Extra curricular Activities

Our extracurricular activities include a girls and boys basketball team, chess club, tennis, cheerleading squad, student government organization (“SGO”), published authors clubs, school newspaper, SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education) club, ballet and chorus. We are also a Music Theatre International school, which provides our students the opportunity to participate in the development, direction, set design, acting, singing and overall production of a Broadway Play right here at Bildersee.  

Community Support

Aside from having a Dental office in our building that services our students and community, we are very proud of our partnerships with the following community based organizations.  BEACON, CAMBA, Brooklyn Ballet Company, NY Tennis League, Canarsie Mental Health, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, NYC Urban Advantage, Broadway Junior Program and Young Artist Program.  

Parent/School Support

Our PTA holds monthly meetings to discuss a number of important issues in conjunction with our Parent Coordinator.  We have a cohort of proud parents who volunteer their time at the school.  Our PTA provides support for various parent workshops, including technology and homework strategies.  Parents and students awards ceremonies are our most celebrated events. Our parents were instrumental in creating a uniform policy, which took effect in September 2005. 

Pride and Excellence

IS 68 was recognized by the State of NY for high performance in English Proficiency, where 87.3% of the limited English proficient students made the NY State progress standard.  

Three of our students were nominated and accepted into very prestigious college preparatory Lang Institute as a result of being nominated to the NY Citywide Science Fair at the Museum of Natural History. Two of those students’ science projects became citywide models, which are posted on their website. Http://urbanadvantage.amnh.org/sample_projects.html. 

Special Programs

Students and parents are encouraged to apply for our popular Astral Program which is a rigorous accelerated program designed to challenge our gifted and talented students. The program is structured to support the students as they prepare for the Earth Science Regents, Integrated Algebra, and Foreign Language Proficiency exams in 8th grade for high school credit.  As 7th grade students in their spring term, specialized high school prep courses are offered to prepare them for the exam in the fall. As an Urban Advantage school, our students and their families are offered free passes to seven of NYC’s most prominent institutions such as the Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, the Queens Hall of Science, and many more to assist students in producing excellent science exit projects using our new state of the art science lab.  

Student Advisory/SEL

Students are assigned to small advisory groups consisting of between 5-10 students, which are designed to provide our students an opportunity to develop their social and emotional learning skills and participate in small group tutoring.  There are four advisory sessions per week, every Monday to Thursday. Those students who achieve 90% attendance receive 3 points and 2 points for participation, totaling 5 points.  The students are able to add to their lowest or any grades on their quarterly report card.   

Project Concern

Project Concern is a Prevention and Intervention Education Program, which provides services to all students here at IS 68.   Ms. McFadden is our S.A.P.I.S. (Substance Abuse Prevention Intervention Specialist).  She provides classroom lessons, peer mediation, crisis intervention groups and parent workshops.  In addition, Ms. McFadden is the coordinator and general manager for the Boys and Girls Bildersee Eagles Basketball teams; she is the point person for positive alternative programs such as, Red Ribbon Day, Violence Prevention Day, Black History Month, Penny Harvest, Penny For Patients, The Legal Eagles, and the Bildersee Radio Station, WBIS.  Ms. McFadden can be reached at (718) 241-4800 ext. 1280. 

Supplemental Educational Services (SES)

As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, our school was designated as a corrective action school in need of improvement, which is why we restructured the school into our themed academies. We provide academic intervention services both after school and on Saturdays to assist students in improving their reading, writing and mathematics skills.