5 Jan 2015

NOW is the Time: NYC Private School Admissions Prep

If your child will be going through the application process for 2016 NYC private school admission, now is the time to get started getting help. This is your family's chance to work with Emily Glickman, one of NYC's most experienced and respected private school consultants.

Last year more parents than ever wanted to book with Abacus Guide; we had to turn many families away. Help your child get into NYC's best private schools by signing up early.  Now is the Time.

Call today 212-712-2228 or email best NYC private school consultant.

Posted at 2:11 PM Admissions,  Brooklyn Private Schools,  Educational Consulting,  Hill Schools,  Kindergarten,  Manhattan Private Schools,  NYC,  NYC Private Schools,  Private Schools,  Westchester Private Schools | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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12 Jan 2015

More and More NYC International Schools

If you're looking for a NYC international school for your child, you have more and more choices. From Manhattan's Dwight and the United Nations School, to the French, Italian, and British schools, the last few years have spawned Avenues, Leman Meritas, World Class Learning Academy, International School of Brooklyn and now New York International School.

As Sophia Hollander reports in the Wall Street Journal, NYC international schools may be international in name or community, but not necessarily in their use of the well-known International Baccalaureate curriculum: NYC International Schools Set Own Course.  Hollander writes:

The so-called IB program—which was created in the 1960s to educate the children of ex-pat families living in Switzerland—has become one of the fastest-growing educational movements in the U.S., lauded for boosting test scores and improving college-admission rates. In 2014, more than 1,800 IB programs were offered in public and private schools around the country, up from 500 in 2004.

But several newer international schools in New York City have opted not to embrace the program, which they say is expensive and unnecessary for younger grades.

The rise of these international schools is coupled with the rise of for-profit schools, as Leman, NYIS and WCLA are all part of global for-profit educational networks.  Avenues, with its NYC international school flagship, plans to build other for-profit sites domestically and abroad.  The International Baccalaureate is expensive to offer, which surely impacts these institutions' decision.

Many international relocating families come to me for help choosing between these schools and established, city schools.  For admissions help for your child, contact NYC's best educational consultant.

Posted at 12:25 PM Uncategorized | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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5 Jan 2015

Fascinating NYC Schools News

As we enter a new year, here are some fascinating NYC schools news articles:

A Stuyvesant student scores $72 million investing in the stock market. Or not.

How the $72 Million Kid Duped New York Magazine

The elite Episcopal School seeks a new director.

Episcopal Seeks New Head of School

Some needed perspective for us poor parents.

Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard

Your Kid and My Kid are Not Playing in the Pros

Posted at 1:54 PM Brooklyn Private Schools,  Manhattan Private Schools,  NYC Private Schools,  Private Schools,  Riverdale Private Schools | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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5 Jan 2015

How to Give Your NYC Kid Better Early Foreign Language Learning

More NYC and Westchester schools now offer better and early foreign language learning, Avenues and the International School of Brooklyn as well as some other schools offer bilingual programs, and afterschool NYC foreign language classes and tutoring grow...all evidence of amplified parent demand for early foreign language learning.

As you begin to plan your summer, you may be interested in Danielle Pergament's Times article Making Language Immersion Fun for the Kids. Pergament writes:

But I also want my children to be true citizens of the world in a way that I have never been, even as a travel writer - I'm not bilingual. I want their comfort zones to be measured in time zones.

Pergament offers early foreign language camp and travel ideas, as well as advice about middle school and high school language programs.

Many of my successful NYC private middle school and high school client applicants have international experience on their resumes.

Posted at 1:41 PM Uncategorized | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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19 Dec 2014

BASIS Independent Brooklyn Receives 2014 Blackboard Award

Abacus Mom received this today from BASIS Brooklyn:

BASIS Independent Brooklyn Accepts Coveted 2014 Blackboard Award

Only three months after opening, BASIS Independent Brooklyn (serving grades K-12), was honored with the “New & Noteworthy” school award, at this year’s Blackboard Awards. Blackboard honorees are nominated by parents, educators and the board of advisors at Manhattan Media with the specific aims of celebrating our city’s outstanding educators, principals, and schools and helping parents make informed choices about their child’s education. This is a quite an honor for us to be recognized for this award so early on in our program!

It seems that the award is grounded on the parent’s satisfaction with the academic program, our teachers, and administration. We were recently covered in www.achildgrows.com, highlighting that our school’s STEM-focused Liberal Arts program is offering what parents are wanting. “I’m impressed!” said Troy House parent of a 2nd grader. “My son came home and explained what a prototype is and how he managed to build a prototype boat, test it, and improve it in just three weeks of 2nd grade Engineering.”

It’s also clear that the BASIS Independent Brooklyn Head of School, Rosalind Thompson, is passionate about our students and faculty, “We have a student body that truly loves school - and thanks to our teachers, that's been the case since the beginning of the school year, our first in Brooklyn”, she says. “Parents tell us that they no longer have trouble getting them out of bed to go to school, and we see that in our classrooms and hallways every day, every period.”

As you can see, there’s a lot more going on at BASIS Independent Brooklyn! If you haven’t already, you should check us out at one of our upcoming events and see for yourself what all the buzz is about.

Posted at 10:52 AM Admissions,  Brooklyn Private Schools,  Uncategorized | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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12 Dec 2014

AABL for NYC Private School Kindergarten Admission: How Did Kids Score?

AABL test scores, required for 2015 admission to NYC private school kindergarten at Horace Mann, Riverdale, Collegiate and Avenues, are coming in. NYC preschool directors and families are reporting AABL scores all over the map, with some surprised at children's doing poorly in specific AABL sections that they were thought to know well.

Children receive AABL percentile ranks and stanines in verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and achievement sections early literacy, and mathematics. Reading the AABL score report, I was struck by its similarity to the ISEEs, the Educational Records Bureau (ERB) test required for admission to private middle and high school.

On its website, the ERB dispenses a bit of fluff: (italics mine)

The AABL, administered on an iPad, is fun for early childhood applicants and informative for schools.  If your school is interested in using the AABL in your admissions process or participation as a research partner...please contact your ERB representative.

Some of my clients are reporting high AABL scores. These children are early readers and mathematicians, with precocious capabilities. Unfortunately, later bloomers, who may in a few years turn into excellent test takers once they learn to read and develop more academic skills, are at a significant disadvantage with this new test. Attending an academic vs. play-based preschool, playing iPad learning games and completing test prep drills all help the AABL test taker but hurt the preschooler who wants to spend her early years playing and engaging in more age appropriate and rewarding activities.

It remains to be seen what will happen with the AABL, the ERB's new preschool testing experiment. This test-making company has a lot riding on the test's being adopted by many private schools, and the schools can make their teaching easier by taking in kids who already have proven achievement in math and reading. Knowing current trends, I expect more schools will use the AABL test next year which unfortunately will increase stress for families. Unlike what the ERB says, the test is not "fun for early childhood applicants". Fun is running in the playground, people.

Posted at 12:08 PM Admissions,  Brooklyn Private Schools,  ERB Prep,  ERBs,  NYC Private Schools,  Private Schools,  Uncategorized | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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