The Anderson School PS 334

The Anderson School PS 334

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1987-88 — 2007-08 Vicennial

Established	PS 9: 1830 The Anderson Program: 1987 Anderson Middle School: 2003 PS 334, Indep. School: 2005
Affiliations	District: Citywide System: NYC DOE Oversight: Empowerment CEO Accreditation: USNY
Leadership	Brian Culot, Principal Mara Koetke, EdD, Asst. Prin. Aimee Terosky, EdD, AMS Dean Marcie Shaw, Parent Coord. Donna Smiley, Admin. Asst.
PTA (2007-08)	Amy Davidson, Co-Pres Mindy Wigutow, Co-Pres Christine Cirker, Co-Pres
Enrollment (2005-06)	333 (K-5) 173 (6-8) 1 to 1 girl to boy ratio
School Spirit	Yearbook: The Anderson Journal Colors: Red & White (unofficial) Mascot, Dragon (unofficial)
Address	100 West 84th Street New York NY 10024-4618 212.595.7193 www.andersonps334.org

The Anderson School PS 334 (TAS) is a New York City public school — K-5 elementary and 6-8 middle — that uses a gifted pedagogical approach to teach students from the City’s five boroughs who have met specific criteria for being intellectually gifted. Acceleration of New York State curricula, particularly mathematics (beginning in kindergarten), and enrichment (tailored to strengthen higher thinking skills), delivered with a progressive and traditional mix of styles, are components of a broad, flexible pedagogical matrix used at Anderson.

Founded in September 1987 as The Anderson Program under the stewardship of PS 9, the New York City Department of Education relaunched it in July 2005 as a stand-alone school — PS 334. Anderson's enrollment has been filled to capacity since inception, which, for K through 8, is approximately 506 (two classes per grade). As of fall 2006, Anderson's students hail from 72 ZIP codes.

Admissions

The Anderson School admits children from all five boroughs.

All gifted education programs, citywide

For the school year beginning fall 2007, the application deadline for all gifted and talented programs (G&T programs) in the City, which includes Anderson, was December 1, 2006, 5PM. The citywide application process for K-2 G&T programs requires:

1. The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT), which is administered by the G&T Coordinator in the DOE Region of residence at an appointed time in January - February 2007;
2. The Gifted Rating Scales (GRS) assessment, which is administered by the preschool, if applicable. The deadline for teachers to submit the GRS was March 1, 2007.

The OLSAT accounts for two-thirds of an over-all score. The GRS accounts for one-third. The score is calculated by doubling the OLSAT and adding it to the GRS.

Anderson K-5

Anderson applicants whose combined OLSAT and GRS scores meet criteria (a cut-score) are invited for an onsite evaluation — an extra step in the application process used only by Anderson and the two other citywide G&T programs. Anderson commences the onsite phase blind to the combined scores. District G&T programs rank applicants using the combined OLSAT and GRS scores. They then fill available slots, by rank, at schools in order of preference indicated by the applicant. At this point, the District G&T application process is complete.

Anderson's fall 2007 kindergarten class is the first Anderson class assessed by the OLSAT and GRS. For the nineteen years prior, Anderson required the Stanford Binet (an IQ assessment) and an onsite evaluation — the same assessment methodology that was, and still is, used for kindergarten admissions to Hunter College Elementary School, a school that Anderson regards as a peer with respect to students.

• Kindergarten (50 spaces): A DOE admissions committee will determine an OLSAT/GRS cut score allowing approximately 400 candidates (author's guess) to participate in an onsite evaluation. For the 2007-08 year, the DOE notified the parents of applicants during the week of April 16, 2007, of their onsite appointments. Onsites took place the weekends of April 21 and 28. The DOE sent out acceptance letters the week of May 14, 2007. Anna Commitante is Director of the Department of Gifted/Talented and Enrichment for the DOE. According to the DOE, approximately 12,000 children applied to DOE G&T programs.
• Grades 1-5: Only one or two additional spaces are added in the first grade; any other openings are by attrition.

Anderson Middle School

• Grades 6-7: Admissions are based on scholastic achievement and a demonstration of academic ability. Applicants must show:

1. A strong academic record
2. A level 4 (out of 4) on the fourth grade English Language Arts Test
3. A level 4 (out of 4) on the fourth grade NYS Mathematics Test

   (or a combined NYS ELA/Math score of 1385)

4. Strong teacher recommendations
5. Strong academic ability via onsite assessment

If an applicant has not been attending a New York City public school, Anderson will assess their available records.

Openings are subject to attrition of Anderson students. For the 2007-08 year, the 6th has 12 openings (author's guess based on an unofficial preliminary straw count). About 500 students are applying for AMS 6th grade (author's guess).

• Grade 8: New students are not admitted into 8th grade.

Students honored for academic excellence

May 14, 2006, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth:

PLUS Academic Abilities Assessment

• Verbal: 5th Grader — FIRST in the State & FIRST in the U.S.
• Verbal: 5th Grader — SECOND in the State
• Quantitative/Math: 5th Grader — SECOND in the State

PLUS Assessment Distinguished Honors

• Three 5th graders and one 6th grader

Music pedagogy

As of the Fall of 2007, all Anderson students in the fourth and fifth grades will study an orchestral instrument — either woodwinds, strings, brass, or percussion. With about 60 students from AMS studying an instrument, Anderson has about 170 students in the school instrument program. Amy Vanderwall heads the program. Anderson teaches music literacy to all K-2 students twice a week. Third graders are introduced to recorders. Independent of the Anderson music program, about one-third of Anderson students (2007) study music privately. The AMS chorus, directed by Vanderwall, is extracurricular.

