Dear PS 107 Families,
This past week was such a special one at PS 107, showcasing not only the incredible diversity of our school and the many ways in which we identify, but also the connections that we all share. Thank you for joining us for Thursday’s and Friday’s Family Mornings! It was wonderful walking through classrooms and seeing so many families engaged in our schoolwide projects – making identity webs and paper chains with their children. The week was capped off by Saturday’s Heritage Day, which was a beautiful celebration of the many cultures and backgrounds of our school community. Enormous thanks to parent Brad Allen,organizer extraordinaire, as well as the many, many volunteers who hosted rooms and helped with logistics. Our core values of Curiosity, Compassion, and Community were on full display, and I feel so grateful to be part of this amazing school community.
Coming Soon: Report Cards!
Next Wednesday, January 31st, your child’s first report card will be available on their New York City Schools Account (NYCSA). Please be sure that you know how to log in to your child’s account, and if you need any assistance, please reach out to Nadia Benlarbi at nbenlarbi2@schools.nyc.gov. You will follow these steps to find your child’s report card:
Go to https://www.schoolsaccount.nyc/ and sign in with your credentials.
Choose the child whose report card you are looking for
Click “My Student”
Click “Grades”
On that page, you will see an icon that says “Report Card”
This should take you to another page where you’ll again click “Report Card,” and your child’s report card will download as a PDF.
Please be aware that the NYCSA system can be glitchy, and it sometimes takes a bit longer than we expect for your child’s report card to migrate to their account. If you don’t see their report card on the 31st, try again 24 hours later. Another common problem we have experienced is report card comments not migrating to NYCSA. If you don’t see comments, that is a glitch. All teachers have written comments that will accompany report cards. If you continue to have problems seeing your child’s complete report card by Friday, February 2nd, please reach out to Nadia Benlarbi. If you need a hard copy of your child’s report card and do not have access to a printer, please also reach out to Nadia, and she will print one out for you. Note that in this digital age, we are not printing report cards schoolwide so that we can save some trees!
Finally, please take a look at PS 107’s Grading Policy in advance of report cards coming out so that you can better understand how teachers determine grades for your child.
Reading and Math Screening Assessments Available on NYCSA
As noted in an earlier issue of the Wednesday Weekly, along with all New York City Public Schools, PS 107 administers academic screeners in reading and mathematics three times a year. While we have considered these to be internal documents because educator-specific knowledge about reading and math skills is needed to understand the results, we have recently learned that the overall results are now being shared on your child’s NYCSA, on the “Reading and Math Progress” tab. A few words of caution when you review these results:
These are but one measure of student skills. Your child’s report card grades in reading and math, which take into account multiple data points, are much more accurate measures of their skill levels.
In Kindergarten through grade 2, foundational literacy and math skills are being assessed with Acadience Learning benchmark assessments. These are timed assessments, which can impact student performance.
In grades 3-5, reading and math skills are being assessed with MAP Growth. These assessments are long and labor-intensive, with some children taking a few hours to complete them. They are also computer-based and teachers have reported that children have not yet encountered some of the skills being assessed. In some cases, teachers did not feel that they were accurate reflections of children’s skills.
Teachers communicate to students that these assessments are low stakes, and they should not feel stress or anxiety about taking them. There is no preparation they can or should be doing before taking them. Once again, they are but one data point that teachers use to measure student progress and adjust teaching to meet student needs. If you have questions about your child’s screener results, please plan to ask them during Parent-Teacher Conferences, which will be held next on March 7th.
Covid Cases are Up
Last but not least, as you may have noticed, there has been a definite uptick in Covid cases since the holiday break. Per NYCPS policy, we no longer report positive cases to the classroom or to the school community. We also no longer send home Covid tests when we know of a positive case in a class. We do supply free Covid tests to families! There is a large bin of tests in the entryway of PS 107. If you need tests for your family, please feel free to pick some up anytime! In addition to Covid cases being on the rise, so are all other illnesses, including the flu, strep throat, stomach viruses, and the common cold. Please keep your children home when they are sick, especially when they have a fever. Children should be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Ms Joanna