06.20.2017 | WNYC | Emma Albert, 14, has never entered her school through the front door. The eighth grader has a vascular malformation on her left leg, which means that since the first grade she used a wheelchair though she could switch to crutches for short distances. And it means that she could access only the areas of her school that were wheelchair accessible. So, each morning she entered The Manhattan School for Children through a side entrance. When it came time to apply to high school, she lamented that her search was driven more by accessibility than school offerings. “They don’t really care about, ‘What are your interests outside of school?’ It’s like, as long as it’s accessible, it’s a good school for you,” she said. Emma and other students spoke at a recent panel on school accessibility, organized by the ARISE Coalition (coordinated by Advocates for Children) and Parents for Inclusive Education. Read article