Arts & Letters is a small, child-centered public school in Brooklyn encompassing Kindergarten through 8th grade. With only two classes at each grade level, we provide our children and young people with a caring and intimate learning environment.
PARENT BLAST | Our latest newsletter.
Every Friday, please check your email for the school-wide PARENT BLAST, sent from the A&L administration, which includes weekly parent information, classroom anecdotes, and relevant communication from Principal John O’Reilly.
View our archived Parent Blasts.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A&L is Hiring
We are looking for extremely talented and committed educators to join our K-8 school. We offer many exciting opportunities for teachers, including:
- An intentionally inclusive and diverse school with 1 ICT (integrated co-taught) class per grade and admissions policies in place to maintain socioeconomic diversity.
- A highly collaborative, intellectually engaged staff who deepen their practice together through co-planning, inquiry and inter-visitation.
- Opportunities to design deep units of study framed by big questions and culminating with shares and exhibitions.
- School-wide structures (curricular shares, roundtables, Student Led Conferences, community service days, inter-age buddies) that provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning, and develop their voices as thinkers and as community members.
- Student centered classroom environments that cultivate strong and flexible thinkers.
- An explicit focus on social-emotional learning-- supported by morning meetings and an advisory structure in upper grades, and Responsive Classroom practices in K-4.
- A true commitment to arts education with visual art, music, and dance in lower grades and advanced art instruction in visual arts, theater, music, and technology in the middle grades.
- Active communication and collaboration between teachers and school leadership.
- Teacher leadership opportunities unique to a small institution.
- Open and active partnership with families.
- Location in vibrant Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
Ideal applicants will demonstrate:
- Unwavering commitment to young people and to addressing their instructional and social needs through differentiation.
- Ability to integrate small group instruction, rich investigations of essential questions, and interdisciplinary connections into curriculum planning for heterogeneous classrooms.
- Flexibility, comfort with self-reflection, and a problem-solving stance.
- Interest in collaborating with teachers and administration around instruction and school-wide policies.
- Certification to teach in the NYC public schools.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills.
- A commitment to teaching as an act of social justice.
- Excitement for ongoing professional development.
For more information, see the posting here.
To Apply: Please send resume and cover letter to hiring@artsandlettersbklyn.org.
Kindergarten Admissions
Important Updates
There was an old announcement from last year which advertised an evening tour on Jan 14th, which we had not yet deleted until now. Our apologies about this miscommunication, but please note that there are just two kindergarten tours remaining:
- Jan 11th at 915am
- Jan 18th at 915am
Sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/JiuGkCsxyalzhyMA3
The deadline for Kindergarten Admissions is January 13th, 2016.
Winter Roundtables for Grades 3-8
JOIN US FOR WINTER ROUNDTABLES
J A N U A R Y 26th- G R A D E S 4 & 6 J A N U A R Y 27th- G R A D E S 3, 5 & 7 J A N U A R Y 30th- G R A D E 8
Please come to Arts & Letters’ student-led January Roundtables presentations. During these presentations our 3rd through 8th graders share, reflect on, and discuss the work and thinking they have done over the semester. The students do these exhibitions of learning with an authentic audience of parents and educators. To make this as rich an experience as possible we need visitors to come into our classrooms and assist us in reviewing the student work and understanding happening here. S I G N U P H E R E
Kindergarten Admissions for 2017-18
Interested in attending Arts & Letters for Kindergarten next fall? We will be hosting information sessions/tours on the following Wednesday mornings:
- November 2, 2016 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
- November 9, 2016 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
- December 7, 2016 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
- December 21, 2016 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
- January 11, 2017 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
- January 18, 2017 @ 9:15 am (Auditorium)
Please sign up with the link below:
https://goo.gl/forms/JiuGkCsxyalzhyMA3
Note: We are a District 13 unzoned public school, so you need to reside within District 13 to be eligible for our lottery.
Middle School Admissions for 2017-18
Interested in attending Arts & Letters for 6th Grade? Because we are a K-8 school, we will have an extremely limited number of spots for new 6th grade students. If you would like to learn more information about our middle school application process, we will have information sessions and tours on October 19th at 9:15 and on November 16th at 9:15 am. Please sign up with the link below:
https://goo.gl/forms/PwUDm4OIaNFe2VZh1
IN THE MEDIA
A & L F E A T U R E D O N W N Y C | Check out a recent piece by Beth Fertig on school integration here.
C I T Y G R O W E R S I N N A T ' L G E O G R A P H I C A R T I C L E | Our middle school students are front and center in an article on the after school program and the urban farm that it tends in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Y O U R N Y C S C H O O L S A C C O U N T | You now have a new way to access key information about your child’s progress in school. With a NYC Schools Account, you can view your child’s attendance, grades, and contact information in one of ten languages on a computer, phone, or tablet.
View the flyer and create your account or log in.
DONATE > TO A&L
It takes all of us to make it happen. Give A&L kids the gift of art, music, laptops, overnight trips, and more! Donate quickly and securely online in just minutes. Click donate above, donate by check, or visit the A&L Wishing Tree if you are interested in underwriting a specific initiative or program with a major gift.
Read more about ways to contribute.
WATCH ...
A&L helps students become independent, critical thinkers by creating a strong community and employing teaching structures that emphasize student voice and ownership over their work.
PICTURE DAY | Thanks to WonderTimeFilms for making this very happy (music) video! PASSWORD: pictureday2014