P.S. 335 Granville T. Woods

New York City Community Learning Schools Initiative

Granville T. Woods has partnered with New York City Community Learning Schools since 2012 to ensure a collaborative school community that gives voice to students, families, educators and community members. Our Community School Director, Charlene Corbett serves as the key point person responsible for integrating the programs and services and managing the partnerships within our school.

Ms. Corbett works alongside our Advisory Board to strategically align programs and services with student and school community needs.

Services:

Every community is different, and so is each community school. Our community school provides the following services to students of Granville T. Woods 335:

• Mental Wellness
• Comprehensive Vision Testing and Eyeglasses
• Linkages to Social Services
• Tutoring and Mentoring
• Youth Empowerment Activities
• Community Wide Events
• Out of School Time Support

Technology- Preparing our students for a Global digital community in which collaboration facilitates the path for change, and ensuring that they are active participants in greener solutions, is a priority at PS335. Much of this effort involves exposure to the digital world we live in, using it to support our integrated curriculum, and promoting alternative careers in the areas of engineering & design, computer science, science, math, and the arts (STEAM), with the objective to make a significant impact in the world that surrounds us, our society, and the world as a whole. Our Technology/STEAM program is led by Ms. Virginia Liz, our Technology Specialist. Visit our coding/STEAM page!

• Curriculum support through technology- Our students have access to laptops and iPads, which are used to facilitate the diverse and integrated experiences that support our ELA, Math, Science, Coding, Arts, and Social Studies curriculum. The online resources and programs we use include Code.org, Brainpop, PBS Learning Media, Noticing Tools (NY Hall of Science), Mission US, Starfall for Schools, & iReady, among others.  We thank Brooklyn Borough President, Eric L. Adams, for our newest addition, our Maker-Space/STEAM Lab, funded through a generous grant from the Brooklyn BP’s office.
• Coding through Code.org- Code.org is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding access to computer science and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. We share their vision to ensure that every student should have the opportunity to learn computer science, just like any other subject appropriate to the elementary school setting. Code.org organizes the annual Hour of Code campaign which engages 10% of all students in the world and provided the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science, at no cost to schools, as well as free online courses for learners of all ages. Our school has been in partnership with Code.org for five years, and our students have been given the opportunity to learn to Code through interesting and fun content and activities. The offerings are diverse to accommodate coding for app development (App Lab), artistic coding (Artist), writing (Play Lab), and even the opportunity to develop games, among many other courses.
• Robotics- Our lower grade students have begun to explore coding, programming, and robotics with our robot friends, Dash & Dot, from WonderWorkshop.

The Theater Arts program, lead by the very accomplished Ms. Carolyn Edwards, a former performance artist on the Broadway stage, seeks to bring out the best of talents from our young performers. Acting, singing and dancing are not the only things that engage our students when they participate in our stage productions; with the help of prestigious grants, such as the Disney Grant and Musicals in The Schools, our students get to learn, experience, and get the most out of other stage  related jobs. Our students can choose to help in the stage production experience in other ways; these include stage management, lighting, script writing, and choreography, among others. The Theater Arts program at Community Learning School PS335 is as close to a true-to-life learning experience as our children can get.  Part of the challenge is to motivate our students to strive for careers in non-traditional fields. As a result, there is a continuous smart connection to traditional curriculum (e.g. mathematics, language arts, technology, science, and social studies). Our students experience and validate the necessity of math skills to figure out stage dimensions as per need; language skills, both oral and written, are needed to produce the best acting and script writing possible. Our Arts program has made it possible for many of our students to use personal and unique strengths in meaningful ways.

The Arts - Our learning community believes in an interdisciplinary curriculum, with a thoughtful integration of the Arts, an essential and beneficial component in the development of children. The Arts importance in a student-centered curriculum is based on its ability to serve as a vehicle for self-expression, allowing students to bring out their inner world and complement the outer world of concrete reality (Dee Dickenson, Johns Hopkins University). While exercising this self-expression, students will engage in higher order thinking skills, including analysis, synthesis, evaluation and “problem finding/solving”. They will also develop independence and collaborative skills. This leads to improvement in academic achievement, enhancing tests scores, attitudes, social skills, critical and creative thinking; thus the value of the Arts, and the reason behind the Visual and Theatre Arts at Community School PS335. The Visual Arts Program, led by Ms. Yadira Velazquez, seeks to engage students in the technical and critical understanding of the arts in order to create new works.  PS335’s Art Showcase is the yearly culminating event that celebrates students’ accomplishments. Chirlane  McCray, First Lady of New York City, visited on the day of our Arts Community Walk.  On this day, school’s doors were opened to all the community for an exclusive view of the Arts exhibition of student work.  Visit us online for a more extensive view of our students art work, at http://ps335arts.org.

