P.S. 279 Capt Manuel Rivera Junior

I appreciate the staff and faculty of P.S. 279. My daughter is in 7th grade and her teachers are thorough and include me in every step of her education. I like the fact that I can communicate with any of her teachers at any given time through email, or engrade.com Her teachers from last year. Ms. Carpenter, Ms. Rivera and Ms. Jackson were helpful and showed a real concern when my daughter's grades were slipping and together we worked towards her passing her grades and being promoted to 7th grade. I also am happy that Mrs. Dalton is the principle with clear vision for P.S. 279
—Submitted by a parent

Horrible principal!! J Waslowski is rude and cheating the children by not allowing the teachers to properly teach. I will be moving my child at the end of this year.
—Submitted by a parent

I think the school size and the shaped it was made into is really nice. There's enough space for everyone, maybe except the auditorium which is pretty small. I also like the fact that they'll be reconstructing the playground and putting more fun stuff on it so they could play.
—Submitted by a parent

I heard exciting things about this school moving from out of state. My child's 1st grade teacher Ms. Masong is an incredible teacher. Her techniques in teaching, communication, coaching, learning and discipline are exactly in line as to what I want as a parent. The administration seems unorganized, delivers late notices of events and does not seem to take into consideration of 'working parents' to attend such events. More control is need for the older children 6-8 grade and more division from the little ones who need more supervision. 2 out of 10 staff/faculty appear to be friendly or concerned with your child or needs. Too many notices come home with too many changes in the beginning of the year. My only choice to keep my child in this school is taking her 1st grade teacher with me to the other school.
—Submitted by a parent

My children have been in this school for more then 6 years. I even had a child who graduated with a low grades. This school claims to help children learn,(lies). Most of the staff has left, now we have young teachers teaching. The school from the outside looks great but behind doors is not. Parents open your eyes, only a few staff care for our children. This school is over crowded.
—Submitted by a parent

No enough programs for the school,My child has been in this school for 5 years now, and the only club that I have known about is the chess club. No sports, or extra curriculum activities. The only shows given at the school from kids is the after school program, which I also don't recommend.Good communication within Assistant principals and parents, but little follow ups when leaving messages.
—Submitted by a parent

The principal lacks vision and has done little to build a relationship with students and teachers. The Assistant Principal for grades 3-5 is wonderful and should be an example to all administrators. The Assistant Principal for K-2 is not knowledgeable about early childhood and has been demeaning to both students and staff at various times during the school year. On a positive note the newly implemented Guided Reading program has proved to be a tremendous boon to literacy in early childhood.
—Submitted by a teacher

This school is not as bad as the scores portray it. The problem is that it is disorganized and the teachers are not paying personal attention to the students. Some teachers, however, are strict and offer a great deal of work to make students better is a shame they don't give students individual help when needed. the school gets 3 1/2 stars from me.
—Submitted by a parent