Resources
View our slide presentation along with speaker notes for context from our February Community Meetings.
Dual-Language Education
Dual-language immersion offers a transformative approach to education, benefiting both students and the broader Rockaway Beach community. For students, bilingual literacy in English and Spanish fosters cognitive advantages, including improved focus, memory, and problem-solving skills (source). Research shows that dual-language learners in grades 3 to 5 score 7 to 10 percentage points higher on standardized English Language Arts (ELA) tests compared to their peers in mainstream English-only programs (source).
Environmental Stewardship & Outdoor Education
Environmental education will equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to become lifelong stewards of the planet while fostering meaningful connections to their community. Through hands-on projects such as gardening, waste management, and renewable energy experiments, students will engage in problem-solving activities that encourage creative thinking and a deep understanding of sustainability practices. Outdoor learning will be central to this approach, with research from the Harvard Graduate School of Education highlighting its positive impact on both mental health and academic performance. Students often display greater calmness, improved focus, and enhanced social interactions when immersed in nature-based education, with teachers reporting fewer behavioral issues as a result (source).
Emotional Intelligence Through the Arts
Through activities such as painting, music composition, theater, and dance, students will learn to recognize and articulate their emotions, fostering self-awareness and confidence. For example, drama exercises that encourage students to embody different characters will help them connect with diverse perspectives and better understand their own feelings. Art projects centered around personal storytelling will empower students to communicate their unique identities, building pride in their self-expression. Through creative activities, students learn to develop empathy and resilience, building important skills for both their academic and personal success. Engaging in the arts has been shown to significantly enhance creativity and critical thinking, essential skills that directly impact academic performance. Research highlights a positive relationship between creativity and academic abilities, particularly in reading comprehension and writing tasks. Neurocognitive processes such as associative and divergent thinking, along with executive functions, are central to cultivating these creative skills, which are crucial for students' overall cognitive development (source).
Stay Informed
Community Education Council District 27
New York City’s Community and Citywide Education Councils are charged with promoting student achievement, advising and commenting on educational policies, and providing input to the Chancellor and the Panel for Educational Policy on matters of concern to the district.
Everything you need to know about NYC's public schools and get up to speed on the city's big education stories and statewide policy changes.
The Department of Education (DOE) and the School Construction Authority (SCA) are proposing a $17 billion capital plan for FY2025-2029.