Education

Upper East Side, NY- Today the New York City Department of Education and Council Member Ben Kallos announced the creation of two French dual language classes to the Pre-K center located at 355 East 76th Street. Council Member Kallos worked with the Francophone community including immigrants from Canada, Africa, and even France itself to gather more than two hundred families that pledged to send their children to a French dual language program in Manhattan. The classes will open in September 2020 with Pre-K applications for the French dual language classes are now open through March 16, 2020.

The Department of Education will run these classes using a side-by-side instructional model where it will have one Early Childhood certified teacher who is fluent in French, and who has or will have a Bilingual Extension alongside a second Early Childhood certified teacher. Currently the Department of Education is seeking more dual language certified teachers who can apply online and email prekduallanguage@schools.nyc.gov for information.

“We are pleased to continue expanding our Pre-K Dual Language programs to serve as many children in New York City as possible, and thank Council Member Kallos for his ongoing partnership on early education,” said Josh Wallack Deputy Chancellor, Early Childhood and Student Enrollment

“I hear so many languages spoken in my district from every corner of the world and now we are working with the Francophone community to address a need in the neighborhood as we hope to increase the overall diversity of our schools,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Thank you to Deputy Chancellor Josh Wallack for his ongoing partnership in expanding early education opportunities, the French Consulate for supporting the Francophone community, and especially to Stephane Lautner and Catherine Remy who worked closely with my office to put meetings together and organize hundreds of other parents.”

Two bilingual French-English classes from Pre-K will open on the Upper East Side at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, the first step towards a possible bilingual program up to the 5th grade. The site retained by the Department of Education (DOE) of New York City is located at 355 East 76th Street. Registrations are in progress until March 16 on the website of the Department of Education (school reference: 02Z128) for children born in 2016.

The Department of Education announced that it will launch a French dual-language program this fall at the pre-kindergarten center on the Upper East Side to cater to the Francophone community in the city.

A group of French-speaking parents, including immigrants from Canada, Africa and France, began spearheading a campaign two years ago to attain bilingual education for their children, and have worked closely with City Council Member Ben Kallos, Education Attaché of the Embassy of France Fabrice Jaumont, Community Education District 2 President Maud Maron, Deputy Chancellor of Early Childhood and Student Enrollment Josh Wallack, and the Community Education District Superintendent Donalda Chumney to bring it to fruition.

French is the third most common spoken language in the UES neighborhood, according to a report from Business Insider.

“I hear so many languages spoken in my district from every corner of the world and now we are working with the Francophone community to address a need in the neighborhood as we hope to increase the overall diversity of our schools,” said Kallos.

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The New York City Department of Education will launch French dual-language education programs at an Upper East Side pre-k facility to promote bilingual education at an early age, local City Councilman Ben Kallos announced Wednesday.

Two French dual-language pre-k classes will open for the 2020-2021 school year at the recently-opened East 76th Street and First Avenue pre-k center, Kallos said. The local lawmaker urged city education officials to launch the dual-language program by holding two community meetings with education officials and French-speaking families in December and March where 200 families signed a petition in favor of the programs.

New York City families have until March 16 to apply for pre-k for all programs. Families that have already applied can update their applications to include the French dual-language program by searching for the program code 02Z128 on the DOE's "MySchools" website.

"I hear so many languages spoken in my district from every corner of the world and now we are working with the Francophone community to address a need in the neighborhood as we hope to increase the overall diversity of our schools," Kallos said in a statement.

Kallos, Maloney Cut Ribbon on $212K Worth of Renovations at Eleanor Roosevelt High School

Council Member Ben Kallos

Last Friday, Council Member Ben Kallos (D-Yorkville, Lenox Hill) and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) cut the ribbon at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, to celebrate the completion of renovations and upgrades to the school’s library and resource center.

Kallos facilitated the project with the allocation of $212,000 in funding out of his discretionary budget. The center was provided with new LED lighting, new flooring and new podcasting equipment, among other upgrades.

“High school libraries should be modern and welcoming places where students are comfortable and it is easy to learn,” said Kallos. “Funding education initiatives has been a priority of mine since I got into office. I am proud to have allocated these funds because I know they will have a positive impact on the students that attend Eleanor Roosevelt High School.”

The bilingual revolution is still going strong this Tuesday, March 3, 2020, several parent's associations led by Stéphane Lautner met at the Stanley Isaacs Community Center at 6:00 p.m. with the Deputy Chancellor of Early Childhood Education, Josh Wallack, Municipal Councillor Benjamin Kallos, CEC2 President Maud Maron, Superintendent Donalda Chumney, education attache of the French Embassy in the United States Fabrice Jaumont to discuss about the challenges of developing bilingual public preschool programs in New York City. 

The meeting focused in particular on : 

• The absence of French DLP in District 2.
• The search for certified bilingual teachers.
• The identification of the paths to follow after the UPK in K-5.
• The development of bilingual streams in public schools.

Two New York City Council members introduced legislation that could make free summer camp a possibility for all NYC families on Feb. 11. Removing expenses from the camp equation could make camp a reality for more kids, especially those in families who might not be able to afford expensive camps. Time Out New York Kids reports that the Universal Summer Youth Programs aims to solidify the budget for the city’s current free summer camp options, and bring free community-based camp options to all kids by the summer of 2022. Right now, the funding for existing free camp programs is approved as late as June, way past the time parents are solidifying camp plans. 

Universal Summer Youth Programs was introduced by Debi Rose (Staten Island) and Ben Kallos (Manhattan). "Summer programs are invaluable experiences that build self-esteem, social skills, leadership skills and friendships in a safe, constructive environment. They also help curb summer learning loss," Rose said in a statement, according to Time Out. "It is time we build on our successes with early childhood education in the city and give all students seeking a spot in a summer program the opportunity to participate."