Our 4th graders performed in the Big Yard last week to close out their dance residency with National Dance Institute
Dear PS 107 Families,
Thank you for your support and flexibility last week as we confronted another public health emergency that impacted our school community — this time, our air quality was dramatically affected because of wildfires burning in Canada. We were prepared with our upgraded HVAC system; our classroom A/Cs, which are outfitted with MERV-13 filters; classroom air purifiers; and extra masks at-the-ready for walks to and from the Armory and for dismissal. This time, it was better to be indoors than outdoors, but it still brought back difficult reminders of the many uncertain times and conflicting information that we were getting during the Covid pandemic. Like before, it was the support and flexibility from our community that got us through, and I am grateful.
Do you need at-home Covid tests?
Speaking of Covid, we have a large number of Covid tests at school that we would like to distribute before the end of the school year. If you would like some — or a lot! — for your family, please reach out to Nadia Benlarbi at parentcoordinator@ps107.org, and we will arrange for you to pick them up. Don’t be shy about asking! We have many, many tests in stock and would like them to go to families who can use them.
Reading information on your child’s June report cards
Teachers are in the process of working on children’s second report cards of the year, and you should expect that the information you will be provided related to your child’s reading skills will be different than you are accustomed to. In the past, parents were given an A-Z reading level that their child had achieved during a recent assessment called a running record and were told whether their child was reading well-below grade level, below grade level, on grade level, or above grade level, based on their letter reading level. As we have been learning more about the Science of Reading and structured literacy, we have come to realize that the assessment system that assigns children to a reading level, the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, is not backed by research (for a deeper dive into this, download Professor Tim Shanahan’s October 2022 presentation entitled The Science of Reading Levels).
As a result, on your child’s June report card, teachers will not be providing a letter reading level, and will instead let you know whether your child is reading well-below, below, at, or above grade level based on the criterion-referenced assessments that we are now administering — Acadience Reading benchmark assessments in K-2 and the Acadience Reading Maze assessment for reading comprehension in grades 3-5. Most children’s books are labeled with an approximate grade level on the back, so your child’s teacher will tell you which grade levels to look for when helping your child choose books to read this summer at the library or the book store. Your child’s teacher will also indicate which strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope your child is struggling with (if any), and how to support your child over the summer with those specific skills.
Class creation for 2023-24
Finally, we are very much in the midst of making up classes for the 2023-24 school year. We have a very in-depth process for creating classes, and we go through multiple rounds of review of these classes. As noted before, we do not take requests for specific teachers, nor can we guarantee that your child will be placed with their closest friend. In the vast majority of cases, we are also aware of challenging social dynamics that need to be interrupted by moving children to separate classes; however, it can be helpful for you to alert your child’s teacher or me about those so that we can take them into consideration. Note that it is extremely difficult to make class changes once school ends and teachers are no longer in the building, as we rely on teacher input during this process. Therefore, if there is any information that you would like to share with your child’s teacher or with me, please do so before Tuesday, June 27th. And as a reminder, we do not make class changes once class assignments are sent out in August, as this has a domino effect. Thank you for your understanding.
And with that, welcome to the last 11 days of the 2022-23 school year. I’m looking forward to sharing all the end-of-year events with you in the next two weeks, including the rescheduled Spring Fling, this Thursday, 6:30-9 pm, in the Big Yard!
Warmly,
Ms Joanna