P.S. 212 Midtown West

this school is a great school my son went there last year but he graudated he cried he still wished he went there
—Submitted by a parent

Just a really friendly, warm, relaxed little school. Only two classes per grade and the teachers have the kids for two years, so everyone gets to know everyone well. The principal is very warm and genuinely seems to enjoy and like and get kids, and they like him back. The diversity is a real strength, as is the highly involved artsy musical parent body. It can get chaotic there, but cheerfully so. The school is like a family, in that you see its flaws but you can't help loving it. The Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations are always a highlight of the year for me.
—Submitted by a parent

Although I am not a parent of the school, I was blessed to have the opportunity to be a student teacher in a Kindergarten class. I am from Australia and I felt so warmly welcomed into the school community by students, parents and staff over the 4 week period. A fantastic school offering an abundance of after school program activities. From my experience, the level of parent involvement was extremely high, with parents involved in field trips, lunchtime supervision and well informed of the day to day runnings of thier childs classroom practices and experiences. Thank you for having my MTW and I will forever be grateful for my unfogettable and most rewarding experience.
—Submitted by Hayley Sparshott, a teacher

I am a parent of a kindergarten student and I am extremely disappointed in Midtown West thus far. I feel that the school is overcrowded and unorganized.
—Submitted by a parent

Midtown West offers a wonderful learning community. The teacher and parents work collaboratively to ensure a rich learning environment for each child.
—Submitted by a parent

Good (or bad): very progressive, high parent involvement. Excellence: teachers' passion to teach students. Negative: crowded
—Submitted by a parent

Do not credit the present principal for this good school, credit the former principal. the current is a hide away principal. the academics are very good. some of the day to day methods, such as rewards with sweets, are questionable. there is diversity here but a decided effort to cater to the arts community, giving very well to do actors. a place to send thier kids to school for free and avoiding the private school tuition. a very good level of parental involvement...a very high level actually. but too much mixing of special ed kids into the regular classrooms causing disruption, and distracting kids who can be distracted. there has been a lot of turnover in the art classes in terms of teachers. music program is great but it depends on one teacher only.
—Submitted by observing parent, a parent

Midtown West is a gem. The schools open door policy has been a blessing. There are parent and principal breakfasts regularly. The teacher's are dedicated. They love to teach and love the school. They give up their lunch hour so that they can supervise the playground along with parent volunteers. Everyone is on a first name basis. The collaborative approach to learning, lots of group oriented projects, is the best way for a child to learn and my child has blossomed here. The afterschool program is one of the best with ballet, modern and tap dance with a former Alvin Aliley dancer who is also a teacher here, swimming, juggling, theatre to name a few. The PTA is very strong and fund raising is heavily emphasized. This pays for programs like Media and Art. There may be a difficult transition to this relaxed environment for children who transfer from a more traditional one.
—Submitted by a parent