• Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 6 - 8
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 8
    Student Enrollment: 1
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.1%
    White/Caucasian: 31.5%
    Hispanic: 15.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 51.9%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0.1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 30%
    Founded: 1923
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Robert Ciulla
  • CONTACT:
    8010 12th Avenue
    Brooklyn, NY 11228
    718-833-9363 ext. 3570
    slombardo4@schools.nyc.gov
Dyker Heights Intermediate School #201
Brooklyn, NY
Cohesion is at the forefront of our work.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
We have weekly parent engagement events, School Leadership Team meetings, and parent engagement evenings to ensure that parents are an active stakeholder in the goals of the school. Furthermore, we have our online system (Skedula) which keeps parents informed of current events, as well as their child'd progress.
Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
Our School has initiated a Social and Emotional team. Our SEAL team is a student led school organization that supports the community in social and emotional awareness. Each month, the students in the group host student workshops to help their classmates deal with the stresses of middle school. There is also a monthly newsletter distributed to the student body, updating them on different success stories of students who get passed their stress and succeed in school.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
Cohesion is at the forefront of our work this school year. Providing the staff and school leaders the structures and systems to ensure that progress is monitored, and that our work is impacting our school community in a positive way is pivotal. To ensure these systems are in place, our teams meet a minimum of biweekly to ensure that all our work is aligned, systems for improvement are at their best, and that student achievement is occurring.
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Our first top goal is to continue our work incorporating technology into the classroom to optimize the student learning experience.

Our second top goal for next year is to ensure that our teachers are supporting in their planning and development of specifically designed instruction to meet the needs of each and every learner in the classroom.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
At Dyker, we teach the whole child. We offer a multitude of extracurricular opportunities, ensure that our student body receives high leverage and rigorous instruction, as well as care for the child's social and emotional well being. Schools should want to replicate the importance of understanding the critical age this student is at when they reach middle school, and have them begin to build a pathway to their independence.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
Our use of technology programs such as Achieve 3000 and Iready have offered our teachers the resources to assess students to determine their entry points, and monitor their progress. Students are assessed and data is used in real time to see where students are at based on the standards (below, or at grade level) . This data provides in-depth analysis of how students are progressing through the year, and the data is given to the teachers in real time to guide their practice.
Explain how ESEA federal funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
These funds are used to ensure that our students are provided with the appropriate resources to be successful in the classroom. Students' learning experiences are enhanced with the incorporation of technology, and other resources to address the specific needs of our learners.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Our teachers receiving on going professional development in to improve instruction in ICT classrooms, improve Specifically Design instruction (SDI), among others to reach our target groups of ELLs, and SWDs. To build capacity, teachers turnkey their work from the Professional Learning Opportunities to their colleagues in an effort to turn these into building wide systems.
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
This year, we have conducted quarterly assessments to monitor student progress through the curriculum across the major content areas. Students are assessed on the standards they learn throughout the year. This data is reviewed during common planning sessions and teachers inform their decision making with regard to assessment development, pacing, modifications to lessons and other important components to teaching and teaching practices.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Our school is focused on providing the highest level of instruction to students and focuses in on preparing them for careers in the 21st century. This year, we have focused our instruction on improving academic vocabulary across all content areas. We have conducted cycles of inquiry to assess our progress and make adjustments to curriculum and teaching practices.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2019

  • Grades: 6 - 8
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 8
    Student Enrollment: 1
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 0.1%
    White/Caucasian: 31.5%
    Hispanic: 15.5%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 51.9%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 0.1%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:18
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 30%
    Founded: 1923
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Robert Ciulla
  • CONTACT:
    8010 12th Avenue
    Brooklyn, NY 11228
    718-833-9363 ext. 3570
    slombardo4@schools.nyc.gov