#BROOKLYN FREESPACE PROFESSIONAL#

Szuflita works seven-day weeks, and has a backlog of hundreds of inquiries. She busts myths, too: “any dual-language program is automatically better than all general education programs” “gifted-and-talented programs are best of all” “free-lunch eligible numbers tell the whole story.” She says she dispenses her advice from the perspective of “an old mom.” The effect on nervous families is borderline narcotic-one parent described her as “a great big Valium.” She also explains acronyms and jargon and guides real-estate choices. She gives assessments of the nearly a hundred and thirty private and public programs she’s observed and helps parse an overwhelming amount of information. More than four hundred families sought out Szuflita in 2012. “So I want you to stop being afraid, and start thinking and feeling what’s right for your family.”

“You make bad decisions when you work from a position of fear,” Szuflita says. The choice must be carefully, and calmly, considered. Public-school options are numerous and vary wildly. Her ideal client is new to Brooklyn, committed to raising a family in the city, and “guilty about not moving to Westchester.” They are not the one per cent-private-school tuition would require huge sacrifices.

#BROOKLYN FREESPACE PROFESSIONAL#

As Brooklyn’s only professional school consultant, Joyce Szuflita (last name: “chef-leeta”) focusses on one of the basic building blocks of family life: helping parents choose the right school for their child. In a complex city like New York, there are many businesses that capitalize on helping people make choices: closet organizers, personal trainers, stylists, and, of course, psychotherapists, to name a handful. “Making Money” is a series on the different ways that people throughout New York City make money.

Brooklyn freespace