Now that it finally feels like winter, we're starting to fantasize about summer. That's why we were excited to read that one of our favorite summertime destinations, Governors Island, is getting a makeover in 2012. The city is spending more than $300 million to "upgrade outdated infrastructure and create dozens of acres of new open space, including ball fields and a grove of hammock-bearing trees." Sounds nice—especially the hammocks.

In school news, the Upper West Side is set to get a new public school, and it's the first one built from the ground up in the neighborhood in decades. P.S./I.S. 342 is slated to open in September of 2015 and will serve 500 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The school will be housed in a new five-tower high-rise apartment complex on West End Avenue. Because when you build skyscrapers and market them to families, you need to realize that parents may want their kids to go to school nearby.

Meanwhile, two controversial school-related stories we've been following have been settled, for better or for worse. After some changes, District 2's rezoning plan was approved although members of the Community Education Council acknowledged that the proposal won't satisfy everyone. Meanwhile, Eva S. Moskowitz‘s Success Academy charter network got the go ahead to expand into Brooklyn. The school will move into a Cobble Hill building that already houses three other learning institutions. Community reaction has been divided and heated, to say the least. Are you affected by either of these changes? We'd love to hear what local parents think.

In much less contentious news, Barnes & Noble has released its first-ever NOOK exclusive children's book, and it's by popular kid rocker Laurie Berkner. Party Day! was inspired by the title track of Berkner's latest DVD. The singer narrates the book herself, and there are also games, animated dancing bugs and, of course, music. It's an interesting mix of media and little kids will probably eat it up. Of course you have to be okay with your preschoolers handling your NOOK with their sticky, clumsy fingers. Good luck with that.

Since this is the last news roundup of the year, we really wanted to end on an up note. Ordinarily, when I see a blog post with a title like "We Live In a Wonderful World Indeed", the cynical New Yorker in me reacts on sheer reflex and says, "No thanks." But this BBC video—which features David Attenborough speaking the lyrics to Louis Armstrong's classic "What a Wonderful World" while truly stunning clips of animals and insects go by—is actually very cool and worthy of sharing with the kids. With all of the frustrating news out there, it's nice to be reminded that the world can be a beautiful, wondrous place. Thanks to Gizmodo for the link. Happy holidays!