Fariña launches abbreviated version of her collaboration initiative

Chancellor Carmen Fariña kicked off another program on Thursday aimed at increasing collaboration among schools.

The city’s new “Showcase Schools” program is starting with 17 schools, each of which will be expected to host three tours for about 30 outside educators, the Department of Education announced Thursday. It’s a streamlined version of Fariña’s larger Learning Partners program, which now includes more than 70 schools that are required to both host and tour other schools.

The Showcase Schools will also be responsible for sharing ideas with the department, and will get $11,000 to cover materials, overtime, and substitutes during school visits. (Last spring, the city said schools in the Learning Partners program would receive $15,000 for the school year.)

The participating schools include a number of Fariña’s favorites. The chancellor has praised or visited New Dorp High School and M.S. 247 many times since taking over the school system, and Central Park East II, East Side Community School, and the Highbridge Green School are all also participating in PROSE, the experimentation program included in the new teachers union contract.

Here’s the list of schools, and what the city is calling the “learning focus area” for each:

BRONX P.S. 71 Rose E. Scala, Learning Focus Area: Middle School Social Studies P.S. 170, Learning Focus Area: Early Childhood Education The Highbridge Green School, Learning Focus Area: Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI) BROOKLYN Academy of Arts and Letters, Learning Focus Area: Fostering Student Voice, Ownership and Independence M.S. 442 Carroll Gardens School for Innovation, Learning Focus Area: Supporting All Students through Innovative Instruction M.S. 340 North Star Academy, Learning Focus Area: Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI) P.S. 69 Vincent D. Grippo School, Learning Focus Area: Robust Arts Program P.S. 231, Learning Focus Area: Innovative Scheduling to Support All Students  MANHATTAN P.S. 188 The Island School, Learning Focus Area: Community School Program East Side Community School, Learning Focus Area: Teacher Development through School Culture Food and Finance HS, Learning Focus Area: Career and Technical Education M.S. 247 Dual Language Middle School, Learning Focus Area: English Language Learners Central Park East II, Learning Focus Area: Early Childhood Education QUEENS P.S. 65 The Raymond York Elementary School, Learning Focus Area: Family and Community Engagement Academy of American Studies, Learning Focus Area: High School Social Studies STATEN ISLAND P.S. 048 William C. Wilcox, Learning Focus Area: Elementary Social Studies New Dorp High School, Learning Focus Area: Structural and Instructional Reform