Joyce Szuflita of NYC School Help has been answering A Child Grows readers’ questions about school periodically. Besides keeping up with her own blog, http://mysidewalkchalk.blogspot.com/, where she has been known to release valuable DOE information first, she works with parents’ groups, does individual consults and runs support groups and workshops. I honestly don’t know how she does it all as well as being a mother of twins (they are teens- but no less work I am sure!)

I contacted Joyce to come over to my house to do a talk to 15 of my mom friends.  I wanted my friends to "vet" her as well as see for myself how she would perform in a group again. I had previously seen her answer questions to a group of expectant parents. At that event she showed a vast amount of knowledge and I was impressed.

She came and spoke for 1.5 hours-  45 minutes over what she had thought- partly due to the fact that there were a lot of questions, and partly due to the fact that Joyce can’t help herself: she has a lot of knowledge to impart.

She taught us about the different educational philosophies out there: Montessori, Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Bank Street and International Baccalaureate.  Honestly, I knew a lot about them before (except Bank Street), but she did an excellent job of summarizing their philosophies, their perceived weaknesses and strengths and comparisons between them.  She discussed public schools, gifted and talented programs, and lastly, what to look for on a tour at a school and hints on how to interview. (If you want to check out the different teaching methods, check out her site at: http://nycschoolhelp.com/bklynschool.aspx)

One of the most valuable pieces of advice she offered: don’t just consider your favorite school in your decision process, consider how it will affect your family’s finances, travel time and general schedule. That may seem to be common sense, and of course it is, but it is easy to forget that a financial strain can tear a couple and family apart, that long commute time can affect time you may have spent at home with your family and getting your sleep.

Some of my friends wrote me to tell me how great they thought her talk was, and here are some of their thoughts:

I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU
again for holding last night’s meeting. It was truly informative. My
friend was totally jealous that I was going. I think the best thing
about the talk was how encouraging she was—it
made me feel like this is very do-able and maybe we can navigate
through the public school system after all.
-Laine

I loved listening to Joyce explain the various schools, differences
between them, private vs public-  I really do feel like I got a lot out
of it. I so enjoyed the whole evening. What I like about her is you can tell that she really knows her stuff- she’s been through it with her now teenage daughters and gives great, thoughtful advice to help you make the right decision.  I also loved how she really encourages you to ultimately follow your instinct, something a lot of new parents can really use when trying to make these tough decisions about what is right for them.
-Lilly

Joyce was very informative. I left feeling more confident that my own common sense will help navigate the school process.
-Yancey

So, after that evening, we asked Joyce to come and do a private consult with my husband (Papa Tree) and me. Again, though it was going to be an 1.5 hours, it ended up being a full 2 hours! (We, of course, didn’t mind because we got loads of information and personal attention).  We talked about the public schools we were zoned for, other schools that we could apply to through a variance and when to tour and apply.  Joyce brought data sheets on those public schools she thought we should consider (including our zoned school) so that we could compare each one’s academic records, extracurricular activities and communities. She also told us about unzoned and charter schools, gifted and talented programs, citywide programs, elementary schools and a general discussion about high schools. And she didn’t stop there! She went through private schools for 2′s and up. She gave us reams of data on each one: charts, maps with circled locations, printouts on each school, class times and tuition, admissions information, activities, summer programs and mission. Whew! How did she collect all of this? Papa Tree and I had to create a binder to hold all the data she gave us.  It was truly incredible- and not overwhelming (really!). At the end of the session, we didn’t have one unanswered question. What we did have was a cleaned plate of oatmeal cookies! Papa Tree was especially impressed by her excellent research and intimate knowledge of the school systems.

As you can tell, I think Joyce is an incredibly valuable resource in Brooklyn. Not only does she have a newsletter that tells readers when open houses, tours and deadlines are taking place, but also informs you if any new schools have opened and DOE updates.  You can sign up for her newsletter here: http://nycschoolhelp.com/contactus.aspx. She is also running workshops about middle and high school. I would encourage you to check out her blog or join her newsletter if you want to be aware of the DOE’s changing policies and gain general knowledge about the whole dizzying process of applying for school.

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