New York - This statement by C. Warren Moses, CEO, and Katherine Eckstein, Director of Public Policy of The Children’s Aid Society, was issued Thursday, May 07, 2009 by as a reaction to the announcement by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel I. Klein about progress by New York City public school students on state reading tests:
“We couldn’t be happier that New York City's public school students have made gains on state reading tests and applaud the NYC Department of Education, principals, teachers, other school personnel, community-based partners, parents and, most importantly, the students themselves, for making it possible. We still have a long way to go; with continued dedication and commitment to excellence and innovation by schools and their partners, we are moving closer to our goal, to see all children in New York City ready to learn and gaining the skills necessary to become healthy, happy and productive adults.”
The Children’s Aid Society partners with the Department of Education in 21 New York City public schools called community schools. Community schools aim to combine the best quality educational and youth development practices with a wide range of vital in-house health and social services to ensure that children are physically, emotionally and socially prepared to learn.
Children’s Aid brings a wealth of services and extensive staff to each of these schools, enabling the school to remain open at least 12 hours a day on weekdays, and all day Saturday. By extending school hours, we are able to support students with additional academic opportunities after school, in the evenings and on weekends. In addition, Children’s Aid provides medical, dental and mental health services right in the schools, so children will be ready to learn and children will not have to miss time at school (and parents time at work), to take their children to appointments.
Children’s Aid’s community schools become the hearts of their communities, and are particularly welcoming to parents, so they may become more involved with their children’s educations. In our Washington Heights schools, we involve parents before their children are even born, with special doula services that help parents prenatally and that bring parents into our schools when their children are two months old. By the time these children are ready for kindergarten at age five, they have been in the educational environment of the schools for five years, and have received help with language acquisition, reading, socialization, etc.
For more information about community schools, please visit http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/communityschools.
The Children’s Aid Society (www.childrensaidsociety.org) was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, arts programming, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. The Children's Aid Society is a founding member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the vast majority of Children’s Aid sites are Boys & Girls Clubs. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or email ellenl@childrensaidsociety.org.
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