by Sarah McCully
Columbus Avenue has been a bustling thoroughfare for over a century, a home to countless shops, museums, apartments, and schools alike. Over the years, the block between West 84th and 83rd Streets has been home to a tiny hotel, elegant apartments, and was even the birthplace of Hellman’s Mayonnaise.
These days, neighbors near West 84th Street are no stranger to that legacy of bustling chaos; there are six schools off of that corner alone, including one with a blue-stamped reputation for excellence.
PS 9, or the Sarah Anderson School, was named a 2023 Blue Ribbon School by the Department of Education, a rare honor only afforded to 22 schools in all of New York State. The award is given to institutions with exceptional high performance, and those that have demonstrated outstanding work in closing achievement gaps between students. Clearly, PS 9’s high standards haven’t gone unnoticed.
“It’s such a special school,” says Laura Vandemark, a 2nd-grade teacher who has shepherded many students through the halls in her years here. “We’re very fortunate to have such an involved parent community and great leadership [that is] so supportive of the teachers.”
Vandemark knows a thing or two about creating a supportive community. Her classroom radiates warmth, from the bright pops of primary colors to the cozy ambiance videos on the big screen, creating a calming and comforting atmosphere for all of her students. She’s been a teacher for 20 years, but didn’t come to the profession in a traditional way.
“It’s a funny story, actually,” she says with a smile. A communications major at Syracuse University, Vandemark moved to New York City soon after graduation and planned on putting her major to work in public relations, working temp jobs in the meantime. “I did not want to be a teacher at all. My mother was a teacher, my grandmother was a teacher, and my [paternal] grandfather was also a teacher.” Education was a family business for Vandemark. And it wasn’t long before she felt pulled to it herself, despite never seeing it as her path before.
“One day, I’m on the subway, and I see this ad for New York City Teaching Fellows,” Vandemark reminisces. The program is specifically tailored for people without degrees in education who are looking to make a change and a difference at the same time. Fellows receive what Vandemark describes as a “crash course” in education through classroom observations and eventual graduate-level coursework. The path’s promised stability enticed her as a young adult. “[I thought,] let’s give this a try!”
For Vandemark, the rest was history (and math, and reading). After completing the program, she spent seven years teaching in Brooklyn before hearing about an opening at PS 9 through a colleague. Choosing to stick around here was easy. “I just see everyone always going above and beyond to make the best for their students,” she observes. “We’re really open to trying new ideas, and we’re very supportive of each other too.”
PS 9 has partnered with Landmark West! on Keeping the Past for the Future, our suite of enrichment social studies programs since at least 2014, learning about the Upper West Side’s unique architecture and history, and rich diversity of stories. Over the years, Vandemark and her students have trekked to see brownstones, landmarks, churches, apartment buildings, and parks to see the rich diversity of stories here in the neighborhood. They’ve also put their creativity and architectural prowess to the test while designing and creating an array of buildings. Anyone who says that 2nd graders can’t be architects clearly hasn’t visited PS 9.
Vandemark usually celebrates the end of the school year with a picnic in Central Park with her students, a tradition that connects them to the biggest scenic landmark in the neighborhood. The Upper West Side truly is a classroom for students of all ages, from her cheerful 2nd graders to neighbors who have lived here for decades. If we know how to look, it can teach us so many things about our past.
