-
We had a number of questions this week from parents who are confronted with “Promotion in Doubt” letters, or “PIDs” as they are known in DOE lingo. These letters are sent to families of children who are at risk of repeating a grade or who may be failing a course needed to graduate. Here are three recent questions from parents who received a PID letter. 1.Why did I get a promotion in doubt letter, when…
Read more...
-
Fifth-graders around the city should find out today or tomorrow where they have been accepted to middle school. That's several days earlier than the May 20 date posted on the Department of Education's calendar. Public elementary schools are picking up the letters at the enrollment offices on Thursday and will distribute them to children. If you don't get a letter today or tomorrow, contact your parent coordinator. Private school students should get their school assignments…
-
If you've got a child entering public school kindergarten in September 2013, you may want to attend one of this month's "Getting Ready for Kindergarten" workshops led by the Department of Education's Office of Early Childhood. The evening workshops will be held in every borough from May 16-30 in public schools and libraries. The goal is to give parents an introduction to "who's who" in elementary schools, what to expect in kindergarten and how to…
-
A catalogue arrived the other day from Urban Outfitters, the ubiquitous clothing chain that dresses so many U.S. teenagers. Along with hipster uniforms of skinny jeans, chunky jewelry and platform sandals, I saw photographs of long-limbed girls wearing shorts so skimpy they might as well have been bathing suit bottoms. With so little left to the imagination, I couldn't help asking the teenage boys who reside in my household if this was how girls dress…
Read more...
-
You can't make this stuff up. The Department of Education discovered still more errors on the scoring of this year's gifted and talented exams and may fire Pearson, the company that administers the tests, it announced Friday afternoon. Chancellor Dennis Walcott called Pearson's repeated errors "deeply disturbing" and said he was "reviewing a variety of options, including terminating Pearson's contract." More than 300 young test-takers are affected, mostly incoming kindergartners: 82 additional students now qualify…
Read more...
-
Dear Judy, I know that kids are required to go to school a certain amount of hours and days. Can you tell me how many hours of school are required and if they are different at different grades? Mary Dear Mary, Your question opens a complex set of issues – bound up in state law and regulations, allocation of state aid and New York City's own variations, developed with the United Federation of Teachers and…
Read more...
