Schools

We're always adding new bloggers to our Mommy Poppins team, and we're thrilled to welcome NYC schools and education expert Blythe Grossberg to the fold. Blythe will be writing posts about NYC schools. For her first post, Blythe shares info about one of the hidden gems of the New York City public school system: dual language programs.

Available at all grade levels from pre-K to 12th grade, dual language programs are open to English language learners (ELL) and students whose first language is English. A bilingual education can help kids succeed in our multicultural world.

Learn more about how dual language programs work and some of the best bilingual programs in NYC public schools. 

New York City got an F in geography this month as news got around that 311 (the official New York City info line) has been giving out inaccurate information about elementary school zones. Over the past few years, there has been an unprecedented amount of school rezoning due to the introduction of several new schools to help ease overcrowding. Apparently even the DOE and NYC.gov can't keep up with the changes, so what are parents supposed to do—especially with the deadline for kindergarten applications looming?

I spent several hours sussing out where NYC parents can find accurate school zoning maps. It was not an easy task as there literally is no one place to find accurate school zoning maps for NYC... until now. Read on to see how you can get the right information when looking up your zoned schools.

Now that spring break is over the countdown to summer has begun. But finding the perfect camp isn't the only thing on the agenda. It's time to start thinking about how your family will acknowledge your children's teachers for all of their hard work this past academic year.

We've rounded up fun, handmade ways you and your kids can say thank you—besides a gift card. If you do go the cash or gift card route, have your kids decorate the envelope with pictures and stickers. That personal touch is sure to get you an A+.

Handmade doesn’t necessarily mean homemade, so if the thought of crafting in your apartment scares you or you'd like professional help, we understand. We've got the goods on fantastic local spots where you and your children can make great gifts without trashing your place.

Teacher Appreciation Week kicks off this Monday, May 2 and goes through Friday, May 6, so this is the perfect time to get crafty. But if you can't get any of these projects together by the end of this week, don't worry: Public school kids have until June 28 to get creative for teacher, and independent schools don't let out until the end of the month. 

It's been a while since we've rounded up links to important news and interesting stories we've come across online. Since many of these articles are timely—especially the ones about pre-k and charter school admissions—we figured it was time to share.

We also found an amusing post about the top ten reasons to have a baby in NYC, a celebration of public-school lunches and a writer who offers an intriguing defense of that mom who's suing a preschool for dashing her daughter's Ivy League chances. Read on for the scoop.

There is a staggering statistic being bandied around on tree hugger websites lately, that each school aged kid throws out 67 pounds of garbage a year with their home packed lunch. Multiply that by the number of school kids on your block and that is a lot of plastic wrap and juice boxes going into landfills every year.  It doesn’t have to be that way. When my son started full day school last year I made an effort to pack a “waste free lunch”. To my surprise it was easy.  Cutting back on all that trash even saved me money. Now if I could just figure out how to get him to eat what I pack!  

Read on for our tips on how to build a greener and cheaper lunch.