THE PAIDEIA SCHOOL IN LIC

What’s a parent to do if they live in LIC and are not very happy sandwiching their kid into a class with thirty others at the local public school, and don’t want to ship their child to a private one across the river?  One excellent option is the Queens Paideia School in Court Square.

Started almost six years ago and located in the LIC Arts Center, this K-12 school was founded on the belief that individualized education: every student working at his/her level of knowledge, combined with collaborative learning, are both important linchpins of a child’s education.  In other words, each kid is their own story, and learning, not competition, is the goal.

With this in mind, the school maintains a 6:1 student-teacher ratio, and every teacher teaches all the grades.  This way they get to know the kids over many years and can quickly adjust to catch any gaps in learning, instead of passing them on to the next teacher at year end.  Though teachers are not assigned a specific grade, they are each specialists, and the school places equal importance on all four core studies: Math, English, Social Studies, and Science, instead of emphasizing just the first two as in public school.  According to Assistant Director Karyn Slutsky “It is essential that children study these things regularly, they have to actually do it to learn it.”

Two other important tenets of the Paideia School, is educating their students to be decent people, and critical thinking.  The latter is not just a buzzword, “You can teach creativity” says Slutsky, “but it takes more than a computer to do so.”

The school is thrilled to be in Long island City, where roughly one-third of the student body lives, and are enamored with their building due to the solid and diverse arts environment encasing them.  Finally, a very important goal of the school is affordability, so it is priced closer to that of a public school (zero) than a private one in NYC (a gazillion).

For those intrigued by this option for their children, I highly recommend you contact Karyn about the school’s next open house.

Now onto less sobering thoughts: Alewife is looking to do a brewpub in their space in LIC, expect it before year end according to the Village Voice.

Finally, LIC-ECO invites you to their Second Annual LIC Cleanup on Saturday, May 31 from 10am til noon.  It’s a chance for you to bring out your inner-suburbanite by weeding, cultivating, and mulching; after which you will be so grateful for living in LIC.

Queens Paideia School Website – check it out

LIC ECO Facebook Page – has all the details about the Clean-up