Special Needs School At Winston Prep on West 17th Street in Chelsea, one parent will never forget the look on her daughter’s face as she won a “Coach’s Award” one year and “Most Improved” the next for her school’s track team. Suzanne Engel’s daughter, Shira, was not a very fast or skilled runner, she was 
Rising Star By Kathleen Culliton The fourth graders learn to play trumpets. The kindergarteners grow vegetables in Battery Park. The middle-schoolers play chess at lunch. This is PS/IS 276, Battery Park City School, an elementary school that goes beyond test prep. Battery Park City School has already earned an excellent academic reputation among New York 
New & Noteworthy School It’s all a part of the “international mindedness” students are expected to learn at Léman. “International mindedness means you are aware of the problems and ready to be involved in the solutions,” said Drew Alexander, head of the school. “It means you truly believe in community service as it relates to 
New & Noteworthy School By David Gibbons To say that Avenues is a grand scheme with the potential for revolutionizing education as we know it would be akin to calling the Empire State a tall building. Students at this brand-new, for-profit private school will experience language immersion in Mandarin and Spanish from age 3. During 
Outstanding High School By Susan Armitage A rigorous, honors-level academic program and opportunities to take college courses at its partner, Baruch College, set this school apart. But Baruch College Campus High School (BCCH), located in Manhattan’s District 2, is about more than just book learning. Through community service and a four-year advisory program, the school strives 
Outstanding High school By David Gibbons Uncommon is one organization that would probably be happy, someday soon, to convert its name to a misnomer. Uncommon Charter High School, which opened in 2009 and will graduate its first senior class next June, is located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in a new building where students and staff 
Outstanding Middle School By John Friia “At HVA, we believe that teachers, not programs, are the key drivers of student achievement, and by tapping into the knowledge, talent and passion of teachers, we can achieve groundbreaking results,” Chief of Staff Matt Scott said. Scott explained that the goal at HVA is to guide students to 
Outstanding Middle School As the head of the venerable Horace Mann School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Westchester county native and veteran educator Thomas Kelly admits that it’s all about the teaching. “Each and every moment that we are together is a teachable moment, one in which both students and teachers challenge each 
Outstanding Grade School By John Friia The motto of PS 199—Jessie Isador Straus Elementary School, located at 270 W. 70th St.—is “Work hard. Be kind,” and Principal Katy Rosen explains the school strives to fulfill those words. Named after the former ambassador to France and president of R.H. Macy & Co., Jessie Isador Straus Elementary 
Outstanding Grade School For Kelly Shannon, the principal of PS 41’s Greenwich Village School, there was a question early on as to whether she might lead a group of constituents instead of grade school students. “I initially wanted to go into politics,” said Shannon, a Brooklyn native who has been an educator for 18 years 