The ENL Program at P.S. 335 is an academic discipline designed to help our ELL  (English Language Learner) students increase and develop their skills in all modalities of speaking, listening, reading and writing.  It aims to help the students gain academic language and vocabulary through language instructional strategies, rigorous instruction and engaging activities that motivate the them to participate and feel successful.  ENL support (English as a New Language) is an additional school service with the help of the ENL Teacher to help the ELL children succeed in the grade-level classroom.  It is a vehicle to help ensure these children ultimately achieve English proficiency, which is much needed to become life-long learners and active participants in the outside world.  With the parents’ partnership, cooperation and active support in their children’s education, academic progress and proficiency is achieved.

Tutor Hub was created as a resource for Community Learning Schools across the City. The United Federation of Teachers developed the initiative to link social/emotional and academic services. The UFT’s Tutor Hub program utilizes the expertise and experience of retired educators to provide academic support services in the development of basic skills. The program involves one-on-one tutoring for students.

Chess - Nurturing of the mind is of the utmost importance at PS335. Perhaps the reason behind a plethora of offerings to entertain the range of interests and aptitudes that is present in our students. Among them is the chess program, which has produced national tournament winners.  The Brooklyn Knights, PS335’s champion team, led by Ms. Nakia Campbell, recently won third place in one of the elementary school chess categories in last year’s USCF Elementary National Competition, held in Nashville, Tennessee. They have won the support and patronage of CNN’s anchor, Richard Roth. The team meets afterschool on a weekly basis, receiving professional coaching from a chess coach with  Chess In The Schools. 

Out of School Time is critical to social and academic development. Granville T. Woods 335 extends the traditional school day an average of 7 hours per student per week. Students receive hot supper before engaging in stimulating after-school programming. Each year that we have provided after school services has led to an increase of a point or more in our statewide test scores! 

Through Counseling in Schools, students and staff receive a variety of support services throughout the school day ranging from individual and group counseling; art therapy; staff professional development workshops, classroom support, and parent outreach. CIS is proud to partner with the PS 335 Granville T. Woods Community Learning School in building meaningful relationships that lead to success

Our Wildcats Basketball team has been coached by Mr. Gabriel Holley for over 20 years! Coach Holley attended Granville T. Woods 335 as a child. His connection to our school community and families is a lifelong bond. A lot more than basketball happens during practice. Mr. Holley focuses on team building skills, problem solving and serves as a mentor to his team. Coach Holley doesn’t conduct try-outs- he simply lets everyone play while developing their abilities as they progress. His favorite saying is “The kids gotta play”.  Through Coach Holley’s volunteerism students who have gone through the Wildcats program have continued on to play basketball and football professionally. All students leave with lessons that will support their academic and social emotional learning for a lifetime.

Granville T. Woods 335’s mission includes supporting the whole child. Through our partnership with New York City Soccer Club, we are able to provide students with an enriching opportunity to learn about the sport of soccer. Our school is adjacent to Woods Playground. It is there that students use the mini soccer pitch and hone their skills. Soccer serves as exercise and physical therapy. Students are encouraged to share their skills with other teammates. Our Coach; Mr. Kwame King provides students with a listening ear and encourages them to creatively unravel challenges on and off the soccer pitch.

CookShop is another great engaging and informative parent initiative. For many years now, Food Bank for New York City has been this City’s major hunger-relief program. This non-profit organization is the force behind CookShop in The Classrooms, a program seeking to empower children, teens and adults with the knowledge and tools to adopt and enjoy a nutritious diet and active lifestyle on a limited budget. The program is implemented via a classroom curriculum, as well as separate parent involvement workshops; these take place as part of the school day for students, and during or after school for parents.

As students and parents participate in CookShop sessions, they are exposed to fresh local produce and dairy through hands-on exploration, health education and cooking, in the hopes of building enthusiasm and passion for a healthier eating lifestyle. It is programs like these that provide an edge to our students!

A healthy lifestyle is essential to academic success at 335. Our school was invited by the Office of the Governor to participate in Vital Brooklyn.  The initiative is a targeted approach to leveraging partnerships that enable New Yorkers in Central Brooklyn to improve their health and well-being. Some of the access points include: open space and recreation; healthy food choices and education. Our Farm-to-School program provides access to a large variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy products. All of our “Vital Bags” include carefully curated products that are organic and locally sourced. Our Farm Stand is staffed by students of 335 with the guidance of our Site Coordinator and Proud Parent; Emily Aulet.

We have a wonderful SAPIS Worker (Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist), Angelica Thelusmond.  The SAPIS program at PS335 includes classroom/ group lessons focused on promoting positive behaviors. Students have the opportunity to participate in evidence based curricula that focus on: goal setting, decision making skills, positive social bonding skills/ anti– bullying, identifying and managing emotions, communicating effectively. Additionally, our SAPIS worker can assist with crisis intervention and individual/small group counseling.  The ultimate goal of the SAPIS program is to reduce the prevalence of substance abuse among youth, by promoting healthy behaviors and peer leadership.