New York Etiquette Guide

From Harvard to Brooklyn Classroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Joel Klein, Chancellor of Education, New York City

credit: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Klein 

posted by Jeremy Willinger

Collaboration has defined The New American Academy since its inception. The Academy’s education plan, based on a model developed at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, focuses on partnerships and innovation, allowing each student to progress individually while receiving close attention from top educators.

Says Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, “The New American Academy is an innovative, potentially very powerful way of providing education to children. It is both brilliant and scalable, and holds out the hope of changing K-12 education in major ways.” 

The Academy, led by headmaster Shimon Waronker, stresses close personal mentorship. Students are paired with teachers from kindergarten through the fifth grade, and novice instructors are matched with master teachers. The pairing of those first beginning their career with seasoned professions, as cited by the New York Post, is “the first for teachers, where promotion from one title to the next is based on merit—not length of service.”

Though 60 students may seem like a large number for each classroom, four teachers are assigned to each, encouraging deep relationships between teachers and students and providing instructors the ability to target lessons to each child’s learning style. Waronker looks to open as many as 50 additional schools modeled on the New American Academy by 2012. As with the original, technology will be integrated in all components of a child’s schooling, and each student will be exposed to trilingual education—English, Spanish, and French.

Part of the continuing education program for all involved at the Academy is exposure to relevant topics of etiquette. Renowned etiquette coach Lyudmila Bloch from www.etiquetteoutreach.com will make an etiquette presentation to students on August 13^th, and deliver a workshop on business skills for educators on the 28^th. 

These sessions illustrate both The New American Academy’s dedication to the mental and emotional development of their students and staff, and the school’s collaborative process with leaders in education beyond traditional channels. Bloch’s goal is to “Teach children new ways of thinking and interacting, by introducing behavioral skills early. Appealing to the emotional core of a child is where we need to begin when teaching age-appropriate behavior.”

By introducing this innovative, proven educational model, Waronker and his staff challenge the status quo, while spotlighting a solution that works across all demographics and conditions. The New American Academy’s program marks the beginning of a new era in learning as well as a future that is brighter than ever for New York City schoolchildren and the world they will inherit.

Photo credit: The New York Times/Shimon Waronker at JH CIS 022

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Waronker

http://www.americanacademy.org