The Anderson School

The Anderson School PS 334 is a New York City school for gifted children in grades kindergarten through 8 from the city's five boroughs. It was founded twenty-nine years ago (September 1987) as The Anderson Program under the stewardship of PS 9.^[1] The New York City Department of Education (DOE) spun off Anderson in July 2005 as a stand-alone school — PS 334.

Enrollment

Anderson's enrollment, as of February 10, 2010, was 559 students.^[2] Since inception, Anderson has had two sections (classrooms) per grade. For the 2009–10 school year, the DOE admitted three sections for kindergarten and opened an additional section for 1st grade.

Admissions

The five citywide schools, of which Anderson is one, admit children from New York City's five boroughs (citywide), without preference for their district of residence.

All gifted education programs in NYC, Kindergarten through 3

As of the 2012–2013 school year, the application process for all gifted and talented (G&T) programs in the City uses the following two assessments

1. Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, 2nd Edition (NNAT-2)
2. The non-verbal component of the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, 8th Edition (OLSAT-8)^[3][4]

The nonverbal component of the assessment is weighted approximately 2/3 and the verbal is weighted approximately 1/3.^[5](This was changed in 2015 and now both parts weigh the same 1/2)

Students scoring at or above the 97 percentile are eligible for placement in both citywide and district G&T programs. Students who perform at or above the 90 percentile are eligible for placement in G&T district programs only. Citywide programs admit students from any New York City district, and district programs admit students who live in specific districts.^[5]

Grades 4 through 7

• Admissions are based on scholastic achievement and a demonstration of academic ability. Applicants must show:

1. A strong academic record
2. A level 4 (out of 4) on the fourth grade English Language Arts Test^[6]
3. A level 4 (out of 4) on the fourth grade NYS Mathematics Test^[7]
4. Teacher recommendations
5. Academic ability via onsite assessment of math and writing

If an applicant has not been attending a New York City public school, Anderson will assess their available records.

Openings are subject to a few new seats added and attrition of Anderson students.

• Grade 8: New students are not admitted into 8th grade.

Enrichment, extracurricular, and interscholastic

Music

As of nine years ago (fall 2007), Anderson students in the fourth and fifth grades choose and study an orchestral instrument — either woodwind, string, brass, or percussion. After fifth grade, students may elect to continue into the AMS advanced orchestra.

Spirit, interscholastic sports and student life

The Anderson Dragon is the school mascot. It was chosen by Anderson's middle school students in 2005.

Chess Team

Anderson fields a chess team which participates in the local, state and national tournaments.

Sports

Other extra curricular activities

• Musical Theatre

David Fisher, Music Director

• Debate

Mike Fox, Coach

• Math Team

James Woo, Coach

• Robotics Team

Nicole Chandonnet, Coach

• Science Olympiad

Stefanie Fier, Coach

Student Council

The Student Council is composed of middle school students.

Notable alumni

David Lawrence Vigliarolo Bauer — Anderson K-5 alumni — while a senior at Hunter College High School — won the first prize Intel Award $100,000 scholarship in 2005.^[8] In November 2008, as a Truman Scholar senior in chemistry at Macaulay Honors College at The City College of New York, Bauer was named a 2009 Rhodes Scholar.

History

Early gifted education and gifted education research in New York City
The Speyer School, PS 500, opened in 1936 at 514 W 126th Street for exceptionally intellectually gifted students, ages 7 to 9. While not the first, it was the City's only existing public program for intellectually gifted students and was operated collaboratively by Teachers College and the Board of Education. Speyer was headed by Leta Stetter Hollingworth, PhD, (1886–1939) a clinical and research psychologist, educator, and professor at Teachers College. She served as Speyer's executive director.

The pedagogical objectives for Speyer were a culmination of research from a groundbreaking "Special Opportunity Class" for gifted students that opened in the early 1920s at PS 165. The original Speyer School was established in 1902 by Teachers College through a gift from James Speyer (1861–1941), a New York banker and trustee of Teachers College.

Expanding on the work of Lulu May Stedman (1876–1960)^[9] and other pioneers in gifted education, Hollingworth spearheaded the project at PS 165, which yielded over 40 papers and a textbook. Before PS 165, the Board of Education had introduced gifted classes at PS 15 and PS 64. However, these were small-scale and with little documentation.

The Speyer project yielded valuable data. In its first year, Professor Hollingworth reported that, because bright children progress quickly, they need only a half day to master a full day's work. And, unless their courses were revised at an early age, they would learn to be masterful time-wasters.^[10] Professor Hollingworth posited that students who progress quickly on the wrong channel can be caustic.

