Press Releases

WCNY’s ‘TV Classroom’ launches March 30 on WCNY’s GLOBAL CONNECT TV channel

by Rouhollah Goudarzi

March 26, 2020

WCNY, Central New York’s community-owned public broadcaster, has partnered with the Syracuse City School District to create the TV Classroom network.

The TV Classroom network will be aired from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays on WCNY’s GLOBAL CONNECT channel (GLOBAL CONNECT is on 24.3 with an antenna, 1276 on Spectrum Digital, and 467 on FiOS), and will be simulcast from wcny.org and via a live stream on YouTube. The classes will also be published on demand at wcny.org/tvclassroom.

With schools closed and many children without internet access, WCNY is committed to providing educational opportunities to audiences of all ages. WCNY’S “TV Classroom” will allow children to continue to connect with real teachers and have the continuity of a classroom experience at home in Syracuse and across the 19 counties in Central New York.

“I want to applaud WCNY and the Syracuse City School District for their partnership to provide this critical educational resource to students, especially those without internet access at home,” said Ben Walsh, Mayor, City of Syracuse. “This new network has the ability to impact thousands of students across Central New York while supporting teachers, educators, parents, and families.”

“Education is at the core of WCNY’s mission,” said Mitch Gelman, WCNY President & CEO. “We are pleased to utilize our broadcast capabilities to provide needed educational services to students, educators, and families by developing a community classroom during this challenging time.”

“This is a wonderful partnership and I am so happy that we are able to provide this academic resource for our students and families,” said Jaime Alicea, Syracuse City School District Superintendent. “We have amazing teachers and educational leaders in the Syracuse City School District, and I want to thank them for reimagining what learning looks like at this moment in time.”

Many of Central New York’s top teachers will provide students with grade specific lessons. The “TV Classroom” will start each day with “Storytime” and end with a “Field Trip.” It will feature Math, Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, Health and Fitness, and Arts & Culture courses and documentary and learning content from the PBS collection in between.

More learning materials can be found on the wcny.org/tvclassroom website. In addition, there is educational content for parents, caregivers, teachers, and educators available at wcny.org/stayconnected. These sites also feature programming schedules, how to watch information and bios of the teachers who are participating in the TV Classroom network.

To support WCNY’s TV Classroom, join the TV Classroom Booster Club, visit wcny.org/boosterclub or mail donations to WCNY TV Classroom Network, 415 W. Fayette St., Syracuse, NY 13204.

Normally scheduled programming on GLOBAL CONNECT is being pre-empted for this critical public service initiative. For information on how to find GLOBAL CONNECT, visit wcny.org/wheretowatch.