The P.S. 347 Pre-K Program
We offer a warm, nurturing environment for three, four, and five-year-old children. Our mission is to provide a bilingual education that values American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture. Our students include children who are deaf, hard of hearing, and children of deaf parents (CODAs), as well as hearing children from families who have an interest in ASL.
“The students who come here feel like this is their home. This is where people understand me. This is where I belong.” —Principal David Thacker Bowell
DUAL LANGUAGE ASL
We use a dual-language approach that incorporates both English and American Sign Language (ASL). Classrooms are typically led by one Hearing teacher and one Deaf teacher.
This makes communication accessible for all children.
American Sign Language is a complete visual language. With signing, the brain processes linguistic information through the eyes rather than the ears. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important roles in conveying information.
ASL is the third-most commonly used language in the United States after English and Spanish and the third-most studied foreign language among college students. It is the backbone of American Deaf Culture.
“We are so grateful that this school exists, for her and for her and for so many of the students here who would just be in their neighborhood school with no one who wears hearing devices, who has an interpreter or who even knows sign language or has a deaf relative. There’s no place like it.”
—Stacey, mom
THE D/HOH “MAINSTREAM” ALTERNATIVE
Many deaf and hard-of-hearing children with cochlear implants and hearing aids often mainstream and are not exposed to ASL or deaf peers and role models. P.S. 347 is a great option for families who decide they want their child to learn ASL as a second language—while still having full access to English. It’s the best of both worlds— a mainstream DOE curriculum, plus a deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HOH) friendly and knowledgeable environment. And if your child at any point moves to another NYC public school, they won’t miss a beat.
D/HOH students are thrilled— and relieved—to meet so many other classmates and adults just like them.
“I remember the first time my three-year-old daughter met her Deaf teacher and saw she also had cochlear implants. She was beyond thrilled— but also proud in a way I had never seen before.”
—Alana, mom
ACCESSIBILITY & SUPPORT
If your child has hearing differences, our school offers one of the best learning environments in all of NYC. Our goal is to seamlessly provide complete accessibility and understanding in a mainstream environment that follows the NYC DOE curriculum.
We know what D/HOH kids need, from world-class speech services to accessible seating arrangements to remote Roger microphones. Parents are amazed at the services we automatically offer and the comprehensive and caring support they don’t even have to request.
There’s beautiful access here. Interpreters, speech therapists, deaf-and-hearing teachers who sign, deaf-and-hearing children who sign, all interacting together. Before we were alone. Here, we are not alone —Tanya, mom.
All our classes provide Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) services; There are two teachers—a general education teacher and a special education teacher. They work together to adapt materials and modify instruction to make sure the entire class can participate. (Note, no more than 40% of students in any classroom can have an IEP, Individualized Education Program.)
Our teachers and staff are adept with hearing technology, from trouble shooting implants to setting up FM systems. We have an experienced department of Speech Language Pathologists. And ASL interpreters are incorporated into classrooms for students who need them.
“My daughters are learning you can have deaf friends and hearing friends together, in the same place.”
—Clement, dad
CODAS
If your child is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult), we are one of the few schools in the entire country that will understand your family’s unique needs. More than 70% of our students have deaf parents. And many of our ASL interpreters and teachers are CODAs themselves. Our social worker is Deaf and her kids are CODAS. She has more than twenty years of experience working with P.S. 347 families.
We are familiar with the challenges CODA children can face when learning English as a second language….
WHAT MORE HERE- social/identity…
REGGIO-EMILIA APPROACH
Our preschool program revolves around play-based learning and is inspired by the highly-acclaimed early education system in Reggio Emilia, Italy. We respect childhood as a time to explore, create, and be joyful. We believe children are full of potential, innately competent, and capable of building their own theories. Our learning is child-led, and we encourage an emergent, integrated curriculum based on the students' interests. Our teachers work to ensure that developmental milestones are met in the course of any study or project.
OUR CLASSROOMS
Our classrooms are spacious and full of natural light. We gather in circular groups to facilitate communication via the visual language of ASL and to ensure accessibility, especially for our DHOH (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) students and teachers.
We strive to include as many natural, repurposed, and recycled materials in the classrooms as possible. We have a pre-K atelier that houses a variety of materials with which our students and teachers can work, play, and explore.
THE OUTDOORS
We believe wholeheartedly in making the world around us our classroom. We take full advantage of our NYC location through various field trips. Walking tours expose children to the architecture of the nearby Flatiron district, the Empire State Building, and local parks. Favorite bus destinations include the Queens County Farm and annual pre-K trip to Jacob Riis Beach.
This is a very special and unique place in the middle of New York City that many people don’t know exists.
—Samantha Pitta, teacher
GARDEN & PLAYGROUNDS
We are fortunate to have a beautiful courtyard garden and two playgrounds, which are at the center of our school and in the hearts of our students. These spaces, where recess and other outdoor activities are held, provide an important outlet for kids who spend much of the day commuting from faraway homes and often have minimal access to the outdoors. It also allows us to offer our students experiential STEM-based learning that incorporates our greenhouse and trees and vegetable plantings.
THE ARTS
One goal of our integrated curriculum is to weave the arts into the fabric of each and every school day.
Our school has a dedicated visual arts teacher who shares art techniques and art history with students in her studio.
We also have a dedicated dance instructor who teaches different styles of dance and often uses the P.S. 347 school auditorium and theater stage as her classroom.
P.S. 347 participates in the Music Together Program, which supports children’s music development while making music fun and uplifting.
Additionally, our children are exposed to the magic of theater by attending plays throughout the year at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center and the New Victory Theater in Times Square. We also regularly visit the Big Apple Circus of the Senses.
PARTNERSHIPS
Thanks to generous grants, P.S. 347 is able to host various residencies. This year these include the Children’s Museum of the Arts, Dancing Classrooms, and City Growers.
We also collaborate with IRT Theater to produce ASL music videos with our students.
OUR LIBRARY
Our Pre-K programs has its own dedicated school library and librarian. Children visit weekly for read alouds and are welcome to borrow books from our extensive collection. We feature many stories about children like ours, with hearing differences and Deaf families.
We also regularly host children’s authors and illustrators who visit and share their work.
DAILY SCHEDULE
The hearing 3-year-old students stay from 8:30am to 12 noon, Monday through Friday. Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing 3-year-old students stay from 8:30am- 2:30pm. And in the second year of preschool, all students are invited to stay all day, 8:30 to 2:30.
Children are dropped off and picked up at the door with the silver fence (closest to 2nd Ave).
EVALUATIONS & PROGRESS
There is no homework in the preschool, but teachers will send home newsletters to inform parents of what the children are working on in the classroom. Teachers encourage participation from home and communicate with families on ways to be involved in school activities.
Preschool students do not receive report cards. Instead, teachers meet several times a year with parents for conferences. (There is also a parent engagement time each Tuesday afternoon by request.) Teachers provide progress reports as well as portfolio work which illustrates particular areas of development. These reports are based upon developmentally-appropriate guidelines such as developmental tools for observation and the New York City early childhood learning standards.