Her untimely death, November 27, 1939, ended the Speyer project — Speyer eventually closed its doors January 31, 1941. But, to commemorate the legacy to Professor Hollingworth, the Board of Ed. launched classes for bright students in twelve public schools.^[11]

Hunter College Elementary School
Before Speyer closed, Hunter College saw a public need and an opportunity. In the fall of 1940, Hunter College Model School, an elementary school in existence since 1870, added a pre-K and transferred its 7th and 8th grades to Hunter College High School^[12] and began operating as an experimental and demonstration center for intellectually gifted children. In September 1940, the administration changed the name to Hunter College Elementary School (HCES).^[13] Even then, HCES, the only public elementary school in the city, had a waiting list and required an IQ test.

Beginning fall 2003, HCES discontinued pre-K. Until then, nearly half of the forty-eight kindergartners admitted to its kindergarten were matriculating from its pre-K. For decades, HCES had been turning away kindergarten applicants who met criteria as intellectually gifted. In the mid 1980s, HCES used a computer random selection system for admitting students meeting its criteria.

The K-5 Anderson program at PS 9
In 1986, frustrated over enrollment limits for applicants meeting criteria for admissions to HCES, parents from several Community School Districts,^[14] led by Susan Natale, a parent with experience in primary education, enlisted the assistance of Associate Dean of HCES, Evelyn Jones Rich, Ph.D.,^[15] to help identify other parents with children who had met HCES's criteria for admission, but were not admitted. Dee Estelle Alpert, another parent, succeeded in having a resolution placed before the Community School Board in her District (Dist. 3) to create a program for such children.

The resolution passed. Bernadette O'Brien, then Principal of PS 9, welcomed The Anderson Program into her school. At the time, PS 9 had only 197 students. The building, though structurally sound, was poorly maintained and underfurnished. There was no playground equipment — only a yard.

Anderson began with two kindergartens and two 1st grades in September 1987, composed of eighty students. The founding teachers were Alicia Ruddy (kindergarten), Gail Goldweber (kindergarten), Robert (Bob) Moy (1st grade), and Beatrice (Bea) Asnes (1st grade). Moy, as of the 2013–14 school year, is still at Anderson.

Sometime around 1989, Natale chaired a committee to (i) secure a Program Director and (ii) persuade the District to fund a Program evaluation. Then District 3 Community Superintendent Anton J. Klein (1929- ) approved the evaluation and, together, with the committee selected Lisa Wright, Ed.D., of Teachers College, Columbia University, to perform the evaluation. Dr. Wright delivered a comprehensive and seminal report that served as an operational and educational framework going forward. In that report, she recommended, among other things, that (i) Anderson appoint a Program Coordinator, which Supt. Klein approved and (ii) Anderson establish a Parent Advisory Board (PAB), which the Anderson community enacted.

Under sponsorship of the Friends of Anderson, the prime independent parent support group for two decades (until the Summer of 2009), Parents Advisory Board chairs, teachers, and administrators have attended annual national gifted education conferences. They have participated in workshops — learning and sharing to help others. During the 1992–03 year, the National Association for Gifted Children recognized The Anderson Program as a national model for parent-initiated gifted programs.

Grades 6–8 added
While still a part of PS 9, Anderson added a two section 6th grade in the fall of 2003, admitting about sixty 6th grade students. Anderson extended the 6th to 7th in the fall of 2004, and 7th to 8th in the fall of 2005, graduating its first class of 8th graders in the same year that Anderson became a stand-alone school (2005–2006).

The Anderson School PS 334
Managing a K-8 program within the PS 9 K–5 structure was one of many factors that influenced the DOE’s decision to organize Anderson as its own school. Managing a small citywide program bearing a large outreach mandate while managing a school bearing a catchment priority was another factor. Partly in recognition of the achievements of The Anderson Program and partly as a heightened boost to gifted education and partly as an extension of the Chancellor's smaller school initiative, the DOE upgraded The Anderson Program as its own school in July 2005. Anderson became a school on the 40th Anniversary of the school building and in the year of the inaugural graduation of an AMS class.

