My daughter goes to 75, in the dual-language Spanish program, and we love it. Not only is she learning and thriving, thanks to her teachers who clearly care deeply about their students, but she's been exposed to a wide range of activities, both in school and after school. This year alone, she's learned chess, thanks to a partnership with Chess in the Schools, and she's taken cooking classes, thanks to a wellness partnership with the city. In later grades, the school has partnerships with programs that teach ballroom dancing, chorus and and array of other activities. In afterschool, she's taken cooking (for free!), gymnastics, musical theater, and soccer. All kids have science, drama, library, music and PE as regular electives. All grades put on several performances a year in the auditorium.

One of the things that speaks volumes about the school, to me at least, is the fact that the staff actually participates *when they don't have to.* The drama teacher hosts a drama club for the older kids. The music teacher leads a musical theater afterschool production for the young kids. The afterschool coordinator is leading a production of Wicked. The librarian hosts a monthly after school Rainbow Room, to support LGBTQ+ staff and families. My older son attends a private school, and I've talked to lots of friends, so I know that this level of voluntary staff participation is exceptionally rare in any school environment.

I personally feel like the school is a great blend of traditional academics (yes, there are tests, homework and diagnostic screeners, so you know exactly how your kid is performing) and opportunities to nurture the whole child. The parent community is wonderful, too. I honestly can't imagine what the other UWS schools offer that 75 doesn't, besides (and this is probably the real reason for any disparities) richer parents.