Saturday Academy at the Museum of the City of New York

Saturday Academy at the Museum of the City of New York is a free, elective six-week program for students in grades 8-12 interested in American history or SAT preparation.  Best of all, there’s no homework or testing and all course materials are provided! 

 

Fall 2010 courses meet on October 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th and November 6^th, 13^th, and 20^th. 

Students may enroll in one or two courses a semester. All courses are available at two times: Session I runs from 9:00 am to 10:20 am; Session II runs from 10:30 am to 11:50 am. Students who complete all course requirements and a semester evaluation will receive a Certificate of Achievement at the end of the program.

Fall 2010 Course Offerings:

 

Living in the City: Investigating Public HousingInstructor: Elizabeth Hamby, B.F.A. in Fine Art, Parsons School of Design
Open to students in grades 8-12
Living in the City: Investigating Public Housing will equip students with a set of tools for analyzing the relationship among people, architecture, urban design, and public policy, with a focus on public housing. Since the New York City Housing Authority was created in 1934, it has grown to house more than half a million New Yorkers. Students will observe and analyze the "tower in the park" housing developments through taking field trips in East Harlem. The class will use photography, drawing writing, video, and audio to create a collaborative multi-media presentation investigating the history of public housing in New York City and the United States.

They Had Style, They Had Grace: Important Moments in Fashion History
Instructor: Nayantara Mhatre, M.S. in Museum Education, Bank Street College of Education
Open to students in grades 8-12
Students will use a variety of media to explore how popular fashions throughout American history were influenced by and shaped the social customs and politics of each particular era. The class will culminate with student projects about contemporary fashions and their relationship to the popular culture of the early 21st century.

Voices in History: Gathering Powerful Stories from Our Communities
Instructor: Rachel Falcone, Artist and Oral Historian, B.A. in Philosophy, Vassar College
Open to students in grades 8-12
New York City is a city of immigrants, and the stories of immigrants are a crucial part of our history. Through the use of oral history, students will study how the 1965 immigration reform vastly increased the number of people who came here from all over the world, especially Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Students will learn how to conduct oral histories, and they will gain hands-on experience interviewing and gathering the personal histories of community members who recently immigrated to New York City. The class will design creative projects in the form of art, maps, text, and performances based on the stories they collected.

Kaplan SAT Skills
Instructor: Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Open to students in grades 11-12
Test prep can help students maximize their performance on standardized tests and increase their odds of college acceptance and merit-based financial aid. In this course, students will learn time-honored techniques for taking the SAT and master key Kaplan strategies. Kaplan faculty will cover critical reading, math, and writing skills. Walk into Test Day feeling confident and prepared!

To Apply for Saturday Academy:

 

Download and print the Fall 2010 brochure and application.

• Fall 2010 Brochure and Application

Mail the completed application to: Joanna Steinberg, Saturday Academy Coordinator, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029. Applications submitted by fax or email will not be accepted.

All applications must be received by Wednesday, September 29th no later than 5:00 p.m. Enrollment is first come first serve. There are a limited number of spaces reserved for students who live in East Harlem (10029 and 10035 zip codes) and/or attend schools in East Harlem. Please apply early-space is limited! Accepted candidates will be notified by email, mail, or telephone.

Due to the overabundance of applications that we receive for Saturday Academy, you will only be notified if you are accepted into the program. If you do not receive a letter in the mail, we hope you will reapply next spring. Only applicants who bring an acceptance letter on the first day of class will be permitted to stay for the program.

For more information or to be added to the Saturday Academy mailing list, please contact Joanna Steinberg, Saturday Academy Coordinator, at jsteinberg@mcny.org.

Support for Saturday Academy is provided by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. 

 

Applications must be received by Wednesday, September 30^th.  Enrollment is first come first serve, so please apply early since space is limited!  To apply, please fill out the attached application and mail it back to the Museum. For more information about the program, visit http://www.mcny.org/education/Saturday_Academy.html or contact Joanna Steinberg, Saturday Academy Coordinator, at jsteinberg@mcny.org.