Learning Environment

Our students benefit from a specially designed, longer school day. This offers a range of activities beyond the usual classes and provides additional time for direct instruction, small group programming, targeted interventions and enrichments, and learning extensions. This results in students being able to complete all of their necessary academic work in school, allowing them to spend their time at home being children.

We are committed to supporting all students and providing individualized attention. Class sizes at BPCS are significantly smaller than classes at other Staten Island elementary schools, with class sizes averaging between between 10-24.

The structure of our classrooms allows various members of our instructional team— teachers, service providers, and social workers—to work with groups of students and directly collaborate to use their specific areas of expertise. This means that each class will be staffed by multiple instructional team members at a given time, resulting in a very low teacher-student ratio. 

Our longer than average academic year is divided into three trimesters. The additional days of learning we offer, is part of our commitment to providing students with a rigorous academic, needs based experience. Schools choosing to purposefully use and maximize time has proven effective for all students, especially those struggling with literacy. Any student who has not met promotional criteria for the following grade, will attend a summer intervention session.