The Open Planning Project

Our readers know how impactful civic-minded journalism can be, but it is also an honor to receive outside confirmation from esteemed organizations. Two TOPP projects were recently singled out as true movers in their fields:

GothamSchools won first place in the national Educational Writers Association's 'best education blog' category for their excellent coverage of the New York City education scene. This prestigious contest annually honors the best education reporting in print and broadcast media, and it is the only award of its kind. GothamSchools rose to the top among more than 300 entries, and we feel very proud to be recognized and to find ourselves in such esteemed company. Congratulations to the reporting staff: Anna, Elizabeth, Maura, and Philissa.

Out on the other coast, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has announced that Streetsblog San Francisco and SFBC Volunteer Michael Helquist are the recipients of this year's Golden Wheelie Awards. This honor recognizes transportation heroes in the Bay Area, and in their announcement the SFBC explained that they made the award to Streetsblog due to the blog's "intelligent journalism that is leading the conversation and helping more people understand the connection between bicycling, great streets and a livable city." Bryan, Matthew, and Michael, well done and keep up the great work.

 

December 9, 2009
5:30 pm	to	8:00 pm

Come one, come all, to a party celebrating GothamSchools’ first year bringing our readers up-to-date news and analysis about the New York City public schools.

At the party, on Dec. 9, we’ll also officially kick off our first-ever fundraising drive, which you can read more about here. Become a supporter and join the community of readers who believe that improving education requires high-quality education journalism.

Please note: Donations are welcome and can be made here. But you don’t have to donate to come to our party!

Responding to the national push for more transparent government, the Bloomberg administration is opening up some of its datasets for easier public consumption. The only question is what data the city will throw up on the new Web site.

The city is taking suggestions starting Monday, and the nonprofit that houses GothamSchools, The Open Planning Project, is part of the push to send those in. We will be helping TOPP fill out what are called RFEI’s, or requests for expressions of interest, this coming Monday.

With the deadline breathing down our necks - on our staycation no less! - we need your help. Our wish list includes information on outside contracts the Department of Education holds, school-by-school budget documents, and school accountability information organized in easy-to-search Excel spreadsheets rather than individual PDF’s.

What should we add? Please name names of specific documents, and please don’t be shy with ideas. Info on how to submit your own RFEI is here.

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Photo via Wikimedia commons.

Congratulations, GothamSchools.org on the great site redesign!

Their celebratory post:

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.