United Community Schools Showcase 2019

March 21, 2019

About 200 visitors attended PS/IS 184 in Brooklyn for the UFT’s United Community Schools (formerly Community Learning Schools) initiative’s annual showcase. They celebrated the school’s accomplishments and learned about the initiative’s expansion, rebranding and new name.

UFT Vice President and United Community Schools Board Member Karen Alford (right) meets with students at the showcase.

Showcase guests gather for breakfast in the school’s cafeteria before the program begins.

The school mascot and drum line put on a rousing performance to kick off the program in the PS/IS 184 auditorium.

The guests enjoy (and film) a musical performance from the PS/IS 184 drum line.

Doug Friedlander, the UCS initiative’s executive director, welcomes guests to the showcase.

One of the student oratory contest winners delivers a speech about Martin Luther King Jr. at the showcase.

Denise Huggins, the UFT chapter leader and librarian at PS/IS 184, shares her love of her school with showcase guests.

Gathered for a group photo before the panel discussion are (from left) Lisa Linder, the PS/IS 184 principal; Christine Schuch, the UCS associate executive director; Doug Friedlander, the UCS executive director, Karen Alford, a UFT vice president; and Dr. Mickisha McKoy, the District 23 director of district initiatives.

UFT Vice President and United Community Schools Board Member Karen Alford (left) discusses the importance of the initiative with teacher Doreen Green, the co-chair of the advisory board of PS 156, a neighboring Brownsville UCS.

Chapter Leader Antonella Lombardo (right) from UCS PS 177 in Sheepshead Bay came out to the showcase with the school’s Principal Anne Marie Letteri Baker (left) and Parent Coordinator Susanna Caleca.

Parents Anastasie Muamba (right) and PTA Secretary Angeline Smitson from the Gotham Professional Arts Academy, a UCS from Prospect Heights, are all smiles at UCS showcase event.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew (left), Chapter Leader Denise Huggins (second from left) and Community School Director Wanda Speede (right) join the audience in giving the student oratory contest winners a standing “O” for their outstanding presentations.

The new branding and logo for United Community Schools (formerly Community Learning Schools) is revealed to the crowd.