Luckily, our school structure was not damaged. However, many of our students live in Red Hook, and have been displaced by the storm or left without heat, hot water and electricity. Those who could, left to stay at relatives house, and are having troubles getting back to school with limited transportation and/or very long commutes.
I'm uncertain how it will affect our school year as a whole. Our kids who have come back, are happy to be back around their friends and a supportive community. Getting back into curriculum has been difficult, however they have been more focused than I expected. One of the larger impacts is that my seniors are even more stressed about making college application dates, especially those applying to more competitive schools that require more supporting essays and documentation.

Here are what some SchoolBook readers shared with us via Twitter:

@KevynBowles - "We welcomed 81 of our usual 450+ students at our relocation site August Martin HS-the day was full of hope and heartbreak."

@LaToyaLewis - "We weren't hit as hard in Ft. Greene so my alma mater Bklyn Tech opened its doors to evacuees for a while :)"

Here's an update from Michele Sola, Director of Manhattan Country School in New York City. We have staff members and parents residing in areas such as Rockaways, Brooklyn, Hoboken, Tom's River and Long Island. Blog: http://www.manhattancountrysc...

From the almost perfect attendance at MCS on Monday and my conversations with families about Hurricane Sandy on the sidewalk in the morning, I think it’s fair to say we’re ready to be back.

I walked around the school several times, assessing the initial impact of the storm on students and teachers. It is only the first day back; here are a few highlights:

203 out of 205 students were in school, 1 sick, 1 visiting a high school.

All but 2 of our staff and faculty were in. Those 2 are still cleaning up and repairing damage to their homes from the storm. Transportation is steadily improving, but there are still big challenges in the Rockaways, Long Island, Hoboken, and other parts of New Jersey where some of our staff lives.

Many children, families, and staff were very animated in describing things they had already done as volunteers in the recovery effort. Virtually everyone is asking the question, “What more can we do?”

After school, I met with the faculty and staff to hear how the day had gone. Routines were very welcome. The routines kids are used to come in handy at times like this.

In the younger groups, a lot happens in morning meetings, work time, and dramatic play. One of the benefits of progressive education is that these are already valued, practiced, and regularly scheduled parts of the day.

Kids at MCS are used to comparing explanations of why there was no school, and sharing some of the ways they spent that time. They ran out of fingers counting how many movies they watched, how many got to wear their Halloween costumes all day, and how many families had welcomed relatives in their homes. They drew pictures of wind and rain, using markers and watercolor. They also speculated about the science of hurricanes, the properties of glass windows. Many said it seemed like the television news was never turned off.

Dramatic play reveals how much kids know about people helping one another. There were plenty of acted out scenes with walkie talkies, food and water distribution, making sandwiches, and cleaning out closets of warm clothing and blankets.

In older groups, there is more curiosity about climate, storms, and the resources we depend on heavily. Curriculum across the upper grades can be shaped to take engage kids’ questions. A unit on fossil fuels and sustainable energy will have different significance now, raise even more questions, and relate directly to our own experience.

One class combined plans for making cards for senior citizens at Union Settlement with helping to clear debris and “put the garden at El Sitio Feliz in East Harlem back together again.” Older students had assignments to follow the issues related to the storm in the election.

The faculty and I crafted a few initial recommendations in answer to the question, “What more can we do?” At this early stage, we prefer small-scale local activism that is meaningful for children. We think it’s worth waiting for a student-generated activism project to engage us as a community.

The importance of activism at MCS has motivated parents to share ideas, suggestions and thinking about how we might get involved in supporting hurricane relief work as a school/community. All of the suggestions are aligned well with our mission, but so far they have come primarily from adults. We have a lot of respect for larger organized efforts that are required in these kinds of situations, and would love to hear about MCS families’ participation.

Hurricane Sandy was very real, but the ways children will respond might be more like a play in multiple acts. We know something about how it begins, but there is surely more to follow. Scene: Teachers will communicate directly with families about the things they are observing in classroom, using Haiku or e-mails, through class reps, and in conferences.

ACT #1: HELPING LORRAINE & HER NEIGHBORS IN THE ROCKAWAYS CLEAN UP. Some 6th grade families with the day off tomorrow made this plan. MCS is donating plastic bags and cleaning supplies, and the Farm’s generator is being deployed for power. They may be able to use additional volunteers, but getting out there is difficult — no trains; gas in scarce supply.

