Councilmember Diana Reyna at PS 196's Career Day

PS 196 - The Ten Eyck School

Address: 207 Bushwick Avenue
Website: http://schools.nyc.gov/schoolportals/14/k196/default.htm

PS 196 offers many enrichment clubs during the school day. Clubs include chess, yoga, glee, cooking, photography, technology and gardening. They also offer a weekly period of Music Workshop provided by the popular rock musician Paulie Z, who plays in his own kid’s rock group, the Z brothers. This school year, Paulie Z will be teaching a music/songwriting/video production class. This gives children a chance to learn from a local musician who has high energy and is sure to keep them entertained. “His goal is to teach all subject areas through music and eventually open his own schools,” explained Assistant Principal Deborah Casey.

In addition, PS 196 offers several after-school programs, such as: wrestling for fifth graders, yoga provided by Hosh Yoga, as well as songwriting and video production by Paulie Z. from a non-profit organization called Rock Asylum, and a violence prevention program entitled Leave Out Violence (L.O.V.E.). All of these programs are free for students.

Career Day is certainly PS 196’s biggest and most popular annual event. For the event, the school pulls together a diverse group of professionals, such as reporters, politicians, artists, policemen and firefighters, culled from the community, to visit the school and show the children what possibilities can await them after graduation. The emphasis, of course, is to let students know they can be anything they want to be, as long as they apply themselves. “On Career Day we enlist many volunteers to inspire our students to dream big!” said Casey. Many of the organizations that participate in Career Day have ongoing relationships with PS 196, such as NY Cares.

At the annual Art Festival, students show off their creative side with performances and visual arts displays. A unique presentation saw the students visit Chinatown to take photos and write about the experience, which they later presented during the event. The 100th Day of School is also celebrated by students and their parents each February through a series of performances.

Parents should consider this school, because “the PS 196 school community is a familial one in that we have dedicated, compassionate staff, many of whom reside in the neighborhood and are alumni of this district, including the administration,” explained Casey. “We have a low turnaround rate, our teachers remain here are extremely driven and our families are very cooperative and supportive.”

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