It's one of the first lessons children learn in school: how to share. Now, Chancellor Carmen Fariña wants city schools to do a lot more sharing—with each other. NY1’s Lindsey Christ filed this report.
P.S. 69 in Brooklyn is one of several public schools that's been hosting a lot of visitors this year.
The arts program—and how teachers incorporate the arts into lessons across every subject—draws guests to PS 69. It's a so-called showcase school, one of 17 that has agreed to open its doors to show and tell what it does best.
Visitors include principals, education officials and teachers from across the city who have signed up to spend a day observing, asking questions and taking notes.
"The music and the arts, the instruments, the dance, the plays. They're learning so much that it makes me sad that everybody isn't doing it everywhere," says Marilyn Bell, principal advisor at Bank Street College of Education.
The idea is that the visitors will spread practices that work, bringing ideas back to their classrooms and schools.
"I wish I could bring the whole school to my school to show my administration. Like, this can be done," says P.S. 272 teacher Shaunda Hester.
Chancellor Carmen Fariña launched the showcase program in October, having schools share everything from parental involvement strategies to creative student scheduling.
"We believe this is a great way to start a conversation about how we can improve what's happening in all the schools in our city," says Deputy Chancellor Phil Weinberg.
Nearly a thousand educators will visit a showcase school this school year and the Education Department plans to expand the program next year.
While P.S. 69 is an elementary school, teachers of every grade level say they are able to learn, just by getting out of their classrooms and spending a day in someone else’s.
"The engagement is amazing, the participation, in the way they work together," says Pheona Hunt, who teaches at High School for Arts Imagine and Inquiry.
That’s exactly what the Chancellor is hoping every school will do.