Author Archives: Judy Grover

It’s PAWsome!

January 27, 2020 | Leave a reply

Students at Preparatory Academy for Writers Shine at PAW Jam

It wasn’t the first time that 7th-grader Jordyn and her fellow afterschool program participants danced in front of an audience. It was the first time the audience included police school safety agents and representatives from an elected official’s office — and Jordyn couldn’t have been more proud of herself and her team.

“We went hard and did great,” Jordyn said through a beaming smile. “I’m so happy for us!”

Jordyn is a student at M.S. 283 Preparatory Academy for Writers, where The Child Center of NY operates a high-quality afterschool program for more than 100 middle schoolers, affectionately nicknamed “Play After Work” (PAW) by Principal Charles Anderson. Continue reading →

Our Culinary Stars on PBS!

December 9, 2019 | Leave a reply

Lidia Bastianich Cooks with Our Youth

**New date and time: Sunday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. on WNET, Channel 13, for the New York Metro market. PBS will run the show in most other U.S. cities on Fri., Dec. 20–check the Lidia Celebrates America website for air times in your area.

Renowned chef and Emmy Award-winning television personality Lidia Bastianich cares deeply about immigrants and under-served youth having pathways to bright futures.

On Sunday, December 15, Lidia’s PBS special Lidia Celebrates America will premiere on WNET and will include a segment of Lidia cooking with 12 juniors and seniors of the Culinary Arts Program at August Martin High School (AMHS), an inner-city school in Jamaica, Queens. The five-year innovative partnership between The Child Center and August Martin has brought about a dramatic turnaround in graduation rates from 23% to 74% in four years.

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Ballroom Basix Offers More than Fun and Fancy Footwork at PAW

October 22, 2019 | 1 Reply

“We felt like stars!” says eighth-grader Cindy Jean-Francois, a former participant of Ballroom Basix (BBX) at M.S. 283 Preparatory Academy for Writers’ afterschool program, “Play After Work” (PAW). Creating opportunities for our students to build self-confidence and shine is just one of the many facets of The Child Center’s afterschool-enrichment programs — and it’s just one of the benefits of this innovative activity, now in its second year at PAW.

“Dance, and partner dancing specifically, has a huge impact on social and emotional learning,” says The Child Center’s PAW Program Director Carolyn Johnson. “By its very nature, partner dancing is about teamwork. It teaches our kids about working with a partner, about being respectful of your partner.” And, as a result, “parents and educators herald BBX as a unique deterrent to bullying,” says founder and artistic director Sidney “Dr. Dance” Grant, who launched BBX in a single Harlem middle school in 2008 and now operates it at more than 100 schools across NYC’s five boroughs. Continue reading →

The Child Center of NY Partners with the NYPD to Invest in Youth and Families in East New York

October 22, 2019 | Leave a reply

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/22/19

Media Contacts: Carrie Sackett, carriesackett@childcenterny.org; Ryan Carbain, rcarbain@rubenstein.com

The Child Center of NY on the NYPD’s New Community Center in East New York

New York, NY – The Child Center of NY, a nonprofit organization who will be providing family support and youth development services at the NYPD’s new Community Center at 127 Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York, offered the following statement about the Center’s opening. Continue reading →

Our Team Makes Communities Grow

September 23, 2019 | Leave a reply

By Sonia Banks, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Human Resources

The Child Center of NY SVP of Human Resources Sonia Banks introduces Staff Spotlights.

Two months ago, I joined The Child Center of NY as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. It has been an amazing journey so far! This is a mission-committed workplace culture where staff are dedicated to bringing unique skills and competencies to their work.

I believe one of the roles of Human Resources is to support the strategic plan and vision of an organization. I look forward to supporting this vision by working with my team to ensure that processes and programs empower staff to reach their potential. Our focus is on supporting a stronger infrastructure so we can be more responsive to employee needs — because at the end of the day, when employees have the tools to be their best, they naturally empower those in our communities to achieve their educational and economic potential.

As a Queens resident, the mission has a special meaning to me. I am a social scientist who has worked in the corporate arena, at nonprofits, and government agencies helping them create high-quality, collaborative, and efficient work environments. I am honored that through The Child Center, I work alongside those who are invigorated to serve the community I grew up in.

We have wonderful opportunities ahead to transform Human Resources by tapping our collective potential to solve problems and build a culture we all thrive in. Over the coming months, we’ll be developing new ways to spotlight staff across the organization, both as a means to celebrate individual contributions to our mission and invite others to join our team. Stay tuned! I look forward to hearing from my fellow employees with their own inspiring stories of what they love about working here at The Child Center. And to those of you who are interested in making a difference through your work, in your own backyard — join us!

Learn more about Sonia by reading her bio on our Executive Leadership page.

Daniel’s Story

August 29, 2019 | Leave a reply

Daniel is a client of The Child Center’s school-based mental health clinic at Richmond Hill High School and our Health Home Program, which serves Medicaid-eligible youth who suffer from multiple chronic conditions. The program ensures coordination of care so that needs are neither neglected nor duplicated and the client has access to the resources that will help him lead a healthy, fulfilling life.

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From Pre-K to K: Escalera Students Get Ready for Kindergarten

August 26, 2019 | Leave a reply

Escalara Head Start student holding a butterfly

September is synonymous with “back to school,” but in the 4-year-old class at our Escalera Head Start, Lead Teacher Katherine Beltran and Assistant Teacher Saptashikha Chowdhury have been actively preparing their students for September since June. That’s because all of their students will be entering kindergarten this fall.

It’s a big transition, Ms. Katherine notes, and the children may have a lot of apprehensions about being in a new school with new teachers, classmates, routines, and expectations.

Ms. Katherine and her staff began by introducing the children to one of the classic stories of metamorphosis — that of the caterpillar turning into a butterfly — but with a twist: They had the students act out the transformation themselves, starting by scrunching up into a ball to represent the egg, wiggling like a caterpillar, crouching down to mimic the chrysalis stage, and culminating in the butterfly yoga pose, which the children had already learned.

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Salary Parity Explained

July 31, 2019 | Leave a reply

Five Things to Know about the Salary Parity Deal for Early Childhood Educators

By Tanya Krien and Marie Mason, Vice Presidents of Early Childhood Education

Learn about the Salary Parity deal for NYC early childhood teachers — The early childhood years are among the most important, as they set the stage for a child’s future success in education.

Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced a plan to raise pay for early childhood teachers. The tentative deal ensures that certified teachers who work in community-based organizations (CBOs) will earn the same starting salary as their Department of Education colleagues who teach in public schools. The increases will happen incrementally, with full parity being achieved by 2021. Hundreds of NYC early childhood teachers could see their pay increase by as much as $20,000 under this deal. While we, like most professionals who work in the field of early childhood education, have been rejoicing the news and consider it long overdue, the deal is mired in details (as are most) and involves considerations that have not been widely covered. Below are five details about the agreement, explained from an early childhood educator point of view.

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Join Our 2019 Backpack Drive!

July 17, 2019 | Leave a reply

Give the gift of a fully stocked backpack to a child who needs one.

Dear Friends:

Imagine being a child and stepping into your classroom on the first day of school without the required supplies because your family can’t afford them. It’s a reality for a heartbreaking number of Child Center families, but with just $20, you can change that for a child right now.

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