The DOE promoted Anderson's Program Coordinator, Rachel Schnur, EdD, to Anderson's first Principal Interim Acting, then to full Principal. She served in those two capacities for the inaugural year.^[16]

Principals, program coordinators, Anderson chairs, PTA presidents

Principals when Anderson was part of PS 9

• Bernadette Castronuovo O'Brien — PS 9 | August 1984 – August 1989 (presided over the founding of Anderson)
• Joan Gutkin, PhD (née Gotlieb; 1936–1997) — PS 9 | 1989 – 1997
• Diane Brady — PS 9 | 1997–2005 Oversaw Anderson spin-off (still oversees PS 9)

Principals beginning when Anderson became its own school – PS 334

• Rachel Schnur, EdD — PS 334 | July 2005 – July 2006 (see "Coordinators" below)
• Brian Culot — PS 334 | July 2006 – July 2009
• Jodi Hyde — PS 334 | August 31, 2009 – present

Gifted coordinators (directors) during Anderson's era as a program (under PS 9)

• Rena Bonne, PhD | September 1989 – August 1991
• Nadine S. Antapole | August 1991 – 1992
• Helen Krasnow | 1992 – June 1994
• Wynstelle Nicholson | 1994 – 1998
• Alice Geismar | 1998 – 1999
• Rachel Schnur, EdD | 1999 – 2005

Anderson's assistant principals

• Denise Jordan, Assistant Principal | 2011–12 – present
• Robert (Rob) Schliessman, Assistant Principal, | 2011–12 – present

School names

The Anderson School (PS 334) inherited its name from its former parent school, the Sarah Anderson School,^[1] a K-5 neighborhood catchment school that offers two programs: Renaissance and Gifted and Talented. Until PS 334 moved to 100 West 77th Street in July 2009, both schools shared a building at 100 West 84th Street.

Sarah Anderson (1922–1981)^[17] was a beloved school paraprofessional. The school community petitioned the Board of Education to rename PS 9 in her honor. It became official during a her memorial dedication in May 1981.^[18] Never married, she was the mother of three: Clarence "Pete" Anderson (1938 and living in East New York, Brooklyn), Ronald ("Ronnie") Dean Anderson (b. 1939 Griffin GA – 2001 Griffin), and Thomas Anderson. Sarah Anderson is buried at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery, Griffin, GA. Her nickname, for those close to her, was "Peggy." Her daughter-in-law (Clarence's wife), Earnestine Anderson, also worked with Sarah as a paraprofessional at PS 9. Earnestine resides in Griffin.

In 1993, under Principal Joan Gutkin, PhD (1936–1997), PS 9 (then the host school for The Anderson Program) received magnet school funding for music and art and henceforth adopted the name, "Renaissance School of Music and Art." Ever since, PS 9 has used both names.

Physical plant

• Sept 1987 – July 2009, Anderson shared a building with its founding parent school P.S. 9, The Sarah Anderson School, at 100 W 84th Street. During the latter years in that building, The Computer School also shared the building.
• July 2009 – Present, Anderson moved to a slightly older building six blocks due south at 100 W 77th Street, initially, sharing it with (i) The Computer School, (ii) JHS 44 O'Shea Middle School (a district middle school), and (iii) West Prep Academy (a district middle school). At the start of the 2010–11 school year, PS 452, a new neighborhood elementary school (3 sections per grade), moved in the building. July 2011 JHS 44 O'Shea Middle School was phased out and West Prep Academy moved to the P.S. 145 building at 150 West 105 Street.

Parent, teacher and independent organizations

• Parents of P.S. 334, Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation,^[19] serves as the official Parents-Teachers Association. While incorporating a PTA is not required by the DOE Chancellor's Regs,^[20] having a PA (or PTA) is. The parents incorporated the PTA on November 29, 2005, four months after the DOE spun off The Anderson Program from PS 9 as its own school. In 2007, the IRS approved it as a public charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3).
• Friends of The Anderson School, Inc., is a New York not-for-profit corporation, and operates independently. Founded by Anderson parents in 1988, the FOA had, for two decades, served as Anderson's primary fundraising organization. In the summer of 2009, the FOA transferred its traditional responsibilities (direct appeal & school auction) to the Parents of P.S. 334, Inc. (operated by the PTA of PS 334). Henceforth, the FOA collaborates alumni and friends to strengthen Anderson. The FOA launched an endowment fund in 2008. The FOA is a tax exempt charity under IRC Section 501(c)(3).
• The School Leadership Team is a state mandated organization that, among other things, collaborates in an advisory capacity over curricular, budgetary, and operational matters. Seven elected parents (one of whom is a PTA President), six faculty members (one of whom is a UFT rep), and the Principal comprise the Team.^[21]
• Anderson Alumni Association, formed in the mid-1990s.

See also

• List of public elementary schools in New York City
• List of middle schools in New York City
• List of public elementary schools in New York City

References

Coordinates: 40°46′51″N 73°58′38″W / 40.78082°N 73.97710°W / 40.78082; -73.97710

External links