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GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools
October 15, 2008
We’re GothamSchools, and we’re going live today with a new design. We hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, the kind where we challenge each other on the important things but have each other’s backs in the day-by-day effort to make schools better.
Here’s what you get from us: fair, accurate, and honest up-to-the-minute reporting from the front lines of teaching and learning in New York City. We won’t pull punches, but we won’t play gotcha, either. In fact, we already broke a story — the UFT’s probable stance against Mayor Bloomberg on term limits.
And here’s what we want from you: eyeballs, so many of them that when we wake up tomorrow morning the site has crashed and you’re left refreshing your browser in frustration. (Don’t worry, we have the bandwidth to support you.) We’d also like your insight: Leave us comments and send us tips with your scoops from the schools.
GothamSchools will be following developments in at least two arenas: what happens inside classrooms (any borough will do), and what happens inside Tweed Courthouse, the place that Chancellor Joel Klein calls “work,” along with all those other places we find ourselves when we’re on the trail of the Big Story: the UFT headquarters at 52 Broadway; the halls of state government in Albany; and in the heads of DOE officials, visionary educators, and involved parents.
To cement the distinction, from now on we’ll be organizing our daily dispatches into two distinct blogs. At the head of the Classroom is former teacher Kelly Vaughan, who after eight years of teaching in the Bronx knows a thing or two about schools. And anchoring the Newsroom are Philissa Cramer, formerly of Insideschools, and — here’s another new thing — Elizabeth Green, of the late, great New York Sun. You can read all of our posts in one place (just hit the “Home” tab at any time) or switch between the Classroom and Newsroom.
Here’s what else is new:
- We’ve crafted a snazzy new design to match the high quality of our reporting.
- We’ve created a place for longer and more comprehensive pieces than are typically included on a blog. Check these out in our Features section.
- We’ve added a calendar stocked with upcoming events, from professional development opportunities to parent meetings. Know of something happening? Submit an event.
GothamSchools is better today than it was yesterday, and tomorrow it will be better still. But we need your help. Let us know how you think the site can be improved. And above all, keep reading. We’ll be blogging.
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October 15th, 2008 11:25 am
I didn’t want to say anything earlier, but I had already seen this design a while back. Nonetheless, this is awesome, and really feels like a school-based blog. One day, my design will be as fresh as yours. Can we just get a general feed that gives us both the news and classroom? Just a thought …
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October 15th, 2008 12:10 pm
Glad to see that Elizabeth will get a forum to continue to cover an Ed beat. Good luck GothamSchools.
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October 15th, 2008 2:48 pm
hey, i like the newsroom/classroom distinction. both seem important, but this will make it a lot easier to get to the info i want on any given day.
love the new design. feels friendly but not cheesy.
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October 15th, 2008 2:57 pm
Jose, the general feed is the home page or http://gothamschools.org/feed/ , that’ll give you all of newsroom, classroom and features.
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October 15th, 2008 3:17 pm
Congrutulations, and good luck.
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October 15th, 2008 3:30 pm
The website looks great! And having Elizabeth Green contributing? Wonderful! Kudos!!!
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October 15th, 2008 5:29 pm
Congratulations! Chris Abraham, the developer here at TOPP who created this site (along with our talented designer Phil Ashlock), was just downstairs in Gotham Schools headquarters. He came upstairs and said “Man, those guys are intense. It’s like an engine room down there!”
Full speed ahead!
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October 15th, 2008 7:39 pm
The new site looks great. Good work!
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October 15th, 2008 7:50 pm
Elizabeth,
You’re the best education reporter in the city. The DOE and its consumers need you now more than ever. I really look forward to your contributions.
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October 17th, 2008 10:50 am
It looks wonderful! Congratulations! I am so glad Elizabeth is reporting for you now, too!
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October 17th, 2008 4:31 pm
Great to see Elizabeth Greene is on the case.
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October 17th, 2008 10:10 pm
Nice site. Glad to see Elizabeth Green will continue reporting on NY schools.
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