Bronx Parents, Teachers Rally for Fall Remote Learning Option

By DAWN CLANCY

With bullhorns in hand, about 20 parents and teachers from the Bronx rallied outside the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) offices in Manhattan on Monday, July 26, to push for a remote learning option for New York City public school students this fall. The rally, organized by the Bronx Parent Leaders Advocacy Group (BPLAG), follows Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement, on May 24, that all public schools which had closed for on-site instruction in March 2020, in efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, will fully reopen in September without any option for students to learn remotely.

By MICHAEL HOROWITZ

For at least a decade, many educators and elected officials have been lobbying intently for the elimination of the standardized test students take to get admitted to the City’s specialized high schools, such as Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, and Brooklyn Technical High School. The publication of admission rates to such schools, broken down by race, has fueled an ongoing debate between parents of Asian-American and White students who broadly support the use of the test as an objective, fair and, generally, unbiased way of determining admission, and some parents of Black and Latinx students who

By SARAH HUFFMAN & MIRIAM QUIÑONES

The first, public edible garden in Norwood sits at one end of the Williamsbridge Oval park on Reservoir Oval East, next to the historic Keeper’s House. For Zoë Arcidiacono, a volunteer coordinator with Friends of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP), the garden became a haven during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she felt nurtured by the atmosphere which FOMP created around it. “I was volunteering a little before the pandemic, but I got laid off and this group has taught me so much,” Arcidiacono told Norwood News. “I moved to the Bronx four years ago. Before that, I was in Queens, and

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York Lottery announced on Tuesday, July 20, that there was one top-prize winning ticket sold for the July 19 TAKE 5 drawing. The ticket, worth $53,784.50, was purchased at 3N Convenience Inc, located at 950 Allerton Avenue in The Bronx. The five winning numbers for the TAKE 5 game are drawn from a field of one to 39. Prizes are paid on a pari-mutuel basis, a form of betting in which those backing the first three places divide the losers’ stakes (less the operator’s commission). The TAKE 5 drawing is televised every day at 10:30 p.m. A lottery draw game prize of

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio visited the Bronx on Wednesday, July 21, to deliver remarks alongside the City’s Department of Education (DOE) schools chancellor, Meisha Porter, at the groundbreaking of a new lab wing at the Bronx High School of Science in Jerome Park, which will be called the “Stanley Manne ‘52 Science Institute.” The new lab is understood to be funded by investments from Bronx High School of Science alum, Stanley Manne, with support by a number of other entities. Speaking at Wednesday’s groundbreaking ceremony, which was also attended by District 11 Councilman Eric Dinowitz, Assemblyman

By SÍLE MOLONEY

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter announced, on July 8, their academic recovery vision for New York City’s public schools and students in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, describing the new “Academic Recovery Plan” as a bold, rigorous framework that will guide school communities and support students during the 2021-22 school year and beyond. According to the New York City Department of Education (DOE), there are six critical areas of focus under the new framework: early literacy for all, developing students as digital citizens, preparing students to be college and career-ready,

Over 120 preschoolers from the New York Institute for Special Education recently participated in the school’s annual “Trike-a-Thon,” in efforts to raise needed funding for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event, held on Thursday, May 13, at Frampton Hall on Astor Avenue in Pelham Gardens, had students from the school’s ‘readiness program’ ride their tricycles through the halls of the school to raise money and awareness for the urgent work that St. Jude’s carries out each year, treating an average of 8,500 children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Students aged three to five obeyed speed limits

By SÍLE MOLONEY

School cleaners and handypersons who maintain over 1,500 New York City public school buildings voted on Saturday to ratify a new four-year contract with their employer, the New York City School Support Services (NYCSSS). According to NYCSSS, the new agreement, which was signed less than two weeks before the current contract was set to expire on June 30, secures improved communication with the employer to resolve workplace issues, improved access to vacancies, and increased funds for the workers’ supplemental retirement fund, among other improvements. School building service workers perform a critical role cleaning and sanitizing school buildings. Throughout the

By SÍLE MOLONEY

The New York Lottery today announced one top-prize winning ticket was sold for the June 23 TAKE 5 drawing. The ticket, worth $57,982.50, was purchased at Los Castillos Mini Market Corp, located at 1601 University Avenue in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx. The five winning numbers for the TAKE 5 game are drawn from a field of one to 39. The TAKE 5 drawing is televised every day at 10:30 p.m. A Lottery draw game prize of any amount may be claimed up to one year from the date of the drawing. The 5 winning numbers for the TAKE 5 game are drawn from a field