Cart brought in from New Jersey for Fall cleanup
They brought me in from New Jersey. The “they” I’m talking about is the company that owns me. I’m just a shopping cart, so I can’t read or nothing. I only know that I belong to this company — a landscaping one, I think — that takes me on trips here and there to do work for them.
I didn’t get a chance to go to school. Until now, that is. I mean, this company that owns me, brought me here to this school in New York City. Well, they told me I was going to New York City, but next thing I know I was in Brooklyn. Is that a part of New York City? Continue Reading »
One early morning not so long ago when we would normally expect school children to be settling into their first class, an entire school of them were instead calmly but determinedly walking the streets.
Normally, for a school fire drill, P.S. 254 students line up in the schoolyard and on the sidewalks around the school. Since the schoolyard is under construction, we figured that the children had to wait somewhere else for the drill to be over.
Supervisors and teachers, were holding manuals, binders, instructions, and signs while directing traffic and leading the children all the way to Ocean Avenue from the school at 1801 Avenue Y. They were concentrating so intently on getting the children away from the school that none of them heard me as I tried to ask about what was going on. Adding to the seriousness of this drill were a number of police cars parked at the major intersections.
Later, a conversation with one of the school crossing guards revealed that this sober march was actually nothing out of the ordinary. Since the September 11 tragedy, the Department of Education has instituted a special evacuation drill. The evacuation drill differs from a fire drill in that students are escorted to another school in the area, instead of waiting at the building’s perimeter.
The evacuation drill is similar to regular fire drills in that the students are given no warning and are not given any time to get their coats or bags, thus allowing for the speediest exit. This particular fall morning was chilly, but the sun and the brisk walk seemed to keep the kids from shivering.
Pedestrians and drivers, unaware of these drills, might find the situation alarming. So to keep informed about the safety procedures and drills, you can check the September 2007 Safety and Discipline Procedures memorandum and the Safety Plan (Section A-415) of the Chancellor’s Regulations. The NYC DOE also has a Safety Plan Guidelines for Early Childhood Centers which outlines rules for safe evacuation for community-based organizations.
Next time you’re driving down Ocean Avenue and find streets closed with children and their teachers moving hurriedly with police escorts — don’t worry — it’s just children being well-prepared for emergencies.
When students returned last Thursday for the first day of classes at P.S. 254, they had no schoolyard.
Just a week before classes started at the school, also known as the Dag Hammarskjold school, construction crews came in and demolished the entire play area located behind the school between East 18th and East 19th Streets on Avenue Y. The sandbox became completely unusable and the concrete was ripped up leaving the ground ready to be repaved. Since the time that the demolition occurred, there has been little to no activity and construction appears to be at rest — at least for a while.
Signs on the fence state that the park is closed, with none of them listing a date of completion. Our sources tell us that although the construction crew has up to one year to complete the job, work is not expected to extend beyond the end of October. We were also informed that there will be a water fountain and a new sitting area. The original sitting area covered by trees was in disrepair with splintered benches, which are slated to be completely replaced.
When the annex to the original building was built years ago, the elementary students lost some play space to get some more classroom space. This latest construction starting a week before school, means that students will have recess indoors for the entire Fall 2009 season, as well as possibly into the Spring. Once the construction is done, though, there will be a major change: the schoolyard will be locked after school hours. Our source said that the schoolyard is not NYC Parks property and it is supposed to be closed after school hours.
Readers, do you have children who attend P.S. 254? If so, write in and let us know what they have to say about recess indoors. For those of you who like to play handball and basketball in the playground when school is closed and during the summers, let us know what you think about the planned policy of locking out locals at dusk.
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) visited P.S. 254 on Avenue Y on Tuesday, April 28, 2009. A site coordinator and representative who exited from the AMNH’s museum-on- wheels told me that teachers from the school applied for the visit and the school was chosen out of many applicants.
Students were able to enter the air-conditioned bus for a mini-exhibit highlighting Structures and Cultures to get a view of the lives of nomadic people.
The program is open to any school with “legal street parking space for a vehicle 37 feet long, 12 feet high, and 10 feet wide.” The site coordinator said that registration for the competitive program takes only about 20 minutes, but applications do need to be submitted by specific deadlines each semester. The programs are for elementary to high school students.
Educators who participate will get a pre-visit workshop, Curriculum Resource Guide, a class session taught by a Museum employee, student “field journals”, and family vouchers for free visits to the museums for the students.
(Photo by Ray Johnson)
Public school pre-registration begins at local area public schools. According to the sign at P.S. 254 at 1801 Avenue Y, pre-registration starts today, August 25 and will continue until Thursday, August 28 and runs from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Parents can find out more about the documents that are necessary for the pre-registration, as well as who can participate in this process at the New York City Department of Education website.
