Battery Park Montessori-A Green Ivy School

Battery Park Montessori-A Green Ivy School 

As the spring approaches, our visits to new and upcoming schools around the city continues. Recently, we were able to visit a new pre-school that just opened in the fall of 2013 located on South End Ave. in Battery Park. The park is located right next to the Hudson River with views of the Statue of Liberty. The neighborhood has experienced a recent boom in the amount of families with young children, and spots have been filling up fast. Children ages 2-6 years old are welcome and tuition runs from $9,000 to $27,000 depending on if they are attending a whole or half-day program. 

The montessori currently has five classes with about ten students each, and it looks like it's going to stay that way for now. The founder and director, Jennifer Jones, Ph.D. stated, "Montessori is healthy for children, and a child-led experience is the best way a child can learn." Students can experience a variety of activities from music to yoga in their spacious gym area. There is also an after school program that offers a series of workshops from a broad array of interests including fencing, puppetry, dance and life skills that are open to both children and parents. 

Battery Park Montessori is the first school to open among a series, as a part of the "Green Ivy" schools being developed by the founder. One of the schools that has been on the spotlight is the Pine Street School, planned to open this upcoming fall. The school will be a K-8 program focused on having an IB curriculum and also offering a bilingual immersion program in Spanish. As the director noted, one way in which the Pine Street School will stand out is in its core identity in the field experience it will offer to its students. The students will spend about half the time outside of the school in observing and engaging with the world around them and learn what's going on in their neighborhoods. Her emphasis was that "The school is not the only place for learning."

To learn more about the Battery Park Montessori or Green Ivy Schools, please visit their website at  http://www.bpmpreschool.com/ or http://www.greenivyschools.com/. 

The ROI on Foreign Language

When so many students are now required to take foreign language as part of their curriculum, Freakonomics Radio tackles the question, "Where is the ROI?" Click here to listen to their podcast where they explore, "Is Learning a Foreign Language Really Worth It?"

Check out a recent NY Times article  on the booming expansion of French dual-language programs in the city!

When should my child learn another language?

From what age should a child start learning a foreign language? This has seemed to be a question that many have come to think about as they consider placing their children into bilingual education programs. After coming across a number of articles on this topic, the general consensus seems to be that it is never too early to start teaching a child how to speak in a second tongue. According to one resource , "When children have an early start to a long sequence of language instruction that continues through high school and college, they will be able to achieve levels of fluency that have not been possible in the past due to the late start of most language programs." So it seems in fact, that the earlier the better for language learning, although it is never too late to pick up another language at any age and be successful.

If you are looking for more reasons to place your child in a dual language program, there are quite a number of benefits of learning another language. Language not only helps you communicate, but it helps you become a better problem-solver, and some studies have show a correlation between language proficiency and higher standardized test scores. Being able to speak multiple languages increases your job prospects and makes you stand out from an increasingly competitive pool of applicants. To find more about what bilingual programs are out there, go to http://insideschools.org/index.php to help narrow down your search.

La Petit Ecole: A "Small School" with Big Ideas

La Petit Ecole Tribeca Location 

La Petit Ecole or "The Small School" offers a unique program for those seeking to place their children in a French language immersion preschool. The school focuses on creating a space that helps students explore their curiosity and creativity through teacher guided activities that are based on student interests. Students engage in a variety of activities with art, music, and food to help build their cognitive and language abilities along with their social skills. All activities are taught using the target language to ensure that student gain as much exposure to the language as possible.  Guest artists and musicians also make regular visits to engage with the students. There are two locations one in the Upper West Side and one in Tribeca. To apply to this program, children should be at least 2 to 4 years old. 

Painting is one of the major activities at La Petit Ecole where children express themselves 

 Students are encouraged to show off their talents in music along with songs they have learned at La Petit by performing in front of an audience. 

This well-kept kitchen area is used during lunch/snack time where children are also given "lunchtime duties" which is an important part of French culture. Students also learn recipes in French and prepare  dishes such as a fruit salad that they prepare and share with their classmates. 

Here is a series of pictures of a typical day routine usually consisting of "circle time" where all students come together, "exploration time" where students are divided by language level and engage in various activities, snack/nap time, and outdoor playtime. If weather permits, teachers take students to neighboring park areas where they play and engage in physical activity. Students work independently and in groups and learn to cooperate with one another, building social skills and respect for a shared space. 

Students also learn math and science concepts using blocks of wood in various shapes and pick up numbers and formulas in the target language. 

The most amount of students in one classroom is 15 students and are open to students of all language backgrounds including no prior language experience. 

Once the application is reviewed, student are interviewed to complete the process. 

