342 E 53rd St #5H
New York, NY 10022

My daughter graduated from Art & Design high school in 2022 and had a great experience. It was a safe environment, the students were supportive of each other and I didn't see any issues with bullying, the teachers were nurturing and supportive. The kids loved art, but there were also good academic classes and AP classes but a large focus on visual arts classes. Staff and principal does a good job of helping students prepare for college. The new principal is great !

My child has attended PS59 the last few years. This school is zoned by The United Nations, so it is one of the most diverse schools in the city. It is a school where children learn to be world citizens and all cultures, values and contributions are celebrated. This is a wealthy area and the PTA raises significant money to pay for extra teachers in classes PK, K and 1st grade. Enrichments such as Arch for Kids, Central Park Zoo Partnership, City Centre Dance Programs, African Dance, NY Philharmonic Field Trips, A full STEM program which includes Robotics, Coding, 3-D Printing, Littlebits and a full Art Studio. The School has Reading and Math Specialists, a beautiful library filled with current books, A full size Gym, Theatre and Rooftop Playground. A greenhouse is being added this year. Test Prep for the ELA grades 3-5 is paid for by the PTA and free for 3rd-5th graders.The parent body is extremely active in the school. The students attend International Day, where parents set up booths for each country and kids learn about each country and get "stamps" in their passports, The Fall Festival, Winterfest, A Film Festival where the students create their own films and they are screened, Bingo Nights, Monster Mash for Halloween, Math Curriculum Night and many more events to engage the families. There are also “Family Fridays” where parents can visit the classrooms and see their children in action.The academic bar is set high, and many students who attend are students who will attend private or parochial school for the upper grades as well as the Specialized Public High Schools. Chess is big in the school. The students score high on the ELA tests. Class size is not large. If a student is falling behind there are specialists to work with the student one on one. A robust afterschool program offers Sports, Art, Dance etc. at a relatively low cost. It is very popular.The Principal, Vice Principal, Teachers and Staff work extraordinarily hard to create a school where everyone is welcome to succeed, learn and grow. I was on the fence whether to send my child to private school and am so happy I chose PS59 instead. My child has all the bells and whistles private school provides with the additional bonus of a broader, richer world education and peer group. You can see how happy these kids are. Mine wants to be first at the school every morning.

As a guardian of a current student at this school, this student is being bullied and none of the teachers are doing anything about it. It was already pretty bad that the teachers aren't doing anything about the bullying, but it is worse that the teachers did not let this student tell their family members about it because they say that it will make it a bigger deal. It is not alright for a teacher to tell their student to not call their parent because of it will ruin their school reputation. The teachers dealing with this problem says that they will be able to fix the problem but they didn't do anything. Now this student is afraid to go to school because the bullies threathens to jump this student and call their friends over to also bully and join in. Also, the bullies didn't get in trouble because the teacher said that he did not see it happen. This isn't the first time this student was bullied but the first time, there was at least one teacher that tried to solve the problem but she left so now this student is having trouble solving this new problem. As for learning, teaching, and other parts of reviewing a school, if students don't feel safe then they obviously would not feel motivated or excited about learning and other activities.