Matriculation

Class of 2006 — Of 51 graduating from the 8th grade who applied to competitive NYC public schools, 8 were accepted to Stuyvesant, 18 to Bronx Science, 3 to Brooklyn Tech, 6 to Eleanor Roosevelt, 6 to La Guardia, and 10 to Beacon.

Spirit, interscholastic sports and student life

Anderson's mascot and colors are unofficial. But, in the fall of 2005, by way of a Student Council sponsored mascot-logo art competition, the AMS students chose a Dragon designed by Lisa Howell from the 8th grade. Anderson adopted red and white as the only unused color combination in a middle school basketball league.

• Boys Baseball:

Robert Schleissman, Coach (AMS PE & Health Teacher)

Charlie Conway, Coach (AMS 8th Grade Teacher)

June 2006 — Manhattan Middle School Champions

June 2007 — Manhattan Middle School Champions

In its inaugural year as PS 334, AMS fielded a baseball team in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Middle School Sports & Fitness Baseball League for Region 10. On June 16, 2006, on Randall's Island, the AMS Dragons won the Middle School Baseball Championship for Manhattan, beating IS 195 (The Roberto Clemente School) from Region 10, and IS 45 (The John S. Roberts Alternative Education Complex) from Region 9, both formidable opponents.

• Boys Basketball:

Dana Warner, Head Coach

Robert Schleissman, Asst. Coach

Sam Furnival, Team Statistician

• Girls Basketball:

Andrew Jarvis, Head Coach

Robert Schleissman, Asst. Coach

• Co-ed Tennis:

Angela N'desanjo & Robert Schliessman, Coaches

• Soccer:

Robert Schleissman, Head Coach

• Chorus:

Amy Vanderwall, Music Director

Meets Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8 AM

• Chess Team

• Debate Team:

Asha S. Cherian, Coach

• Student Council:

The AMS Student Council is composed of twelve elected members, three of whom are officers.

Alumni

David Vigliarolo Bauer is among the notable Anderson K-5 alumni. While a senior at Hunter College High School, Intel Corporation awarded him a $100,000 scholarship as first-place winner of the 2005 Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), America's oldest and most prestigious high school science competition. Upon completing K-5 at Anderson in 1998, Bauer matriculated to the Delta Honors Program at MS 54, Booker T. Washington Middle School. Bauer is also an alumnus of Hollingworth Preschool at Teachers College, Columbia University.

History

Early gifted education and gifted education research in New York City

The Speyer School, PS 500, opened in 1936 at 514 W 126th Street for exceptionally intellectually gifted students, ages 7 to 9. While not the first, it was the City's only existing public program for intellectually gifted students and was operated collaboratively between Teachers College and the Board of Education. Speyer was the brainchild of Leta Stetter Hollingworth, PhD, (1886-1939) a clinical and research psychologist, educator, and professor at Teachers College. She served as Speyer's executive director.

The pedagogical objectives for Speyer were a culmination of research from a groundbreaking "Special Opportunity Class" for gifted students that opened in the early 1920s at PS 165. Expanding on the work of Lulu May Stedman (1876-1960) and other pioneers in gifted education, Dr. Hollingworth spearheaded the project at PS 165, which yielded over 40 papers and a textbook. Before PS 165, the BOE had introduced gifted classes at PS 15 and PS 64. However, these were small-scale and had scant documentation.

The Speyer project yielded valuable data. In its first year, Professor Hollingworth reported that, because bright children progress quickly, they need only a half day to master a full day's work. And, unless their courses were revised at an early age, they would learn to be masterful time-wasters. Professor Hollingworth posited that students who progress quickly on the wrong channel can be caustic.

Her untimely death, November 27, 1939, ended the Speyer project — Speyer eventually closed its doors January 31, 1941. But, to commemorate the legacy to Professor Hollingworth, the Board of Ed. launched classes for bright students in twelve public schools.

Hunter College Elementary School

Before Speyer closed, Hunter College saw a public need and an opportunity. In the fall of 1940, Hunter College Model School, an elementary school in existence since in 1870, added a pre-K and transferred its 7th and 8th grades to Hunter College High School and began operating as an experimental and demonstration center for intellectually gifted children. In September 1940, the administration changed the name to Hunter College Elementary School (HCES). Even then, HCES, the only elementary school in the city operated by the Board of Higher Education, had a waiting list and required an IQ test.

Beginning fall 2003, HCES discontinued pre-K. Until then, nearly half of the forty-eight kindergartners admitted to its kindergarten were matriculating from its pre-K, which made admissions seem impossible. For decades before Anderson, HCES had been turning away kindergarten applicants who met criteria as intellectually gifted. In the mid 80s, HCES used a computer random selection system for admitting students meeting its criteria, which frustrated parents all the more.

The K-5 Anderson program at PS 9

In 1986, frustrated over enrollment limits for applicants meeting criteria for admissions to Hunter College Elementary School, dogged parents organized an outreach, galvanizing other like-minded parents from several Community School Districts. Ms. Susan Natale, a founding parent who had expertise in primary education, sought assistance from a reluctant Associate Dean of HCES, Evelyn Jones Rich, Ph.D., to (i) provide a list of candidates for a mailing, (ii) host a large open house, and (iii) convene in a follow-up meeting — to help reach the parents of children who had met criteria as intellectually gifted. A defining moment came when a parent, Ms. Dee Estelle Alpert, succeeded in having a resolution placed before the Community School Board in her District (Dist. 3) to create a zoned program for such children.

