Public School 62X is an urban school located in the South Bronx. Approximately 90 percent of our students receive free lunch. Our Pre-K - 4 school serves a predominantly latino community.
PS 62 had focused on using the New York State Performance Standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. Teachers are able to focus their insturction based on the expected outcomes for the grades they teach. If you walk in our hallways you will notice that each bulletin board reflects a particular standard proudly displaying student work which has yet or is approaching the standard. For the 2000-2001 school year the performance standards are being used as the basis of our newly designed portfolio assessment program. Standards have found a place within the instructional framework of schooling.
Our instructional program has helped us acheive our goals. We have developed a literacy program based on the Balanced Literacy Model which includes shared reading, independent reading, writing process, word structure development and guided reading. This model is based on assessment of student needs and is proving to work effectively with our at-risk population. We are also providing early intervention services, which include reading Recovery, Breakthrough To Literacy and reduced class size.
The 2000-2001 school year supports our students by intergrating the curriculum with the arts. We feel that the students have gone without aesthetic education and it had been a missing component of the regular academic program. Our goal is to further support our students by addressing the needs of the whole child.
Project Arts fund and tax levy monies are being used to develop a visual arts program that will be aligned with the monthly literacy themes and with the monthly themes in our social studies curriculum. We have established a new intrumental (clarinets and recorders) program as well as a voice music program.
