Inclusive education takes center stage at PS 958 in Sunset Park

The five-story mural on the corner of 36th Street and Fifth Avenue, called “Indigenous Flow,” not only honors Brooklyn’s Indigenous foreparents but also pays tribute to ancestors from Indigenous communities throughout the world.

The work was commissioned by Aboriginal basketball player Patty Mills and the Brooklyn Nets, and was designed and painted by renowned artist Victor “Marka27” Quinonez. That it covers an entire outside wall of the Antonia Pantoja School of Sunset Park, better known as PS 958, is a testament to the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, and a visual reminder of its desire to pay homage to the past and celebrate the present. But what distinguishes the school most is that it welcomes every child, including those with disabilities, into each classroom rather than placing them in segregated “special education” settings.

The now four-year-old school opened in 2022 with pre-k and kindergarten classes. Since then, additional grades have been added, with enrollment swelling to slightly more than 200 pre-k to third-grade students this fall. By 2027–2028, founding principal Emily Shapiro expects the program to reach full capacity with 300 students from preschool through fifth grade.

“Other schools have large populations of special education students and varied specialized programs,” Shapiro told The Sunset Post. “But I believe we are the only school that was explicitly designed with inclusivity as the focus.”

Unlike most schools that separate so-called “special education” students from those in general education, PS 958 integrates children with Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) into every classroom. Once placed, they receive supplemental support services such as assistive technology and one-on-one sessions with the school’s full- or part-time speech, occupational, or physical therapists. Social workers and a nurse are also on hand to ensure that students’ social, emotional, and medical needs are met.

In addition, the school has a sensory gym (open to the Sunset Park community at designated times), a vegetable garden where students plant and harvest produce, an outdoor playground, a well-stocked library with books and audio materials, and a music room.

Kate has four-year-old twins in the school’s pre-k program. One of her sons, she says, has a language processing disorder that makes it difficult for him to understand verbal instructions. “He was considered a behavior problem at the first preschool he attended because he’d act out when he got angry or frustrated,” she says. “Here he gets physical and speech therapy twice a week, is given more time to complete assignments, and is no longer considered a problem child.”

She’s also pleased that both of her children can attend the same school, something she had assumed would be impossible. “This place is amazing,” she says. “I’m very glad we chose to enroll our kids here.”

PS 958 is a “choice school,” Shapiro explains, meaning that parents or guardians must select it as their first choice on enrollment forms. Priority goes to Sunset Park residents, followed by District 15 residents who name PS 958 as their preferred elementary program.

“I wanted my daughter to go here,” says Marta, a parent dropping off her child. “I want her to learn that in the real world, people have different abilities and different ways of learning.”

Acknowledging and celebrating these differences is central to PS 958’s philosophy. Classroom instruction uses a model called Universal Design for Learning, created by the Center for Applied Special Technology. Universal Design models use a variety of lesson delivery formats and allow students to read, listen to talks or podcasts, watch videos, or study infographics to increase information retention; they can later demonstrate subject mastery through writing, speaking, or art making. It also favors flexible seating arrangements and integrates assistive technologies into coursework.

Additionally, a teaching method called AIMS — Acquisition, Integrated Services, Meaningful Communication, and Social Skills — is used with students on the autism spectrum to help develop and improve their language and communication abilities.

Shapiro sings the praises of both teaching methods, but it is the benefit of bringing students with disabilities together with their nondisabled peers that gets her most fired up. She says it's why she and several colleagues drafted a proposal to establish the school back in 2019.

At the time, Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza had launched the Imagine NYC Schools competition, funded through a $32 million public-private partnership between the Department of Education, Laurene Powell Jobs’ XQ Institute ($10 million), and the Robin Hood Foundation ($6 million, including $1 million for faculty development), to revamp 20 existing public schools and create 20 new ones.

While COVID-19 delayed the competition, it didn’t derail it. Shapiro, who previously taught special education and led two District 75 schools — the citywide system that provides highly specialized instructional support for students with significant disabilities — was thrilled when her team’s proposal was selected.

They set out to design a program that is culturally responsive, academically rigorous, and emotionally attuned. The school’s values — being respectful to others, welcoming everyone, prioritizing collaboration and joint projects, promoting peace, and encouraging individual and collective accomplishment — are prominently displayed throughout the building. Posters line the hallways to affirm the worth of every human being and remind students and staff about the importance of bringing kindness and compassion into school and other communities.

“I, alone, cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters that can create many ripples,” reads one bulletin board. Where these ripples will lead is, of course, unknown. But it’s clear that the students at PS 958 and their parents are pleased with the learning that the school is providing. In fact, Shapiro reports that a group of parents has submitted a proposal to the Department of Education requesting that DOE open a middle school in the neighborhood so that the lessons gleaned at Antonia Pantoja can be extended once their children graduate and move on.