ACT #2: STAYING ENGAGED IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES: The diversity of MCS is reflected in the myriad of ways families and staff found ways to engage in widespread New York City neighborhoods, especially over the weekend. Those stories are local and meaningful for pre-k through 8th graders. It would be good to collect them, as an illustration of the range and diversity of our community.

ACT #3: CLASS BY CLASS: Over the coming weeks, more connections between ongoing curriculum and activism will emerge. We are open to a community-wide project, spearheaded by students. Stay tuned.

ACT #4: KEEPING UP WITH NEEDS: These change frequently. Clothing needs change with weather conditions. Many people are following websites with useful information. Jay shared a great resource he’s been using for figuring out how to help: http://www.nycservice.org/.

Visit the MCS and Odyssey Initiative blogs to see what MCS students were singing about in music class when Todd Sutler and his team visited in October. His video and interviews with MCS educators will give you a glimpse into what motivates me to vote and to carry on.

Visit the MCS blog for links and full article: http://www.manhattancountrysc...

Although we had terrible flooding at the riverfront in Cold Spring, the larger town of Philipstown was only affected lightly by Sandy (relatively speaking -- our town did have the long power outages, though many have generators who live in the mountains, even a much smaller event than Sandy can threaten their power for days on end).

That's not to say that everyone fared just fine. It was terrible and tragic by the river. But since the school was not affected and the vast majority of students were not displaced, the Superintendant and Town Supervisor decided to bypass the county-wide state of emergency order and open our school on Friday, also canceling a planned day off on election day to try and make up time.

The Nor'easter didn't even slow us down (no delay). I was concerned about our bussing kids (mine walk to school) but they're used to a little snow on all those dirt mountain roads.

Still, friends who lost everything in Sandy are in our thoughts and our town is doing a great job of organizing efforts for relief for victims in the wider area:

http://www.facebook.com/event...

What's the word on Mark Twain Middle school in Coney Island? Will it be reopening any time soon? My child is so eager to get back. Thanks for your updates. Very informative.

Mark Twain is set to reopen today with a temporary boiler.

At Community Roots Charter School in Ft. Greene we are in the process of planning both an immediate and an ongoing school-wide response to Hurricane Sandy. Even though most of our families were not directly affected, we see this as a time to come together as a school community in order to serve our broader community. As well as discussing the Hurricane within their classes, we are encouraging students to donate coins to our Change for Change drive which we will donate to the Red Cross on an ongoing basis. Community Roots' service learning program for 4th and 5th graders, LSA (Learning through Service & Action) is also working on planning a service project collecting and delivering school supplies for a school in Far Rockaway that had to relocate as well as a schoolwide cooking initiative where meals are being prepared and delivered to an organization transporting meals. Our 6th graders will be spending a day at a local hurricane relief site offering service in whatever way is needed.

We will continue to engage with and give back to those local communities that were most directly affected. Additionally, we are planning a staff service day as well as more all school service opportunities for the coming months. Our hearts go out to everyone whose lives, homes and neighborhoods were damaged by this disaster and as a school we hope to aid in the recovery process as best we can.

Helping Hands from Canada the BC to Brooklyn Book Project. Sending my support more details as things unfold.

Take care my thoughts are with you. Diane

Here is an update SchoolBook received from Sahba Rohani, the director of community development at Community Roots Charter School:

At Community Roots Charter School in Ft. Greene we are in the process of planning both an immediate and an ongoing school-wide response to Hurricane Sandy. Even though most of our families were not directly affected, we see this as a time to come together as a school community in order to serve our broader community. As well as discussing the Hurricane within their classes, we are encouraging students to donate coins to our Change for Change drive which we will donate to the Red Cross on an ongoing basis. Community Roots' service learning program for 4th and 5th graders, LSA (Learning through Service & Action) is also working on planning a service project collecting and delivering school supplies for a school in Far Rockaway that had to relocate as well as a schoolwide cooking initiative where meals are being prepared and delivered to an organization transporting meals. Our 6th graders will be spending a day at a local hurricane relief site offering service in whatever way is needed.

We will continue to engage with and give back to those local communities that were most directly affected.

Additionally, we are planning a staff service day as well as more all-school service opportunities for the coming months. Our hearts go out to everyone whose lives, homes and neighborhoods were damaged by this disaster and as a school we hope to aid in the recovery process as best we can.

I am a French teacher in Mclean Virginia. My students are making holiday cards and would like to send them to another High School French class in New York that was affected by Sandy. We know its not much, but we thought that holiday wishes and smiles are just as important as anything else we could do. Please email me if you have any schools/French teachers we could connect with.
rmnichols@fcps.edu

www.donatemazel.com.