515 9th Ave #8D
New York, NY 10018

Unfortunately, this School does a very poor job of educating children with disabilities. NYC mandates that they accept a certain percentage of students with IEP's, so they do, but it's clear that anyone with more severe disabilities is not welcome. This is a top down problem, with an imperious principal who is not responsive to parents and does not answer emails and avoids meeting with them to discuss problems. The school has two arts programs they care about - music theatre and dance. The other two programs - vocal and drama, are where they shuffle kids who have more severe disabilities. While this is a clear IDEA violation, the school couches it as doing what is in the best interest of the child. It's clear that if there was a student in a wheelchair and unable to do traditional dance classes, for example, that they would not be accepted into the Music theatre program, even if they were a strong actor and singer - and even though as a public school, the IDEA requires them to make accommodations. They just fully ignore that law. In addition, many staff - especially those at Rosie's Theatre Kids - one of their partner organizations - are often unaware of any accommodations required by a child's IEP, and thus often fail to implement them.

My daughter has been attending this school for 2 years now. It is a great school with great music and art programs. My daughter had to have a safety transfer from a previous school so it has been a huge blessing not getting called weekly that something has happened to my child. The afterschool program is AMAZING as well! They have so many cool clubs to keep the kids entertained and involved like fashion and girl code. This is my daughter's last year of Elementary school so it will be bitter sweet for her to transition over to middle school. If you are looking for a great school for your child look no further.