Educators at The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria in Queens utilize their ability to have a flexible schoolday schedule to engage students with two weeks of intensive immersion in a single project. The Progressive Redesign Opportunity Schools for Excellence (PROSE) program, of which TYWLS of Astoria is part, affords schools the freedom to experiment and innovate.

Middle school teacher Rachele Domond and paraprofessional Daquan Harris of the Catherine and Count Basie Magnet School for Multimedia and Performing Arts, in Jamaica, Queens, took on the roles of choreographers and proudly watched their middle school dance troupe make history as they joined the Rockettes on stage at Radio City Music Hall.

Queens 8th graders explore themes of cultural identity, community and adaptation through the stories of families who lived in New York City tenements during a class trip to the Tenement Museum.

Growing up near Coney Island, Brooklyn, Ariella Moshchinsky knew early on that she would pursue a career in the sciences — and she says it was her public school education in Brooklyn schools that helped inspire her to achieve that goal.


At food pantries and distribution efforts run by UFT-supported United Community Schools, monthly or weekly programs help meet the nutritional needs of struggling families across the city. The pantries are a safe haven for many immigrant families burdened by fear of being detained by ICE, even during grocery runs.