Check out their website for more information  https://sites.google.com/site/lapetiteecolenyc/

NYFACS: A French American Charter School in West Harlem

NYFACS Located on West 120th street in Harlem 

One may not have to look to far to find bilingual schools located in the neighborhood. If you are looking for a bilingual French-English program located in Harlem, the New York French American Charter School or NYFACS may be worth exploring. NYFACS opened its doors in 2010 in West Harlem offering a bilingual language immersion program in French, catering to its community of French-speakers. Families come from many different countries around the world and the school emphasizes programs focusing on the development of global and cultural diversity. Interestingly, it is the only free bilingual French charter school in the U.S. 

One thing we noticed about this school is the amount of space available. The school has four floors with a number of classrooms that are painted with bright colors. Student work is a common theme as you walk down the hallways, usually displaying what students have learned about the two cultures. The school currently offers programs for grades K-5, but has plans on expanding to K-12. 

Classrooms are bright and spacious with enough space for students to hang their belongings. Currently classrooms have anywhere from 15-25 students, 25 being the max. 

The library is full of books in French and English 

Students are exposed to French language in all grades, however there is a heavy emphasis on French in the lower school (K-2) where 80% of instruction is in the target language. All teachers who speak French are native speakers.  

As students move to the upper school (grades 3-5) the level of language instruction becomes 50% French and 50% English

Student Artwork 

Different cultures embraced at NYFACS

Brandi Fluent, the administrative assistant who gave us a tour of the school, emphasized that they are focused on building a truly global perspective by developing knowledge and understanding of cultures throughout the world. The staff has a diverse background as well, including native French speakers who come from various countries. These teachers can provide different perspectives and are able to share their experiences with their students. 

To learn more about this school please visit their website at http://www.nyfacs.net/ or contact them by phone at (212)666-4134.

Thank you again NYFACS for having us!

A Visit to the International School of Brooklyn

The exploration of bilingual programs around the city continues as we were able to visit the International School of Brooklyn this past Thursday. Upon entering the school doors, you immediately get a sense that this school is serious about learning and its students. Located in a renovated building that was once a church, the school is spacious and bright. The hallways are carefully decorated with student work and anyone walking through them can see what students are currently learning. One display that stuck out in particular was of the school's curriculum in the lower division where it showed the units being studied and the various topics and themes in those units that answer questions such as how we express ourselves, where are we in time in place, how we organise ourselves, how the world works, and sharing the planet. Here's a sense of what we experienced upon arrival:

   

                                          

On our tour of the classrooms in the lower and upper divisions, we were able to witness students and teachers (all who are native speakers) engage in the target language. It was truly fascinating to see students at such an early stage of development, some not being native speakers, speak solely in the target langauge. Each classroom felt like a smaller community that took part in a bigger world of learning. The classrooms are bright and colorful with big windows that let a great amount of sunlight into the room. Again, student work is boasted on the walls giving a sense of pride and accomplishment in what is achieved at ISB. Take a look at our photos of some of the classrooms we visited: 

Spanish Vowels

Art is another subject that students are able to take and are taught in the target language. Students can express their creativity through carefully planned projects that help them develop language skills and are meaningful and fun. The school takes a process over product approach and emphasizes that the process of learning to build and create is more important than the product. 

Paper Mache masks 

Current unit: The Four-Seasons of Vivaldi 

Here is a piece of artwork made by a group of 2nd grade French students displayed in the hallway. Each of the students cut and painted squares, made holes, and strung each piece together to form a beautiful tapestry, resembling that of El Anatsui, a famous contemporary artist. 

Making our way down to the basement, we found that the school also has a music room, cafeteria, and library-very impressive! 

Library

The International School of Brooklyn or ISB is a school that offers a world of opportunity for its rapidly growing student body of about 300 students. Located in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, the school offers a full-immersion language program in Spanish and French. It is divided into the lower division which consists of the Nursery, Pre-K and grades K-5 and the upper division which consists of middle school grades 6-8. They have plans on enlarging the program to include high school grades in the near future.

So how much time do students spend in language immersion in each grade level? Here's a quick breakdown:

-Nursery and Pre-K: 100% full instruction in target language, French or Spanish
-Kindergarten: 90% instruction in target language with 3 hrs. of English per week
-1st through 3rd: 75% of the formal instruction in the target language, with 6 hours per week in     English
-4th and 5th grade: 50-50 model, with half of the formal instruction in the target language and half of the formal instruction in English

Once students move up to middle school, they will engage in a rigorous academic program following the International Baccalaureate model and be required to study eight traditional subjects such as humanities, science, mathematics, arts, physical education, etc. On top of this, they are required to study two languages. For more information on IB programs, visit the following link www.ibo.org.

One of the highlights of this school as described by the lower school director, Delphine Michaud, is that is it is focused on incorporating a truly global perspective in its classrooms. The emphasis is on building a community of learners based on multi-cultural education, preparing students for a international future.

For more information, you can visit the school website at http://isbrooklyn.org/.

Thank you ISB! We hope to see you soon!