Schools

Be Healthy: Bronx Pols Pass Smoking Ban

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Gustavo Rivera, both local legislators, passed legislation banning smoking within 100 feet of school entrances and exits, the latest government effort to combat secondhand smoke.

Mayor Celebrates HS Grad Rates; Bronx Rates Drop

These are the four-year graduation for schools in the northwest Bronx over the past seven years. The rate of students who graduated by August 2011 (four years, plus a summer) are also included. (Source: NYC Department of Education)
This June, the Department of Education and the mayor proudly announced that New York City’s high school graduation rates have broken records and increased for the tenth year in a row to 65.5 percent. The Bronx separately trails behind each of the other four boroughs with a rate of 57.5 percent.

Bronx School’s Arts Program Flourishes Despite Roadblocks

Judging by the enthusiastic audience that erupted into cheers following each remarkable act during performances at the annual PS/MS 95 Arts Festival on a recent Friday, it is clear the Sheila Mencher School in Van Cortlandt Village is doing its best to keep the arts incorporated into education.

Bronx Notes: PS/MS 20 Day Also Principal’s Retirement Party

PS/MS 20 invites the public to celebrate its children’s accomplishments at Barnes and Noble of Bay Plaza in Co-op City, 290 Baychester Ave., June 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cheerleaders and choruses will perform and activities will include chess and Lego building competitions, story time, and a talent show. We will also bid farewell to Principal Carol Carlsen, who will retire after 13 years at the school. Please let the cashiers know you’re with the school as a small percentage of each purchase will benefit PS/MS 20. For more information, call event coordinator Lisa Kogel at (718) 515-9370 ext. 3155.

Ignored, PS 51 Parents Take List Of Demands to Chancellor

Members of PS 51 Parents United, a group consisting of parents of current and former PS 51students and members of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), say the DOE and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott are not making an effort to reach out to parents of former students about the contamination. They are frustrated that he hasn’t met with them despite their health concerns.

‘Vital’ After-School Programs on the Chopping Block

Parents at PS 94 in Norwood have grown accustomed to having a safe, constructive place for their children to spend after-school hours and it hasn’t cost them a dime. But Mayor Bloomberg is proposing to slash the after-school program, which would leave parents, 90 percent of whom are living in poverty, scrambling to find alternatives.