City Schools, September 2009

Q. What would you say is the theme for this year? What can we expect?

A. I think the theme for this school year is “building on success.” Last year was the best school year this City has seen in anyone’s memory. Our graduation rate went up. Our students’ math scores, English Language Arts scores, science scores, and social studies scores all went up. Now we’ve got to build on these successes using our accountability tools, our achievement reporting system, and our link to parents so that they get the information they need about their children and so that we bring them in as really effective partners in educating our kids. In a tough budget climate, we’re going to have to learn to do more with less—but I think we can do it.

Public school families helped launch the 2009-10 school year at the DOE’s annual Back to School Kickoff in Central Park.

“I can’t wait for school to begin,” gushed Rebecca Martinez, a fourth-grader at PS 100 in the Bronx. “I love all my teachers and I want to see my friends.”

Thousands of students, families, and friends gathered at the Central Park Bandshell on August 22 where they were joined by Chancellor Joel Klein and event host Martine Guerrier, who heads the DOE’s Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy.

The PS 22 chorus from Staten Island entertained the crowd with their renditions of Coldplay’s Viva la Vida and Lady Gaga’s Just Dance.

Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein celebrated the start of the school year by greeting the students and parents of PS 111 in Queens.

The K-8 school, located in Long Island City, has made big strides over the past few years improving student achievement, thanks to Principal Randy Seabrook and her staff. 

PS 111 was one of five schools the Chancellor visited on the first day. After Queens, he traveled to the Bronx to visit JHS 144 in Baychester.

He arrived just in time for first period. In Juliette Edwards’ sixth-grade class, the Chancellor listened to students brainstorm about the things in their lives that help them achieve their goals. He spoke with students about working hard and following their dreams and highlighted education as the key to success.

Three years ago, Angelique Serrano was on her way to becoming a high school dropout. She attended a big school where no one noticed if she missed a few days, and she started cutting class—a lot.

“I would only go to the classes that I liked,” Serrano, now 18, said. “Instead, I would hang out with my friends or just leave early.”

Today, Serrano is college-bound and one of 10,000 City students given a second chance at graduating thanks to an innovative program called Learning to Work. Launched in 2005, Learning to Work gives academically struggling students in-depth job-readiness training—including paid internships—while they finish high school. It’s offered in 53 transfer high schools, night schools called Young Adult Borough Centers, and GED programs.

Serrano left her large high school to attend Liberation Diploma Plus, a small transfer high school in Coney Island. There, she got back on track to graduating and gained work experience as an administrative assistant at the school.

“My internship helped prepare me for the real world,” Serrano said.