were proud of their work.
Chapter Leader Geofrey Sorkin told Weingarten in summing up the staff’s attitude toward the school: “Bottom line. When you can go to work and be happy, it makes all the difference in the world.”
Weingarten concluded her day with a visit to PS 256 in the Rockaways, where the intervention of UFT health and safety specialists over the summer had prompted a complete renovation of a school building plagued by mold, water leaks, asbestos, peeling paint and mice droppings [see below].
