GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

It’s been a good year for GothamSchools. (We’ll have more to say about how 2011 treated the New York City schools next week, in our annual end-of-year review.)

Thanks to your support, the scrappy site we started in 2008 is now an institution that thousands of New Yorkers depend on for smart, trustworthy information. We want to keep up the good work in 2012, and also to get even stronger. As always, that will require help from our readers.

And so we’re asking you to consider making a donation to ensure that our reporting only gets stronger in 2012.

Here’s a brief review some of what we were able to do in 2011:

• We informed more than 500,000 people who visited GothamSchools directly. We informed more when our stories got picked up in media outlets, such as the New York Times, the WPIX nightly news, and the national radio show “This American Life.” 

  Related Stories

  • Education journalism rating site launches with vow of neutrality   February 10, 2011 9
  • Do reporters hate schools? A PR support group says maybe   February 17, 2009 1
  • A push for education journalism to think outside the K-12 box   December 2, 2009 1
  • Good news for GothamSchools in education journalism contest   February 28, 2011 13
  • Advocates and foundations set to rate education journalism   January 6, 2011 3
• Our community grew through social media. NBC New York appointed us to its list of “voices leading the conversation.”
• Our stories often led to real-world change, from investigations of grade-changing scandals to reports on innovative practices.
• We graduated two reporters to new positions where they are expanding the universe of high-quality education reporting about the communities most in need. We also brought on two stellar new staff reporters, Geoff Decker and Rachel Cromidas.
• In a survey conducted by the Bridgespan Group, our readers — yeah, that’s you — reported that our news offerings were vital as they navigated the public school system.
• We launched a partnership with Education News Colorado that we hope will accelerate our path to sustainability and help us grow.

This holiday season, please consider joining the readers who have already made donations to GothamSchools. You can make a donation here. There are other ways to support us, too: “Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and tell your friends in the education world who aren’t reading already about what they are missing.

Happy holidays, and here’s to an even more informed 2012!