Clara Hemphill on NYC Public Middle Schools
Submitted by Anna Fader on
If there is one human being who has done more for NYC parents trying to find a good public education for their children it is Clara Hemphill, the author of the the Best New York City Public Schools Series and founder of the indispensable website InsideSchools.org. Finding and getting your child into great public schools in New York City is one of the toughest challenges NY parents face. And it's made even tougher because it's so hard to know what the schools are really like when we have so little access to information.
Clara Hemphill's books on NYC's Best Public Elementary, Middle and High Schools are the only way any parent can get a straightforward, no-hype, objective, inside peek to all the best public schools. She and her staff personally visit every school and write a detailed description of the school from their expert eagle-eyed point of view. Each book details only the top schools in each borough as well as lots of other practical information parents need. In addition to her books, reviews of all the schools can be found and searched online at Insideschools.org.
I used her book on Public Elementary Schools like a bible to find our precious little elementary school and I'm glad to announce that she has just released a brand new and updated edition of New York City's Best Public Middle Schools: A Parents' Guide just in time for all us parents who are starting to freak out about middle schools right about now. I read the whole thing cover to cover and I have to say that after reading this book, I think that many parents will feel significantly assured that there really are many wonderful options for middle schools, even though middle school still has the reputation of being the black hole of NYC public education; that does seem to be changing.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Clara Hemphill and ask her some questions; I'm happy to be able to share her responses with you. Read on to hear her tips for the one thing you should check out on a school tour, the most important way to be involved in your child's education, and some great schools that don't require top test scores to get in.
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