UPPER WEST SIDE — Thursday is the first day of school, but preparations at the Steinberg household on the Upper West Side started days ago.
"We've been trying to get them to go to sleep a little bit earlier now that it's back to reality," said dad Scot Steinberg, whose almost-4-year-old twins Benjamin and Susanna will be joining older brother Jacob, a second grader, at P.S. 9 on West 84th Street.
"The twins are really excited," said Steinberg. "They understand the concept of school, but there's an excitement about being at their brother's school."
Steinberg said he's looking forward to the new academic year as well, because for the first time all three kids will be at the same school, making pick-ups and drop-offs more convenient.
It's not just back to reality for kids. Steinberg, who's active in the P.S. 9 parent association, has already started lining up corporate sponsors for the school's Halloween fundraiser.
Steinberg and other parents, teachers, kids and administrators across the city spent Wednesday making sure everything was in place for the return to learning.
Michelle Lipkin, president of the PTA at P.S. 199 on West 70th Street, spent two days this week with her daughter's new teacher performing prep work such as making baggies of crayons for students.
"I take it as my own responsibility to make sure a new teacher feels supported, so I've been in the classroom helping her get ready," Lipkin said.
Lipkin's efforts were the type lauded in a video message welcoming families back to school by state education commissioner John B. King. He urged parents to "dive into their student's school experience" and asked students to push themselves by reading challenging books.
Lipkin's second-grader, Simone, and fourth-grader, Jude, have already stocked brand new backpacks with fresh pencils and erasers. Lipkin's husband will probably make pancakes for breakfast Thursday morning, she said, and even though the family lives across the street from school, they'll leave extra early so there's time to take photos, she said.
At P.S. 87 on West 78th Street, teachers spent part of Wednesday discussing how the school's math curriculum fits in with the Department of Education's newly released instructional expectations, said principal Monica Berry.
New schools chancellor Dennis Walcott attended teacher trainings on the new standards in Brooklyn and at P.S. 40 in Gramercy on Wednesday.
"People want the system to be better," Walcott told teachers. "To me, it's important to have a great teacher in front of the classroom."
P.S. 40 fourth-grade teacher James Bruffee, 30, gave the training a thumbs up. "It was wonderful in the sense that it made you think about what you're doing in your own teaching and whether that's effective," Bruffee said.
At P.S. 87, teachers had another reason to be excited, said Berry. Her staff were glad to see familiar faces after a season of harsh budget cuts that threatened teachers' jobs.
P.S. 87's staff was "reduced slightly," Berry said, declining to name a specific figure, but the school avoided major cutbacks. "With all the budget cuts, people were concerned about the number of people who may or may not be here," Berry said.
"People were happy to see each other. There’s a real strong communal feeling here, which is great."
Some Upper West Side students have been back to school for a few weeks now. Kids at the neighborhood's new charter school, Upper West Success Academy, started classes in late August.
That first day came as a relief to parents who feared the school might not even open. The charter school was the target of two lawsuits — both of which ultimately failed — aimed at stopping Upper West Success from moving into the Brandeis Educational Campus on West 84th Street, where it will share space with high schools.
Representatives and parents from Upper West Success Academy could not be reached immediately for comment on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by Mary Johnson.
