By Kathleen Culliton

Photo By Dale Eisinger

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 City parents since opening in 2009. It is one of the few schools to receive a 10 out of 10 rating on GreatSchools.com and has been named this year’s Rising Star in Manhattan Media’s Blackboard Awards.

“The emphasis is on the whole child. So many other schools emphasize math or science. We emphasize the student,” PTA co-president Matt Schneider said.

Schneider credits Principal Terri Ruyter with the school’s success. Ruyter has been a dogged advocate for the school. “She is very well respected and able to attract the best and the brightest teachers. And over time, those teachers have loved being here,” he said.

Ruyter encourages teachers to engage students both mentally and physically. The art classes take field trips to the Guggenheim, the science classes have urban farming projects in Battery Park, and the music department is developing a marching band.

“We try to get the children outside a lot to get their bodies moving, ” parent Michele Zarrario said.

PTA co-president Howard Sadowsky is currently developing a new program he calls Saturdays at 276, which will offer classes and recreational activities in the gym on weekends. PTA members are currently discussing how to include yoga and fencing into the program’s curriculum.

The school’s commitment to its student also extends beyond academia and athletics. Battery Park City School is the first school in New York City to qualify for LEED certification. The school’s many classrooms, art studio, music room, science lab, library and two gymnasiums are powered by solar panels on the roof. Students are encouraged to compost after lunch.

And while parents and faculty are enthusiastic about the school’s progress, it also faces problems. According to Schneider, the main challenge for Battery Park City School is overcrowding. The city has repeatedly increased class sizes, and the school struggles to keep up. “We have a beautiful art room with a kiln. That could become a classroom. The music room? That could become a classroom.”

But Ruytner is working ceaselessly within the community to address the problem. She’s working with city officials and parents to find balance. Schneider believes the answer will come from the teachers.

“Parents automatically say let’s get another teacher in there who will be constructive. We thought it would be better to let the teachers decide. It may be by a multifaceted system. What’s needed in kindergarten may be what’s needed in seventh grade.”

But regardless of how many students attend Battery Park City School next year, those accepted will be welcomed by Ruyter. That’s because she genuinely likes and appreciates her students. Her eyes lit up when she told parents about the new school slogan, “The Chargers—The Spark of Battery Park.” It was coined by the students.

“They’re so sophisticated in their thinking,” she said.

by Nick Gallinelli

Davis St. in Queens - Up on the Roof - by Alex Maclean

Every child has dreamt of being a spy, and if they haven’t dreamt, they’ve definitely played “spy” at least once before. If they’re one of the ones that dreamt, they also probably thought about a super-high-tech James Bond camera that’d allow them to clandestinely take photos of the poor unsuspecting. Also, every kid wants to learn to fly.

Alex MacLean’s latest book, Up on the Roof, published May 2, allows everyone, especially us who can’t kick our doomed childhood ambitions, to entertain our lingering adolescence. Maclean, in his tenth book, takes his plane that he’s used to aerially photograph much of the world, and allows us to see New York City from up above— as if it were The Sims. With awesome rooftop basketball courts, mini getaways, horizontal murals, and topless sunbathers, MacLean catches New York from, literally, a brand new point of view.

“You can feel the vibe of a city from the air,” MacLean said over the phone one afternoon. “You can feel the direction it’s going in… and New York is on an uptick, you can feel it.”

Trained as an architect, and having discovered his love for aerial photography while in graduate school,  MacLean has a quirky gift for giving the “reader” (there are a few words) of Up on the Roof a remarkable look at the city’s astounding blend of design, style, and economics.

Some roofs have grass and seating, while others have concrete; and some have solar panels, while others have rust.

“Roofs represent 30% of New York outdoor space,” Maclean initially taught a surprised listener. He then went on to describe how it’s an opportunity that not everyone takes advantage of, but should. His next project brings him to Germany, who he says is the world leader in studying and constructing environmentally-friendly and efficient roofing. There he’ll be studying green roofs, which are relatively popular in the U.S. and help provide building insulation, along with other things, white roofs, which deflect the sun’s rays and keep buildings cool, and solar panel roofing. Using his knowledge, MacLean hopes to help cities across the world maximize their vertical space.

In Up on the Roof, the stark contrast of building vs. environment is sometimes similar to the frustrating Never Ending Staircase, and strays from the focus that many would find necessary for beauty in a photograph, but thrives in its idea and what it reveals. MacLean’s latest endeavor makes New York City look smaller, but enlarges its function and efficiency.

Looking through the book and matching each picture with its listed address is surprisingly entertaining and a bit educational, and is a voyeuristic adventure from rooftop to rooftop. Up on the Roof makes for an addicting addition to a New York coffee table.