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
April 16th, 2018
A&L is Hiring for 2018-19
We are looking for extremely talented and committed educators to join our K-8 school. We are looking for the following positions:
- Middle Grade Math Teacher
- Middle Grade Special Education Teacher
- Upper Elementary Special Education Teacher
- Guidance Counselor
- Early Childhood Assistant Teacher
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.
April 15th, 2018
Kindergarten Admissions Updates
For families interested in 2018-19:
We are currently in the process of registering students who have received offers in the first round of admissions. After the preregistration deadline of April 27th, we will refer to our waitlist to reach out to families to make second round offers.
Art Expo January 2018
Thursday 4:30-7:00 pm:
- Work showcased in the gym from K-8 visual art classes, visual art electives and the 5/6 music elective
- Students encouraged to come dressed up in fabulous 80's costumes! There will be treasure hunts, activity tables, and artist fan mail!!!
Friday performances in the auditorium:
Grades 5/6 and 7/8 Performances
11:45 – Welcome
11:50 – Grades 7/8 Music/Percussion
12:00 – Grades 5/6 Irondale Theater Company
12:15 – Grades 7/8 Irondale Theater Company
Grades 3/4 Performances
2:10 – Welcome
2:15 – Grades 3/4 Music/Recorder
2:25 – Grades 3/4 Creative movement
2:40 – Grades 3/4 Choir
Join us for Winter Roundtables 2018
Please come to Arts & Letters’ student-led Winter 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.
During each of the Roundtables presentations we ask students to do several things, including:
• present one or more exhibitions or other major pieces of work from the fall
• teach the guests some things that they have learned
• answer questions from peers, teachers and guests about the work, the learning objectives, the larger themes addressed by the work, and his/her growth as a learner
We expect you to do several things as well, including:
• carefully examine the work presented by the students
• ask challenging questions
• provide warm, helpful and specific feedback about the quality of the student’s work and his/her ability to present and defend the work
In the end, Roundtables is a celebration of student learning in all of its shapes and sizes. We hope that you enjoy your experience looking at our students' work, connecting with the young people you meet and maybe get a chance to think about something in a new way.
Follow the link below to sign up!
goo.gl/forms/44t4qp7Do7cVHGrf2
Kindergarten Admissions for 2018-19
Interested in having your student attend Arts & Letters for kindergarten next fall? We will be hosting information sessions/tours on the following Wednesday mornings at 9:15 am in the auditorium:
- November 1st, 2017
- November 8th, 2017
- November 29th, 2017
- December 6th, 2017
- December 13th, 2017
- January 6th, 2018 (Note- this is a Saturday date)
- January 10th, 2018
Please sign up with the link below:
A&L Kindergarten Tour Registration
Please email any questions to admissions@artsandlettersbklyn.org
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 2018-19
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 the following Wednesday mornings at 9:15 am in the auditorium:
- October 11th, 2017
- October 18th, 2017
Please sign up with the link below:
A&L Middle Grade Tour Registration
Please email any questions to admissions@artsandlettersbklyn.org
Transferring into A&L for 2018-19
Interested in transferring into A&L in the fall 2018-19? We usually have a small number of spots in each grade, but we don't know for sure until late spring. If you are interested, please fill out the form below:
This transfer process will typically begin in June, pause for most of the summer, and then resume in late August. When we have a space open up, we will refer to this list and begin reaching out to families that have expressed interest in these grades. Please email any questions to admissions@artsandlettersbklyn.org
(Again, please know that we won't have a sense of space at least until June, so we won't be able to give any information on grade availability until then.)
Your NYC Schools Account
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.
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.
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