There’s been a lot of serious and not so serious discussion about children’s self-esteem, and the relative necessity of adults to build it, fix it or pander to it.

I thought the self-esteem obsession reached its zenith during my kids’ years in recreational sports, when everyone got a trophy for everything.

But here’s a new angle, from [...]

Torn between that apple magnet and the heart-my-teacher coffee mug?

Here’s a creative alternative being pitched by the national PTA.

Mamaroneck school officials have just released a letter that went home to parents of students at Hommocks Middle School.

The subject is the mysterious reassignment of two guidance counselors, Elizabeth Dunhoff and Haruko Hirose. It spells out what district officials are going to do next, and explains their silence on the details.

letter-to-hommocks-parents-11-29-07.pdf

As school parent-teacher associations look for new ways to raise money  that are more enticing than selling candy, they’ve come up with some new ideas.

Here’s one from Dobbs Ferry.  The middle/high school PTSA is running a fundraiser with the Barnes and Noble on Central Park Avenue in Yonkers.

It’ll last all weekend. And there are special [...]

For those who don’t know the back story, here is a reason many parents are upset about the mystery surrounding the two guidance counselors who have been administratively reassigned.

A former music teacher at Hommocks Middle School, Omar Rodriguez, pleaded guilty in February to statutory rape and child endangerment.

Hired by the district in 2004, he was [...]

Does this happen all over the place?

A friend of mine has an issue at school about parents doing their kids’ work.

The twist is that these are group projects. And get this, the parents of the kids in a couple of the groups are actually meeting to divvy up the work they’ll be doing for their [...]

A batch of school districts got more money from the state – with strings attached.

To be accountable, district officials had to propose exactly what they wanted to do with the money, why it would be worth it and how you could tell.

North Rockland and Yonkers were among the districts that put together these Contracts [...]

Teachers will be holding workshops to share their passions with students – at Claremont School this week and Ossining High School Dec. 12.

According to BOCES school communications coordinator Chris Heath, the workshops run the gamut, from wrestling to yoga to different arts and crafts.

What a great idea. Think of the levels on which it works: [...]

It’s an institutional Freudian slip: The voicemail message for the guidance Department at Hommocks Middle School asks the caller to leave messages for Peter Moore, who left at the end of last year; Cal Chiang, who retired last year; and of course Elizabeth Denhoff and Haruko Hirose, who both have been administratively reassigned.

There’s some interesting new information in the article by the Larchmont Gazette about the story of the two Hommocks Middle School guidance counselors who have been removed from their posts.

The counselors, Elizabeth Denhoff and Haruko Hirose, are already involved in an action against the district. They may think the charges are in retaliation – [...]

The Mamaroneck Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 8 a.m. tomorrow to “act on a personnel agenda.”

It will be held in the superintendent’s conference room at Mamaroneck High School.

We’ll drop by. Wonder if the action to be acted upon has to do with the two guidance counselors who were removed from their [...]

Louise Feroe, who has been at Mercy College since 1982, became its interim president in 2004 and was named officially to the post in 2006, announced today she’s stepping down.

Feroe was provost when college President Lucie Lapovsky announced she was pursuing other challenges in 2004, after five years at the helm.

The state Comptroller’s Office initiated audits of Briarcliff, New Rochelle and Pleasantville last month.

It’s part of the multi-year project to audit every school district that started after then-Superintendent Frank Tassone and subordinates stole $8 million from Roslyn.  Tassone had worked in Rye Neck (which audited its own books after the scandal broke and found nothing).

I just received a press release from the Yonkers school district about the visit of “the Chomper” to School 5.

“The Chomper” is a special recycling garbage truck, and the visit from the DPW is part of the students’ environmental studies.

Now sure, I am committed to reducing, reusing and recycling. But what a great name! [...]

Our Newspapers in Education department has produced a fantastic free special section.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals: Targeting Hunger is available for previewing at LoHud.com/NIE by clicking 2007-2008 supplements.

In addition to the international context, it features local programs – including White Plains, Hastings, Yonkers and North Rockland – and has suggestions for students, teachers, classes [...]