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by Staff | Jun 16, 2011 8:30 am

(3) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Schools, School Reform

An online reviewer just posted her candid take on one local institution.

The online review doesn’t continue a one-to-five-star scale. No word on chefs (as of yet) or parking.

It’s about a school—John C. Daniels in the Hill neighborhood—not a restaurant.

The review features one parent-reviewer’s take on everything from the building’s condition (“beautiful…and spotless”) and the principal’s performance (“runs a tight ship and has definitely earned the respect of parents, teachers and students alike”) to the “amazing teacher and assistants” who are always ready to give a needed “hug or a stern talking to.”

The review appears on a new Yelp-style website for parents wondering where to send their children to school.

Called KidHaven, the site covers New Haven as well as suburban schools; public as well as private; and pre-school and child care.

If enough families participate, the site has the potential to offer a genuinely independent venue for parent involvement and scrutiny of New Haven’s ambitious school reform drive.

“We’re a new site and and a work in progress,” reports one of the founders, Mira Debs. “We’ve launched with several dozen great reviews so people can start using the site now, but we’re hoping to get many more reviews in the months to come. We’re also a parent forum on Facebook where our parent community answers people’s education questions and provides a place for parents to join together to work on school reform.”

Comments

posted by: Kimberly Garley-Erb on June 16, 2011 1:06pm

Thank you for this piece, New Haven Independent! We are thrilled to get schoolHaven off the ground and are eager to watch it blossom.

Kindly,
Kimberly Garley-Erb

kidHaven, founder

posted by: Josiah Brown on June 16, 2011 8:12pm

The following NYC resource might be of interest:

http://insideschools.org/

posted by: Manners on June 25, 2011 6:54pm

Why IS only one black teacher out of the four teachers selected to return to Clemente from the current faculty next fall by Renaissance a minority? Does white make it more right to teach the 99% minority students? Who is going to pay the $60,000.00 (so far identified) in repairs to the new building that opened in September. Will all the students be allowed to return? The reform process at the school is arbitrary and capricious.
This is a shell game where the only winner will be the for Profit: Renaissance. SAVE OUR SCHOOLS WITH WITH MORE RESOURCES AND SUPPORT for our students and teachers. THEY are our community. Not the outsiders.
Get rid of the dead weight administrators, who can’t do the job! Let the Paras know if they have jobs now! What is Renaissance waiting for?
Another sweetheart deal? Get out and vote in the next Mayoral election. It’s our city and our schools!!! If Obama could do it , why not us?

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