Families at the IPS West 76th Street location prepare for arrival on the first day of school. The (very) rainy weather didn't stop anyone from having a great time! — Families at the IPS West 76th Street location prepare for arrival on the first day of school. The (very) rainy weather didn’t stop anyone from having a great time!

And…we’re back! The teachers and staff at our West 76th Street and East 86th Street locations celebrated the start of a new school year on September 9th and September 13th, respectively. With one completed, successful school year of COVID-19-related restrictions under our belt, the IPS community was more than ready to dive into the 2021-2022 school year.

The Red Room teachers at 76th Street welcome parents, caregivers, and students in the lobby of our building. On the first day, adults accompanied our youngest preschoolers to their classrooms. On the second day, the children were dropped off at the door and escorted to the classroom by their teachers.

As we do every year, our classes begin with a phase-in approach. Each class determines a time frame for the children to become acclimated to school in a gentle manner; for our Red (2s) Rooms, the phase-in period will be longer than that of a Pre-K (4s) Room. For example, the teachers might welcome half of the class for an hour, and then the other half of the class for an hour, on the first day. The next day, the class in its entirety might come for an hour; on the third day, the class would stay for an hour and fifteen minutes, and so forth. The older the class, the shorter the phase-in; our Pre-K classes typically reach their full-day schedule in a matter of a few days.