Jillian Jorgensen

Oct 16, 2024 | ny1.com | Jillian Jorgensen

The headlines about city schools for the last few weeks have been centered on investigations into adults. But on Wednesday, new Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos spent some time talking with kids. “It feels great. And that’s where I feel most at home,” she said. Aviles-Ramos takes on the job at a time of instability. Her boss, Mayor Eric Adams, is under indictment. Her predecessor, David Banks, announced his retirement after the FBI seized his phone.

Oct 15, 2024 | ny1.com | Jillian Jorgensen

Less than three years after the mayor touted him as a visionary leader of the public school system, Schools Chancellor David Banks made his quiet exit Tuesday. Banks' departure comes as the Adams administration has been roiled by investigations — and the mayor himself has been indicted. Banks has not been accused of a crime, but he, his two brothers and his wife all had their cell phones seized by the FBI last month.

Oct 3, 2024 | ny1.com | Jillian Jorgensen

Schools Chancellor David Banks intended to serve another three months in the role after announcing his retirement. Instead, at the request of Mayor Adams, his time has run out — and he will now serve though Oct. 16. “This is a time for real stability and to have both Melissa and David there at the same time. It didn’t bring the stability that we wanted, not only the actual stability, but how the DOE feels,” Adams said.

Sep 4, 2024 | ny1.com | Jillian Jorgensen

When he first started teaching high school algebra at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School, Jason Ovalles heard a familiar question from his students. "'Why are we doing this?' You know? And the eventual answer was, it was basically just like, you need to know this to graduate, because you need to know this to pass the Regents,” he said.

Sep 3, 2024 | ny1.com | Jillian Jorgensen

With the city considering a cellphone ban in schools, parent Linda Quarles thinks it ought to be called something else. “A ban is inherently a negative thing, where you’re taking something away. And I think we’re actually doing the opposite here. We’re giving something to them — we’re giving them, sort of the ability to relate better. We’re giving the ability to focus,” Quarles said.