About Us - P.S. 216 Arturo Toscanini

P.S. 216's Mission Statement

P.S. 216 is a vibrant learning community where every child is known and supported. We foster strong partnership with parents and community that enhance learning. Through developmentally appropriate learning practices, students will become lifelong achievers and stewards of the earth and it's resources. On the path to becoming globally aware citizens and leaders of the 21st century, we provide excellence in academics, a forum for positive social and emotional growth with an emphasis on civic and environmental responsibility.

Uniform school

We would like to take the opportunity to remind you that P.S. 216 participates in the Chancellor's Mandatory Uniform Program. Your child must wear a uniform Monday through Thursday; Friday is a dress down day. P.S. 216's uniform is a white or light blue collared shirt or turtleneck, blue pants or skirt. Jeans are not part of our school uniform, and are not permitted. P.S. 216 tee shirts are available for purchase from our Parent Teacher Association and may be worn as a part of our school uniform. Approximately once a month students will participate in a school wide assembly. Proper Assembly dress includes a white button down shirt and blue pants or skirt. Boys should wear a red tie and girls should wear a red crisscross tie (also available through the Parent Teachers Association). We strongly encourage all students to participate

Showcase School

In the fall of 2015, P.S. 216 was named one of twenty-six official Showcase Schools by the NYC Department of Education on the basis of our edible education program. That’s out of 1,800 NYC public schools total! At three official visitations each year — all-day, intensive professional development workshops — large groups of New York City educators can be inspired by our kids, our teachers, and our classes.

Edible Schoolyard NYC

BROOKLYN DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL

P.S. 216 is our inaugural Demonstration School and largest garden and kitchen classroom space.

Putting down roots

In 2010, Edible Schoolyard NYC transformed the cement parking lot of P.S. 216 into a flourishing half-acre organic garden where

students learn to grow and harvest roughly 160 different types of fruits, grains, herbs, and vegetables. With the third lowest percentage

of open green space in Brooklyn, Gravesend was a natural choice for establishing our inaugural Demonstration School.

Creating curriculum to reflect a community

P.S. 216, the Arturo Toscanini School, is an elementary school with a diverse student body and multi-cultural community of families

from Coney Island, Brighton Beach, and Gravesend. The neighborhood’s demographics inform our curriculum.

Whether we’re preparing Russian-style borscht or Pakistani and Indian aloo gobi,

the classroom experience connects our kids to the cultures and heritage of their shared community.

“Try new foods and don’t yuck anybody’s yum.”

— Fourth grader at P.S. 216

Garden Opening 2010

About Edible Schoolyard NYC

Leader in Me School

A Whole-School Transformation Process

The Leader in Me is Franklin Covey’s whole school transformation process. It teaches 21st century leadership and life skills to students and

creates a culture of student empowerment based on the idea that every child can be a leader.

The Leader in Me is aligned with best-in-class content and concepts practiced by global education thought leaders. It provides a logical, sequential and balanced process to help schools proactively design the culture that reflects their vision of the ideal school.

Content from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a key component of the overall The Leader in Me process. The 7 Habits is a synthesis of universal, timeless principles of personal and interpersonal effectiveness, such as responsibility, vision, integrity, teamwork, collaboration and renewal, which are secular in nature and common to all people and cultures.

The Leader in Me is also aligned to many national and state academic standards. The process teaches students the skills needed for academic success in any setting. These skills include critical thinking, goal setting, listening and speaking, self-directed learning, presentation-making and the ability to work in groups.