Gianna Fornabaio, a short woman with large, bright eyes, may not look imposing, but she certainly sounds it to her fifth-grade class. As the students stare, gulping, at small note cards taped to their desk, she explains in a firm, booming voice how these tiny pieces of paper—their educational goals— would determine their education for the next few months.

“Do not lose these goals. Get to know them,” she said. “We are going to work, day in, and day out on each and every one of these goals, so that everyone achieves them.”

The pieces of paper are a cornerstone of PS 48’s educational strategy. At the beginning of the year, after an assessment by their teacher and conferencing with the child, teachers assign two specific goals to each of the school’s students: one for Math and one for English. Each goal is tailored to the student, encouraging them to strive to better their own skills, not merely to improve scores on a test.
“The goal cards were developed last year,” said Fornabaio. Everything is broken down and analyzed student by student to get their individual goals.”

Embracing a motto that calls their school “the Best School in the Universe,” teachers and administrators at PS 48 in Hunts Point have managed to transform a once-struggling school of over 1,000 students into a beacon of education in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Unlike many schools that teach to standardized tests, teachers at PS 48 are encouraged to implement a different philosophy: education and student engagement comes first, test-taking comes second.

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