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Schools

Step Aside, "Superman," Columbus School Is Flying High

Columbus Elementary School touts test scores, student scientists, and proud parents.

The Harlem Children's Zone Charter School, featured in the film "," doesn't have anything on Columbus Elementary School in New Rochelle.

That was the message – loud and clear – from Principal Yigal Joseph, teachers, students and parents at the Board of Education meeting held at Columbus on Tuesday, Nov. 30.

"There's a lot of controversy right now about public education," said Joseph. "I just want you to know, this staff… I would go anywhere, climb any mountain, and do whatever I can on their behalf."

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Columbus outperformed both the Harlem Children's Zone and the New York state average on both the state ELA and Math exams for fourth graders.

Sixty percent of Columbus students passed the ELA exam, compared to the state average of 50 percent and Harlem Children's Zone's 46 percent.  On the math exam, 81 percent of Columbus students passed, compared to 55 percent statewide and 61 percent at the Harlem Children's Zone school.

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"It's the math that shows how brilliant our children are and how magnificent our teachers are," Joseph said. "We have been number one [in math] in New Rochelle four years in a row."

Nearly 38 percent of children at Columbus are English as a Second Language (ESL) students, and 89 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch. Eighty-two percent of the student body is Hispanic, nine percent is African-American, and eight percent white.

Joseph said that the New York State Department of Education has recently focused on the importance of "clinical teaching," which encourages problem solving, critical thinking, collaborative and cooperative work, learning by doing, and understanding actions and goals.

Joseph then introduced science teacher Elizabeth Alexander, who created the Science Is Elementary program, and the "boys and girls who put into practice problem-based learning at Columbus."

Alexander created five science clubs at the school – three lunchtime clubs for fifth graders and two after-school clubs for third, fourth, and fifth graders – that show "science goes way beyond the classroom."

The students involved in the clubs created a video presentation to introduce themselves – the Greenhouse Gardeners, the Recycling Rangers, Eco Heroes, Water Watchers, and the NASA club.

Last year, the NASA club spent months creating a new system of recycling water, and presented their idea at the NASA Challenge, a national science competition for fifth through eighth graders. Of the hundreds of schools that competed, Columbus was recognized as one of the top 20 teams in the country. 

Joseph said in considering "what is it that we do different here at Columbus," he found a quote by philosopher and engineer H.W.L. Punjabi that summed it up: "Don't memorize the recipe. Don't read the menu. Make the meal, eat the food, and enjoy the food."

At the end of the meeting, several mothers of Columbus students spoke of their involvement in the Latin Moms group, which meets every Friday morning. Martha Lopez said the group started with 10 or 12 parents involved and has grown to 48.

The goal of the group is to empower parents so they can teach their children by example, Lopez said. The group has taken trips to the opera and museums to expand their cultural knowledge and has worked with the New Rochelle Public Library to help their kids become better readers.

One parent, Lupita Lopez, speaking in Spanish with Martha Lopez translating, said the Latin Moms group helps "make us feel that this school is our home… and helping us not to feel fearful."

"Friday mornings, we get motivated," she said. "We are not invisible. We count and we are learning to support our kids so they will go to university."



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