| City
Hall Academy Opens in Tweed Courthouse
City Hall Academy,
a first-rate educational center at Department of Education headquarters
in the Tweed Courthouse, is open. The Academy will provide students
with rigorous reading, writing, and math instruction consistent
with the new citywide instructional program and offer public school
children from throughout the city an inter-disciplinary approach
to the study of New York City and its history. The Academy will
conduct three alternating two-week instructional sessions, or
“residencies,” serving approximately 70 third grade students per
session. The Academy will conduct six “residencies” for both third
and seventh graders in the fall. Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor
Klein announced the opening while welcoming students from P.S.
21, P.S. 67, and P.S. 234 to the Academy.
“The opening
of City Hall Academy demonstrates our commitment to excellence,
achievement, and innovation in the public school system,” Mayor
Bloomberg said. “City Hall Academy will provide New York City
children and their teachers a unique opportunity to study and
participate in the cultural and historical fabric of the city.
By combining best practices from around the nation with cultural
resources available only in New York City, City Hall Academy will
bring the city—and its remarkable intellectual, historical, and
creative heritage—into the classroom to enrich the lives of our
children.”
“City Hall
Academy is a place where New York City kids can experience and
develop respect and appreciation for our extraordinary city,”
Chancellor Klein said. “Kids will get to know first-hand not only
the city’s culture and history but also the kids who live in other
boroughs, go to other schools, and come from different heritages.”
City Hall Academy
will utilize an inter-disciplinary, content-focused curriculum
that integrates the new citywide approach to reading, writing,
and math, and will help students learn about New York City and
its history. For example, this spring’s pilot program, which will
focus on the Brooklyn Bridge, will allow students to learn about
the bridge through classroom instruction, interviews, trips, videos,
and readings. Students will examine the bridge’s impact on the
lives of New Yorkers, as well as its history, mechanics, and engineering.
City Hall Academy will also provide professional development for
teachers and will partner with the city’s cultural institutions
to enhance its curriculum and make unique resources available
to students. Guest speakers who are experts in their respective
fields, cultural events and performances, and field trips and
walking tours will supplement the Academy’s curriculum. Also,
each classroom at the Academy will have an academic theme, such
as economics, government, history, literature, fine arts, applied
math and science, architecture, or urban planning.
This fall,
City Hall Academy will serve approximately 200 elementary and
middle school students each school day. In addition, the Academy
will conduct multiple programs beyond the regular school day,
eventually providing educational services for high school students
and the public at large.#
Education
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