The resolution passed. Ms. Bernadette O'Brien, then Principal of PS 9, welcomed The Anderson Program into her school. At the time, PS 9 had only 197 students. The building, though structurally sound, was poorly maintained and underfurnished. There was no playground equipment — only a yard.

Anderson began with two kindergartens and two 1st grades in September 1987, comprising eighty students. The founding teachers were Ms. Alicia Ruddy (kindergarten), Ms. Gail Goldweber (kindergarten), Mr. Robert (Bob) Moy (1st grade), and Ms. Beatrice (Bea) Asnes (1st grade). Mr. Moy, a decorated educator, is still at Anderson. As the inaugural classes advanced, adding two classes per year, Anderson grew into a full K-5 Program by fall 1991.

Sometime around 1989, Ms. Natale chaired a committee to (i) secure a Program Director and (ii) persuade the District to fund a Program evaluation. Then District 3 Community Superintendent Anton J. Klein (1929- ) approved the evaluation and, together, with the committee selected Lisa Wright, Ed.D., of Teachers College, Columbia University, to perform the evaluation. Dr. Wright delivered a comprehensive and seminal report that served as an operational and educational framework going forward. In that report, she recommended, among other things, that (i) Anderson appoint a Program Coordinator, which Supt. Klein approved and (ii) Anderson establish a Parent Advisory Board (PAB), which the Anderson community enacted.

Anderson was built by dint of sheer hard work of parents. Under sponsorship of the Friends of Anderson, the parent support group, Parents Advisory Board chairs, teachers, and administrators have attended annual national gifted education conferences. They have participated in workshops — learning and sharing to help others. During the 1992-03 year, the National Association for Gifted Children recognized The Anderson Program as a national model for parent-initiated gifted programs.

Anderson Middle School

The DOE has long operated many well-run and popular middle school programs for honor students (particularly the Delta Honors Program), but none specifically for continuing gifted students and none that were mapped well with Anderson. While still a part of PS 9, Anderson launched a Middle School — naming it "Anderson Middle School" — in the fall of 2003, admitting about sixty 6th grade students. As if it were choreographed by an invisible hand of symmetry, AMS became a full 6-8 school, graduating its first class of 8th graders in the same year that Anderson became a stand-alone school (2005-2006).

Because Anderson K-8 is accelerated, the Middle School "feel" extends to 5th grade. That is, fifth graders have departmentalized classes (they switch classes each period); and, like the middle schoolers, they have lockers. AMS occupies the third floor (the "Blue-Brick Penthouse"). Aimee Terosky, EdD, is the AMS Dean.

Since day one, AMS students have been required to have iBooks.

The Anderson School PS 334

Managing a K-8 program within a K-5 structure was one of many factors that influenced the DOE’s decision to organize Anderson as its own school. Managing a small citywide program bearing a large outreach mandate while managing a school bearing a catchment priority was another factor. Partly in recognition of the achievements of The Anderson Program and partly as a heightened boost to gifted education and partly as an extension of the Chancellor's smaller school initiative, the DOE upgraded The Anderson Program as its own school in July 2005. Anderson became a school on the 40th Anniversary of the school building and in the year of the inaugural graduation of an AMS class.

The DOE promoted Anderson's Program Coordinator, Rachel Schnur, EdD, to Anderson's first Principal Interim Acting, then to full Principal. She served in those two capacities for the inaugural year. As its own school, Anderson formed a DOE mandated School Leadership Team (SLT). Because of some redundancies between the Parent Advisory and SLT, and at the suggestion of Dr. Schnur, the PTA provisionally suspended the Parent Advisory Board in the spring of 2006. In the summer of 2006, Dr. Schnur resigned for personal reasons.

In the Summer of 2006, the DOE appointed Brian Culot as Principal Interim Acting, promoting him to full Principal in April 2007. Mr. Culot inherited an administration that includes Mara Koetke, EdD, Assistant Principal, and Aimee Terosky, EdD, Middle School Dean.

During the 2007-08 year, The Anderson School will be celebrating its Vicennial.

NYC DOE Gifted Programs

As of spring 2007, there were 68 Middle School Gifted Programs and 128 Elementary Self Contained Gifted & Talented Programs (of which, 4 are Citywide.

Principals, Program Coordinators, Anderson Chairs, PA Presidents

Principals during Anderson's era as a program under PS 9 and as a school under PS 334

• Ms. Bernadette Castronuovo O'Brien — PS 9 | August 1984 - August 1989 (presided over the founding of Anderson)

1. In 1971, Ms. O'Brien had founded, developed, and directed Learning to Read through the Arts, (LTRTA), a widely used and highly effective program. In 1984, at the urging of District 3 Superintendent Albertha Toppins, Ms. O'Brien sought the position of principal at PS 9, with a mandate to use her LTRTA expertise to turn-around PS 9, a failing school with less than 200 students and a candidate for closure. From 1984 to 1986 there was a great infusion of the arts and humanities in the school with reading and language arts at its core in an experiential, interdisciplinary, integrated, thematic, multicultural curriculum that included the visual arts, performing arts (drama, dance), and foreign languages.
2. She implemented pedagogy that cultivated extended thinking that provided opportunites for open ended questions and answers. For instance, there could be several approaches to finding an answer to a question, several answers to a question, more creative ways to solve problems and reaching for the unknown — all of which challenged students and teachers to go beyond standard replies.
3. In the 1980s, residents of District 3 could enroll their children in any school within the District. Parents, at the time, did not prefer PS 9. There was a budget crisis in the city. Monies were allocated to the schools based on enrollment. So, when an organized group of parents proposed adding a program for highly intellectually gifted children, Ms. O'Brien embraced the idea, thinking that, in many ways, it would would benefit all the students in the building; namely, it would advance the learning environment and warrant more funding from the BOE.

