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more about me and the Bronx
ps 32, belmontschool,
Date: 4/8/2006 9:05:32 PM ( 18 y ) ... viewed 3488 times 
I remember my days at ps32 in the bronx and the walk being short enough so i could actually come home for lunch. But, when i got to the 5th garde. I enjoyed eating lunch at Kittys, she had the best meatball sandwiches and a galls of nedicks ornage or a nehi or yoo hoo, sometimes a chocolate egg cream
I was fortunate enough to be in the best class in the school in the fifth grade, class 6-1. Itwas the smartest class in the school they said. We were also class softball and knockoutchampions in 5th grade , ouretacherwas miss Norton and 6th grade where our teacher was Miss Canavan
My bestfriends were Hubert Morgan, my firstAfrican MAerican friend, Rocco Fillazole, Frank Derasmmo, Richie Doran and Joseph Lupo, also Nancy and my crush was on Barbara Fontana
The memories of PS32 will never fade. I had great friends and great memories
and some sad ones. I remember sitting in fourth grade class and Miss Eagle in class 4-1 told us the President Kennedy had been shot. I remember coming home for lunch to greatsandwichs made by my mom.
Going to release time at Mount Carmel and Saint Martin Catholic School. Schools i would attend for awhile but not very fond of.
I will never forget field day at Pelham Bay Park and the outdoor sports competitions. I was the last of 3 sisietrs and two brothers to attend PS32 so they knew the Iarussi's well. lol
PS 32 lives in a quaint, red brick building that is more than 100 years old. Inside, the school is comfortably furnished and inviting, with wide hallways and large, central common areas on each floor set up with couches for independent reading or group instruction. What's more to envy in this school is its newly renovated indoor children's pool, where students take lessons from a swimming instructor, and a large, spectacular library with colorful benches built into bookshelves paid for by a coveted Robin Hood grant. Sometimes authors visit the school: one tall glass case displayed books written by Neil Waldman about the Bronx, a recent visitor.
While test scores are not spectacular, they are gradually climbing up, probably due to the school's emphasis on small group instruction for reading, writing and math. At the time of our visit, Americorps volunteers were seen working with small groups of children in the common areas throughout the building. In one 3rd grade class, a math coach and a consultant from the Australian teacher-training organization called AUSSIE were each working with a pair of children on a math project revolving around geometric shapes, while the classroom teacher circulated through the remaining groups. In another classroom, 2nd graders were reading to kindergartners. Principal Esther Schwartz also says that because math and science are so connected, integrating more science into the curriculum has helped raise math scores. The school has a new science lab, and she will hire a second cluster teacher in the next year.
PS 32 is a "school based option" school, which means administrators may interview applicants and hire their own teachers, rather than have them assigned according to the seniority provision of the teachers' contract. Schwartz collects a piece of writing from each student with their teacher's comments on it, so that she can personally give them feedback on their work. We saw many young and competent
teachers; some have a more structured approach to instruction and some are more relaxed. At least one 3rd grade teacher insisted that her students know their multiplication tables (although it's not required by state standards until 4th grade). While the teachers seem happy there, Schwartz says teacher turnover can be high because they are lured to Westchester schools, where wages are higher and working conditions are easier.
English as a Second Language: Spanish bilingual classes serve the school's large Hispanic community.
Special education: The school has both self-contained and inclusion classes. In addition, some of the children in general education who are zoned for the school may be placed in inclusion classes run by a District 75 school in another part of the neighborhood.
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