For nearly a decade, parents have looked to Clara Hemphill to help them find a great public school for their child. For this third edition, Clara and her staff visited nearly 500 of New York City’s elementary schools and chose 200 of the best schools to recommend—with more than 70 new school profiles not included in the previous edition! This essential guide uncovers the “inside scoop” on schools (the condition of the building, homework, teacher quality, etc.), includes a checklist of questions to ask on a school tour, and incorporates new listings of charter schools and “magnet” programs. It also provides the hard facts on: Class size and total school enrollment Test scores for reading and math Ethnic make up: Black, White, Hispanic, Asian Admissions requirements: none? tests? interview? Teaching methods and styles: progressive, traditional When to apply How to decide which schools to try for Praise for Clara Hemphill’s Parents’ Guides! New York Daily News... “Brisk, thoughtful profiles of topnotch, intriguing schools.” Big Apple Parent... “Hemphill has done for schools what Zagat’s did for restaurants.” New York Magazine... “Thoughtful, well-researched required reading.” The New York Times... “A bible for urban parents.”

Completely revised with new profiles of more than 150 elementary schools and pre-kindergarten programs! For nearly 2 decades, parents have looked to Clara Hemphill to help them find a good public school for their child. This Fourth Edition features all-new reviews of more than 150 of the city’s best public elementary schools, based on visits and in-depth interviews by the InsideSchools staff. This essential guide uncovers the “inside scoop” on schools (the condition of the building, special programs, teacher quality, and more), includes a checklist of things to look for on a school tour, and incorporates new listings of charter schools and stand-alone pre-kindergarten programs. It also provides the hard facts on: Total school enrollmentTest scores for reading and mathEthnic makeupWho gets in? Admissions requirementsTeaching methods and stylesSpecial education servicesHow to apply “Brisk, thoughtful profiles of topnotch, intriguing schools.” —New York Daily News “Hemphill has done for schools what Zagat’s did for restaurants.” —Big Apple Parent “Thoughtful, well-researched . . . required reading.” —New York Magazine “A bible for urban parents.” —New York Times

In this era of rigorous standards, testing, and overcrowded curricula, many teachers are left wondering how they’re ever going to cover the material. Less Is More in Elementary School offers realistic solutions by providing ways teachers can streamline their curriculum, get the most out of assessment, communicate with families, and engage students in their own learning. This much-needed book will help you meet the demands of the Common Core more efficiently and effectively. You’ll learn how to... integrate the curriculum so that you can take time to slow down and explore topics in depth; help students become critical readers, problem solvers, collaborators, and communicators; make students more engaged, reflective, and self-regulating; get the most out of assessment during this era of high-stakes testing; maintain high expectations for all students but modify instruction to ensure all students progress; communicate more effectively with families to build trust during a time of change and high-stakes assessments; and overcome obstacles, such as the emphasis on testing, the need for more technology, and finding teacher collaboration time. Each chapter is filled with practical strategies that you can implement immediately, as well as suggested resources for learning more about a particular topic.

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support in Elementary Schools is the leadership handbook and practitioner’s field guide to implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in elementary schools, leading to improved student outcomes and school safety. Schools can creatively customize replicable best practices using this in-depth operations manual to guide MTSS teams in planning and delivering tiers of academic and integrated social-emotional and behavioral supports to meet the needs of all students. This text introduces Healthy Minds, Safe Schools, an evidence-based program that significantly improves student well-being, school safety, and teacher feelings of self-efficacy for delivering social-emotional and behavioral curriculum in the classroom. Featuring team exercises and real perspectives from educators, this text shows how to make incremental yet manageable changes at elementary schools in accordance with public policy mandates and evidence-based practices by developing smart teams and programs, identifying roles and responsibilities, implementing layers of academic support and services, improving social-emotional and behavioral health of students, and creating an inclusive school culture. It details organizational psychology and socially just educational practices and is a handbook aligned with the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center guidebook for preventing school violence and with the National Center for School Mental Health Curriculum.