• Joan Gutkin, PhD (nee Gotlieb; b. 1936 - d. 1997) — PS 9 | 1989 - 1997
• Ms. Diane Brady — PS 9 | 1997 - 2005 Oversaw Anderson spin-off (still oversees PS 9)
• Rachel Schnur, EdD (nee Shavit) — PS 334 | July 2005 - July 2006 (see "Coordinators" below)
• Mr. Brian Culot — PS 334 | July 2006 - Present

1. In his first year, Mr. Culot (pronounced "KOO lot") expanded the existing K-2 chess curriculum to grades 3 and 4. He reinstituted the Continental Mathematics League Program and he brought TADA!, a theatrical skills program, into the 4th and 7th grade curricula. He has also invited parents to train as Learning Leaders, to serve as volunteers in the cafeteria and on the playground during recess, an initiative that parents have embraced with enthusiasm. He supported the Vice Principal, Dr. Mara Koetke, in spearheading a team for WordMasters Challenge, a national language arts competition entered by over 225,000 students annually. He is overseeing Anderson's first year in using OLSAT and GRS in the admissions process.
2. In early April 2007, Mr. Culot completed all criteria under Chancellors Regulation C-30, a process for appointing principals; and, later that same month, the DOE promoted him from Interim Acting Principal to Principal.

Coordinators (directors) during Anderson's era as a program

• Rena Bonne, PhD | September 1989 - August 1991

1. Dr. Bonne (pronounced "bo NAY"), Anderson’s first Coordinator, inherited the Program as the inaugural 1st grade had reached the 3rd. When she arrived, she observed young, idealistic, dedicated, and energetic teachers devoid of a curriculum. After implementing staff development, Dr. Bonne introduced curriculum mapping, one that was differentiated, not necessarily accelerated, but more than simply "enriched", something that she ardently felt all children deserved.
2. Dr. Bonne valued the critical role of parents, not only in creating the Program, but also for its success. This is something she judiciously balanced with her own role as the first Program Coordinator. Dr. Bonne took a giant step towards winning the trust of tight-gripped parents, allowing her to establish boundaries, transferring responsibilities, such as curriculum development, from grassroots to professionals.
3. Recognizing that the integrity and quality of the assessment process was critical to the curriculum, Dr. Bonne strengthened it and worked to ensure that there was a direct relationship between the admissions criteria and the curriculum. Notwithstanding the notion that all children are gifted, she felt that if a school, for example, screened for musical ability, then the school needed to, at a minimum, offer apropos music pedagogy. In the same way, if Anderson admitted students for having strengths in verbal reasoning and problem solving, then Anderson needed to provide them with opportunities to reach their potential in those areas.
4. Dr. Bonne is an alumna of both Hunter College Elementary School and Hunter College High School. During her post-Anderson career, Dr. Bonne served a stint as Vice Principal of Hunter College High School.

• Ms. Nadine S. Antapole | August 1991 - 1992
• Ms. Helen Krasnow | 1992 - June 1994

1. Working with the teachers, Ms. Krasnow refined the onsite stage of the assessment process. The onsite process involved children meeting in small groups, engaging in free play, listening to and discussing a story, and participating in a teacher directed hands-on activity requiring sorting of small objects and sharing. They were keenly interested in cues for social interaction, cognitive ability, and general demeanor. Mindful of a large developmental span over a 12-month period, the team thoughtfully factored for variances between fractional ages and genders.
2. An important ongoing initiative of Anderson was to retain and build a greater dimension of diversity. In addition to direct and indirect outreach, Ms. Krasnow arranged for prekindergarten applicants to take the Stanford Binet IV test in their native language, which at that time, included Spanish and Mandarin.
3. Ms. Krasnow, a curriculum mapping expert, helped talented teachers strengthen curriculum continuity, both vertically and horizontally, without stifling creativity.
4. In the advent of personal computers, Ms. Krasnow oversaw Anderson's first ambitious effort to digitize virtually all essential data, particularly that relating to admissions, which, due to surging number of applicants, had become cumbersome for a relatively small program.

• Wynstelle Nicholson | 1994 - 1998
• Alice Geismar | 1998 - 1999

1. Geismar initiated an effort to improve the Program’s database with an eye towards enabling longitudinal studies and research.
2. She worked to introduce more science and technology education to the program.
3. Geismar advocated student directed, individualized instruction in the classrooms.

