Council of School Supervisors & Administrators

PS 64 Manhattan: Emphasis on Community

 It’s all about community at PS 64 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, according to the Principal, Assistant Principal, teachers and parents.
Whether Principal Marlon Hosang is talking about workshops for his parents, or Assistant Principal Daniela D’Arcangelo is explaining about providing more integrated co-teaching classes, each of them mentions “the community” in almost every breath.
“We are a community school with the emphasis on community,” said Mr. Hosang. “We take that community very seriously.”
PS 64, a Title 1 school, serves 325 students from pre-K through fifth grade. The administration’s mission is to be the heart of the neighborhood, to include the parents and the community organizations, in creating a welcoming school where children are inspired to succeed and realize they can achieve.
Mr. Hosang also has a vision for the school: Within five years, he’d like the school to become known for its performing arts. “It’s something that’s needed in this community,” he said, and parents have asked for it.
He has paired with a number of organizations to provide arts education throughout the school. His fifth-graders, for example, work with Rosie’s Broadway Kids and his fourth graders take ballroom dancing through American Ballroom Theater. Third graders visit museums and learn about art through a program of the New York Junior League, second graders are involved in flamenco dancing, and the NYC Ballet works with students in a number of grades.
"Research studies show that arts play a vital role in student academic achievement,” Mr. Hosang said. PS 64 has strong instructional programs “but we make it a priority to infuse the arts into the curriculum.”