• Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 2
    Student Enrollment: 868
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 41%
    White/Caucasian: 4%
    Hispanic: 48%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 6%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:25
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 24%
    Founded: 1955
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Elisa Brown
  • CONTACT:
    18 Marlborough Road
    Brooklyn, NY 11226
    718-282-8828
    KHolden@schools.nyc.gov
PS 249, The Caton School
Brooklyn, NY
A positive school culture that promotes college and career readiness.
Describe specific programs in place to ensure that families are involved in the success of your school and students.
Cool Culture Program - provides parents with free access to cultural institutions in New York City
Family Nights in ELA, Math, Science, the Arts
Spring Concert, Holiday Show
Early Morning Clubs
Open Houses to showcase our school
Open School 4 times per year -Welcome Back to School, 2 Parent-Teacher Conferences, Summer Reading kick off/Art Fair
After-school Clubs
School Website & App

Describe the most successful activity your school has initiated to strengthen ties to your community.
The most successful activities that PS 249 has initiated to strengthen ties to our community include the following:
partnerships with Ifetayo Cultural Arts Organization & CAMBA (Church Avenue Merchants and Business Association)
school open to students during all vacation breaks (Winter Recess, Spring Recess, Summer) - CAMBA provides field trips and camp experiences to our students
NY Junior Tennis League provides tennis lessons during afterschool and summer months
Movie Night
Toy Drive, Health Fair in partnership with City Council
Food Pantry
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
School improvement involves all constituents in the school community.
Everyone must buy into the improvement of the school. The school must be student-centered.
Model Teachers showcase their classrooms and assist other teachers in improvement
What are your school’s top two goals for the next year?
Engage students in the feedback process so they can understand the what, why and how of learning
Embracing a culture where error is a path to increase learning
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
Model Teachers
Vertical Teacher Team Meetings
Professional Development practices (labsites)
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The following programs/initiatives have had the greatest positive effect on student achievement:

1 hour RTI block in grades 3-5 in ELA & Math - data-based small group work
Guided Reading & Small Group Instruction
Differentiated Professional Development
Independent Reading (Genius Hour)
Teachers College Reading & Writing Curriculum
National Training Network in Mathematics
Problem of the Day/Math Review/Mental Math
Poster Method in Mathematics
Super Science Fridays
Learning Partners Program
Teacher Leaders in the school
Labsites every week after school
Early Morning Mathematics Program
Afterschool Literacy & Mathematics programs
Personalized Learning using Edgenuity in Mathematics
Saturday School



Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Title I funds are used to support high quality professional development and purchase a variety of books for each classroom library. Students are allowed to take books to and from school every day. In the summer, we provide books to students for summer reading.

Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Critical Professional Development Activities include:
Weekly Labsites with students that take place afterschool (once per week)
Intervention during the day and afterschool during labsites
Outside Consultants - Teachers College Reading & Writing Project,
National Training Network
Partnerships with New York Historical Society, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
School Visits
Describe how data is used to improve student achievement and inform decision making.
We use interim assessments in ELA, in Mathematics and Teachers College Reading and Writing running record assessments to monitor student progress. Once data is collected, a team that consists of Principal, Assistant Principal, Instructional Coach and Data Specialist meet with classroom teachers to discuss data by looking at actual results, projection of how many students can be pushed to proficiency and then create an action plan to improve student progress.
Data is analyzed and instructional strategies which include research-based strategies, materials, professional development and other resources are provided to the classroom teachers.
The data specialist provides reports to assist teachers in analyzing data, inclusive of a results report that shows individual student data and how they answered questions on the interim assessments.
At faculty meetings, the data specialist and instructional coach provide information to the staff that help to improve student progress.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
A positive school culture that promotes college and career readiness.
Collaboration and Coherence is promoted throughout the school building with everyone that has the same systems and structures in place in their classrooms. We are a learning school that continually works on getting smarter each year. We are also a teaching lab where we share our best practices with other schools.
Our vertical team, which consists of a Teacher Leader on every grade level meet biweekly to work collaboratively on systems and structures.
We meet to discuss school improvements and modifications to our systems and structures.
Teacher Leaders are responsible for working with their grade level teams to implement, revise and modify our systems and structures.
We also promote student autonomy and visible learners. Students must be able to articulate what they are learning, show their thinking and problem-solve. Students work with in partnerships, peer tutor and collaborate in groups as they move toward independence.
Stats
  • Category 1

    Selected in 2017

  • Grades: pre k - 5
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 2
    Student Enrollment: 868
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 41%
    White/Caucasian: 4%
    Hispanic: 48%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 6%
    Native American: 1%
    Other: 0%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:25
    % Reduced Lunch: 100%
    % ELL Learners: 24%
    Founded: 1955
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Elisa Brown
  • CONTACT:
    18 Marlborough Road
    Brooklyn, NY 11226
    718-282-8828
    KHolden@schools.nyc.gov