• Rachel Schnur, EdD (nee Shavit) | 1999 - 2005

1. Dr. Schnur devoted considerable effort towards increasing diversity. She coauthored a paper, Economically Disadvantaged Students in a School for the Academically Gifted, Gifted Child Quarterly (see cite below), 2000. While the Stanford Binet IQ test was available for free for those identified as underserved through a couple of non-Anderson channels, the Friends of Anderson, in 2005, gave financial support for families who needed getting their children tested using the Stanford Binet.
2. Every coordinator that preceded Dr. Schnur worked hard to identify candidates of diverse backgrounds. But Dr. Schnur took it further. Drawing on her own expertise, she redesigned the final stage of the evaluation — the onsite assessment — ensuring the environment would be welcoming and appropriate for children of any race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background. She considered this one of her biggest accomplishments. Dr. Schnur also carefully vetted the DOE's citywide initiatives for their suitability in a highly gifted program, making adaptations where, based on her expertise in gifted education, she felt it necessary.
3. Rather than relying solely on the draw of the Program, Dr. Schnur encouraged Anderson parents to fan-out around the City — to talk to preschools, community organizations, daycares, nursery schools, religious institutions — all in an effort to help underserved families learn more about the possible special needs of their children and the opportunities available at Anderson. Using her own channels, Dr. Schnur reached deeply into communities that knew little about Anderson. The upshot was that the diversity at Anderson increased.
4. Dr. Schnur oversaw the creation of the Anderson Middle School. Beginning only with a 6th grade in 2003, Dr. Schnur built it from scratch, year-by-year, recruiting, assigning, and coordinating a small team of close-knit teachers.
5. AMS was a 6-8 extension of the K-5 Anderson Program. But because it operated within a K-5 PS 9 structure, formula funding and resources normally enjoyed by standalone middle schools were lacking.
6. The creation of Anderson Middle School ushered in a particularly busy time in her tenure, as she simultaneously served as Coordinator for the Anderson K-5 Program, Admissions Director for all of Anderson, and Assistant Principal for PS 9, with duties that extended beyond Anderson to PS 9's G&T and Renaissance Programs. Additionally, she presided over The Anderson Program's transition to a stand-alone K-8 school in July 2005.
7. Dr. Schnur is an expert in gifted education with a particularly strong interest and ability in curriculum development and instructional coaching. Viewed by colleagues as a curriculum maven, she spent much of her summers and after-hours on curriculum development; but day-to-day administrative duties demanded much of her time. She was a proponent of sticking close to the NYS curriculum, but with a gifted approach. She identified and implemented enrichment programs from outside the DOE system and was highly selective about the ones she chose. She was especially cautious in allocating enrichment so that it was additive, not alternative, to the NYS curriculum. Her expertise was especially crucial given the fact that Anderson, as part of its gifted pedagogy, accelerates much of the NYS curriculum, particularly mathematics. As a teaching coach, Dr. Schnur never hesitated to drop-in on a class if she felt the need to fine-tune curriculum-lag or a pedagogical approach. She once reminded parents that Anderson was not as much about being a better school as it was about offering a different approach for children who need it. Everything had to be taught with a gifted approach. This was her litmus test.
8. Dr. Schnur knew all the students by name. She knew their strengths and weaknesses, academically. She enjoyed an excellent relationship with them. In fact, "going to Dr. Schnur's office" tended to be an interesting, not a punitive experience. She read weekly to the kindergartners. She introduced Socratic seminars to AMS. She introduced Shakespeare into both elementary and middle school grades. She introduced independent study projects, where students were allowed to follow their own authentic interests. She departmentalized fifth grade.

Anderson Middle School Dean

• Aimee Terosky, EdD

Past chairs, Anderson program subcommittee of the PS 9 PTA

• 1988-89: Michael Oliver (cofounder and first chair)
• 1989-90: Angela Schmidt (cofounder)
• 1990-91: Carol Kushner
• 1991-92: Angela Schmidt
• 1992-93: Avis Alexander
• 1993-94: Carol Kushner
• 1994-95: Barbara Goullet
• 1995-96: Barbara Goullet, Bea Zagury
• 1996-97: Betsy Armstrong, Robin Aronow, Shelley Tahlor Levine
• 1997-98: Betsy Armstrong, Robin Aronow, Shelley Tahlor-Levine, Stephen Kaminsky
• 1998-99: Stephen Kaminsky, Shelley Tahlor-Levine, Maria Traversa, Janice Berchin-Weiss
• 1999-00: Maria Traversa, Janice Berchin-Weiss, Victoria ("Vickie") Sentner
• 2000-01: Victoria ("Vickie") Sentner, Mary Barnes, Jocelyn Scher
• 2001-02: Melinda Moore, Donna Smiley, Mary Barnes, Jocelyn Scher
• 2002-03: Donna Smiley, Melinda Moore, Jean Hellering
• 2003-04: Christina Clements-Carr, Tom Loftus, Peri Muldofsky, Donna Smiley
• 2004-05: Peri Muldofsky, Christine Cirker, Pat Chmara, Melissa Hall

PS 334 Parents Association presidents

• 2005-06: Christine Cirker, Melinda Moore, Mort Schuster
• 2006-07: Jessica Sabat, Lyron Andrews, Kate Levin
• 2007-07: Mindy Wigutow, Amy Davidson, Christine Cirker

School names

The Anderson School (PS 334) inherited its name from its former foster parent school, the Sarah Anderson School, a K-5 catchment school that offers two programs: Renaissance and Gifted and Talented. Both schools share the building at 100 West 84th Street. Sarah Anderson (b. 7-31-1922 Birmingham, AL - d. 2-2-1981 Griffin, GA) was a beloved school paraprofessional for whom the school community, backed by full honors from the Board of Education, renamed PS 9 at a May 1981 memorial dedication. Never married, she was the mother of three: Clarence "Pete" Anderson (b. 1938 and living in East New York, Brooklyn), Ronald ("Ronnie") Dean Anderson (b. 1939 Griffin GA - d. 2001 Griffin), and Thomas Anderson. Sarah Anderson is buried at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery, Griffin, GA. Her nickname, for those close to her, was "Peggy." Her daughter-in-law (Clarence's wife), Earnestine Anderson, also worked with Sarah as a paraprofessional at PS 9. Earnestine resides in Griffin.

