Bronx Celebrates ‘Food Day’ With New School Health Initiative

Today is officially Food Day in New York City–the first annual government-sponsored day to celebrate “real food and healthy eating,” marked by events across the five boroughs with a focus on nutrition. In the Bronx this morning, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera were at Mount St. Ursula Academy in Bedford Park to kick off a new health initiative for local schools. The Family Health Challenge, developed alongside the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and the Committee of Interns and Residents, asks students and their families to set small goals for themselves–cut out soda one

Happy Monday, Breaking Bronx readers. From here on out, we’ll be starting each work week off with a post called “Weekend Wrap,” linking to relevant local news and big Bronx stories that went down over the weekend. Make sure you check back with us here every Monday. Some items from the last few days: A bill passed recently by the City Council will require the DOE to provide extensive reports on how school space is being utilized–though local parents are skeptical this will do anything for the crammed classrooms in the notoriously overcrowded Bronx District 10. This Daily News story

PS 51 Parents Hold Rally, Walcott Agrees to Meet

After persistent lobbying, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said he would meet with parents of students at PS 51, the Bronx New School, which was moved from Bedford Park to Crotona after the building the school had inhabited for nearly two decades was found to be contaminated.

Bronx Education Summit a Chance to Chart New Path

For the first-ever Bronx Education Summit at Lehman College, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. said he wanted to spark conversation. He got what he wanted.

Mayor’s ‘Young Men’s Initiative’ Focused on Reading

Mayor Bloomberg and a number of city and elected officials gathered at the Bronx Library Center on Kingsbridge Road last week to launch the first effort of the city’s “Young Men’s Initiative,” a $127 million multi-agency program unveiled this summer to address the disparities faced by the city’s young black and Latino men.

Sen. Rivera Teaching Free Civics Classes

Bronx State Sen. Gustavo Rivera is getting back to his roots as educator, teaching a series of free civics classes this month at the Bronx Library Center that cover topics like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, elections and how different levels of government work.

Bronx Students, Parents Protest Education Dept. Layoffs

Students, parents and school workers rallied outside of the Bronx’s PS 66 in West Farms last week to protest the planned layoff of some 700 city school workers, among them aides, parent coordinators and other school support staff.

BP Appoints New Education Director

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., has hired Monica Major, formerly the Bronx representative on the Dept. of Education’s Panel for Educational Policy, as his new education director.

PS 51 Parents Call Out DOE, Chancellor

The parents of current and former students at PS 51, the Bronx New School, say they are not satisfied with the Department of Education’s response after discovering high levels of toxins at school’s former building in Bedford Park. Next week, in response to the DOE’s lack of response, they will take their list of complaints to the Panel for Education Policy meeting at the Bronx High School of Business next Wednesday evening.