In 1993, under Principal Joan Gutkin, PhD (1936-1997), PS 9 received magnet school funding for music and art and henceforth adopted the name, "Renaissance School of Music and Art." Upon the departure of Dr. Gutkin, and with the ebb and flow of funding for the arts, PS 9 uses both names, interchangeably.

Physical plant

The original PS 9 location at 466 West End Avenue (1830 - 1965)

The school that became PS 9 was originally organized by the vestry of Saint Michael's Church (Episcopal) in the early 1800s. The vestry continued to operate the School at Bloomingdale until a law was enacted November 19, 1824, barring church schools from participating in public school funding. On May 22, 1826, the Public School Society of New York acquired it; and, in July 1827, the Society paid $250 for a 100 x 100 foot tract at 82nd Street between 10th (Amsterdam) and 11th (West End) Avenues. On July 19, 1830, the Society completed the construction of a one-story clapboard school for $1,500, accommodating about 50 children. The Society transferred jurisdiction of PS 9 to the Board of Education in July 1853.

In 1889, The New York Times disclosed a letter to Mayor Hugh J. Grant (1857-1910) citing grim conditions of a PS 9 structure in the same location that housed 1,100 children:

There was no visible plaster in the entire building. The wooden staircases and wood-lined stairways were only 29 inches wide. Large stoves and stovepipes beneath the stairs and elsewhere, used for warming the building, were dangerously close to the woodwork. The so-called passages were 30 inches wide. The building was devoid of any means of escape from the rear and devoid of a fire escape. Means of egress from the front was insufficient.

The next year (1890), the Board of Education demolished the building and in 1894, erected a modern school building on the same site (466 West End Ave at 82nd St) — equipped with electricity and ventilation — Charles B.J. Snyder, architect. The new building inherited the name "PS 9." Designed to blend with the neighborhood, the ecclesiastical English gothic structure was a style prevalent of schools built by Trinity Church.

On January 26, 1916, during a graduation ceremony, PS 9 was named after the late John Jasper (1837-1915). Mr. Jasper was an educator who had served at PS 9 as (i) a teacher in 1857 and (ii) its principal from 1867 to 1897. He went on to become Assistant Superintendent of Schools; then, in 1898, he became Borough Associate Superintendent of Schools for Manhattan and the Bronx.

As a marker for how times have changed, in 1961, David H. Moskowitz (1903-1962), the Deputy Superintendent for Research and Evaluation for NYC Schools, reported a high transient rate at several elementary schools, including PS 9, which ranged from 90 to 99% during the 1959-1960 school year. This phenomenon, perhaps, provides insight towards public sentiment on the funding of public schools: When enrollment was highly transient, the public viewed school funding as a minimum legal obligation. Whereas, nowadays, enrollment is highly stable; ergo, funding is likely to be viewed more as an investment in the community.

The former PS 9 building is now the home of The Mickey Mantle School PS 811, serving children with disabilities.

The current plant on West 84th Street (completed and opened 1965)

The School Board and Superintendent John Jacob Theobald, PhD (1904-1985), approved the West 84th Street site for PS 9 on July 18, 1962, at a School Board meeting held at Headquarters, 110 Livingston Street, Brooklyn. The new building was part of plan to spend one billion dollars on New York City school construction over a ten-year period that began in the late 1950s.

Simultaneously building the campuses of PS 9 and Brandeis High School (across the street, between 84th and 85th Streets) served a secondary purpose. It was part of a larger concerted pilot project by Mayor Robert Ferdinand Wagner’s "All-Out War on the Forces of Crime." West 84th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus, had been dubbed "The Worst Block in New York." The City relocated 800 of 1000 families from that block so that 20 condemned buildings could be demolished. Those buildings represented the recent filing of more than 2,300 recent building violations totaling $4,100 in fines to 18 landlords by the Housing Court.

For a cost of $2.4 million, Rand Construction Company, Inc., erected the current three-story building at 100 West 84th Street at Columbus. Under Arthur G. Paletta (1909-1984), Director of Architecture, the BOE Bureau of Design drafted the architectural blueprints. The facility opened March 12, 1965, to 800 children, pre-K-5. Retaining the name, the BOE dedicated the new building as the "John Jasper School PS 9."

Sometimes referred to as PS 174 during the planning and construction phase, the building had been slated to open September 1964. But while preparing the foundation, the BOE engineers and general contractor, Rand Construction, "discovered" an underground stream. They had overlooked two critical historic maps: (i) the Egbert Ludovicus Viélé map of 1865 and (ii) the Townsend MacCoun (1845-1932, surname rhymes with "raccoon") map of 1909, both showing an underground stream that starts at the school site (see bottom left of block bounded by 83rd & 84th Streets and 9th & 10th Avenues), joining other streams, flowing southeast under Central Park and emptying into the East River between 74th and 75th Streets. Failure to check the Viélé and MacCoun maps is considered a cardinal sin for construction engineers. According to Eugene Edward Hult (1915-1968), Superintendent of Design, Construction and Physical Plant for the BOE, the underground stream was "more like a pond," about two feet wide; there was earth but no rock, which required the redesign for a new foundation. Construction was held-up from March 15 to August 6, 1963; and, along with a change-order, the snafu cost the BOE an extra $100,000. The underground stream flows in an opposite direction to the surface watershed, which flows to the Hudson.

Blue glazed brick on the southside of the building (2007 photo)

In the 1950s, many architects used the older red brick for apartment buildings — although its use in public housing projects gave it an unwelcome tinge for the luxury market. Nonetheless, all-white brick buildings became standard for supposed elegance, but there was also a chromatic undercurrent. The architects of public schools in the mid-1950s began incorporating color into their buildings, like the yellow-glazed brick on PS 41. The use of blue bricks at PS 34, erected in 1956 at 12th Street and Avenue D, outraged City Controller Lawrence Ettore Gerosa (1894-1972), who, in well-publicized hearings in 1958, accused the BOE of wasteful extravagance.

Transforming the block, without any effort to blend in, white bricks on the new PS 9 face east to Columbus Avenue and west to the schoolyard. Facing the north and south to the streets the blue glazed bricks frame the classroom windows — inviting, perhaps subliminal of the Santa Fe blue-framed windows that keep evil spirits from entering, the white bricks suggestive of stucco. The building is strongly modernist — functional, "ornamentation is a crime."

Three-story windowless wall facing Columbus Avenue (2007 photo)

The three-story wall facing Columbus is windowless. Windowless walls facing major avenues is rare in New York City architecture. It's as if the architects wanted "no blending" and "no seeing" of a major avenue. Because trucks are banned on four nearby major traffic arteries — West Side Highway, West End Avenue, Central Park West, and Central Park's inner drive — Amsterdam, Columbus, and Broadway carry heavy truck traffic. And, West 83rd Street (contiguous to the Kindergarten playground) is a major west-bound transverse for non truck traffic continuing from the 81st street crossing Central Park. West 83rd Street, on the same block, also is home to the Planetarium Station Post Office, the New York City Fire Department, several parking garages, and car rental companies.

The unsightly blue cages on the first floor windows are a post-design add-on legacy of an anti-vandal initiative instituted in 1959 by Michael Luke Radoslovich (1902-1975), director of architecture for the school system. To make it look even worse, someone painted columns of white bricks light blue, between the windows on the north wall, in an apparent ill-fated attempt to match the glazed blue brick. On the west wall facing the schoolyard, and on the east wall facing Columbus Avenue, someone painted the white bricks beige on the lower portions, seemingly as a poor remedy for a splash-guard. And interspersed around the building someone painted the glazed blue bricks beige on the first level.

Two then contemporary events in history influenced one aspect of the building's architecture. In 1957 the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite. 1962 was the year of the Cuban missile crisis. Hence the building has an antiquated fallout shelter.

Permanent art installation

Man in Space, Glass Mosiac, Vincent Cavallaro, 1965 (2007 photo)

The auditorium foyer (aka, "the Well") features an 8 x 21 foot glass mosaic, "Man In Space," (completed 1965) by Vincent Cavallaro (b. Nov. 8, 1912, Cambridge, MA - d. May 22, 1985 New York City), commissioned in 1963 for the building by Public Art for Public Schools. At the time of the commission, NASA had completed seven one-man space missions under the Mercury Program. The mosaic commemorates not only what was then the frontier of space exploration, but also the importance of science education for children. Mr. Cavallaro, a painter, sculptor and abstract artist, created many works related to space exploration; one in particular is a bronze sculpture by the same title, "Man In Space," (1967), located at Junior High School 88, Brooklyn. Mr. Cavallaro completed formal studies in art in 1933 at Accademia di Brera in Milan.

Changing neighborhood

On March 30, 1972, in an effort to extend Mayor Wagner's fight against crime in the neighborhood, Mayor John V. Lindsay moved the New York City Police Department 20th Precinct from West 68th Street to 120 West 82nd Street (one block from the school) into a newly built $2.8 million three-story building.

Parent, teacher and independent organizations

• Parents of P.S. 334, Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation, serves as the official Parents-Teachers Association. While incorporating a PTA is not required by the DOE Chancellor's Regs, having a PA (or PTA) is. Nonetheless, the parents incorporated the PTA on November 29, 2005, four months after the DOE spun-off The Anderson Program from PS 9 as its own school. Its status as a tax exempt public charity is in the application stage with the IRS.

• Friends of The Anderson School, Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation, operates independently as a fundraiser and benefactor exclusively for Anderson. Mr. Steve Duffy, a parent, founded FOA in 1988 and served as its first President. The Board incorporated FOA August 14, 1992. In 1996, the IRS deemed it a public charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3). On March 14, 2006, the Board changed the name to "Friends of The Anderson School, Inc.," and, on the same day, registered with the New York Department of State two assumed names, "Friends of Anderson" and "FOA." The corporation is managed by (i) non-voting Executive Committee (elected by the Board) and (ii) non-voting Staff (appointed). The corporation is governed by 18 voting Directors (colloquially called Class Reps), each backed by at least one Alternate. Directors and their Alternates are elected by the parents of the respective home classrooms of their children at Anderson — one Rep per classroom.

• School Leadership Team, a DOE mandated organization that works together on, among other things, curriculum, budgetary, and operational matters. Six elected parents (one of whom is a PTA President), five faculty members (one of whom is a UFT rep), and the Principal comprise the Team.

• Anderson Alumni Association, formed in the mid 1990s by Susan Natale (parent of K-5 1993 and 2000 Alumni), Ariela Heilman (original parent), and Elaine Kirsh (parent K-5 2000 Alum).

Anderson's DOE network

In April 2006, the DOE invited principals to turn their schools into Empowerment Schools. Dr. Schnur, Anderson’s principal at the time, accepted the offer. Of the some 332 principals who opted for it, Anderson became the only citywide Empowerment School at the K-5 level. There are fourteen Empowerment School Networks. Judi Varnai Aronson is the Empowerment Network Team Leader for twenty-one schools, which includes Anderson. Eric Nadelstern is the Empowerment Schools CEO. Principals of Empowerment Schools, essentially, have greater autonomy from the DOE, in terms of management, instruction, and budget — if they agree to meet performance goals.

The intent is to transfer substantial management duties from the DOE to the schools, which allows the schools to operate with less bureaucracy, which saves the DOE money. The DOE offers fewer centralized services, but passes the savings onto the Empowerment Schools in form in an increased budget, much of which is discretionary. If the schools need any of the discontinued services, they can purchase them à la carte.

PS 9, Anderson's building co-tenant, is also an Empowerment School, but in a different Network. Laurence "Larry" Harvey is PS 9's Empowerment Network Team Leader.

Empowerment Schools must adhere to NYS Laws and Union Rules and Contracts. Unions represented at Anderson include:

Custodians: Service Employees International Union Local 74 — Sal Alladeen, President

Teachers: AFT, United Federation of Teachers — Rhonda "Randi" Weingarten, President

Principal and Administrators: Council of Supervisors and Administrators — Jill Sondra Levy, President

School Aids: DC 37, Local 372 NYC DOE Employees — Veronica Montgomery-Costa, President

School Safety Agents, Patrol Services Bureau and NYPD: Teamsters Local 237 — Carroll E. Haynes, President

Notes and references

See also

• List of public elementary schools in New York City

Papers by Anderson Administrators and Faculty

• Bernadette C. O'Brien, Tapestry: Interrelationships of the Arts in Reading and Language Development, 1978.
• Bernadette C. O'Brien, Integrating Art and Reading — Learning to Read Through the Arts, CSA Education Review (Vol. 1, No. 1) New York, Spring 1982.
• Bernadette C. O'Brien, Learning to Read Through the Arts: A Practical Guide, OCE Consultants, PO Box 33, Glen Rock, NJ 07452, 1985, rev. ed., 1998.
• James Hammerlee Borland, PhD, Rachel Schnur, EdD, and Lisa Wright, EdD, Economically Disadvantaged Students in a School for the Academically Gifted: A Postpositivist Inquiry into Individual and Family Adjustment, Gifted Child Quarterly, 2000 pdf.
• Rena Bonne, A Partnership Venture: Introducing Theme-Based Instruction to Teachers and Parents, Gifted Education Communicator, Vol 21 No. 4, September 1991, California Association for the Gifted: Briefly describes parent participation in New York City's Anderson Program (one of a collection of twelve articles).
• Mara D. Ratesic-Koetke, White teacher, African American classroom: an examination of white racial identity and teacher practice, Thesis (EdD), Teachers College, Columbia University, 2005.
• Rachel Schnur, Academic Giftedness as a Protective Factor in Three Resilient Self-Determined Successful Adults, Thesis (EdD), Teachers College, Columbia University, 1998.
• Aimee LaPointe Terosky, Taking Teaching Seriously: A Study of University Professors and Their Undergraduate Teaching, Thesis (EdD), Teachers College, Columbia University, 2005.
• Rena Bonne, The Female Presence in the Novels of Virginia Woolf and Colette, Thesis (PhD), Case Western Reserve University, 1979.

External links

The Anderson School PS 334

• Official Parents Association website

City and State Resources

• New York City Department of Education — official site
• University of the State of New York, State Education Department — official site
• NYS Gifted Education Funding Law
• NYC DOE Office of School Support Services — official site
• NYC DOE School Construction Authority — official site

Teacher Certification

• Center for Gifted Studies & Education at Hunter College (Certification)
• NYS Part 80 Requirements for Gifted Ed Certification
• 2005 Expansion of NYS Requirements for Gifted Ed Certification
• NYS Gifted Ed Extension Resource Site
• NYS Teacher Certification(TM), Gifted Ed Test Framework

Regional Education Advocacy

• insideschools.org | Advocates for Children of New York, Inc. (lookup schools)

National Associations

• Council for Exceptional Children
• National Association for Gifted Children — official site
• Davidson Institute Search Page (lookup schools)

Regional Scholastic Talent Searches

• Denver University | Rocky Mountain Talent Search (RMTS)
• Duke University | Talent Identification Program (TIP)
• Johns Hopkins University | Center for Talented Youth (CTY)
• Northwestern University | Center for Talent Development (CTD)

Local Scholastic Talent Searches

• Carnegie Mellon Institute for Talented Elementary and Secondary Students (C-MITES)
• Stanford University | Education Program for the Gifted Youth (EPGY)
• University of California | Academic Talent Search (ATS)
• University of Iowa | Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS)
• University of Washington | Washington Search for Young Scholars (WSYS)

History

• History of Gifted Education in the U.S.

Journals

• Gifted Child Quarterly — National Association for Gifted Children
• Gifted Education International — Belle Wallace, ed., c/o A B Academic Publishers, Bicester, Eng.
• Exceptional Children — Council for Exceptional Children
• National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities