Our beautifully-restored ecosystem sculptures grace the side of PS 107 once again!
Dear PS 107 Families,
Welcome back to school! It’s hard to believe we are entering the final stretch of the school year, with less than 50 days to go until the end of the year. This past week certainly gave us a taste of summer, and I hope that you and your family were able to enjoy the sunshine after a long winter.
THIS WEEK AT PS 107
The final quarter of the school year will be a busy one, as usual! Starting on Monday, April 17th, parents can apply to have their child attend NYC’s Summer Rising program. For the third year in a row, from July 5th through August 18th, a partnership between the NYC Department of Education and the Department of Youth and Community Development will provide full-day academic and enrichment opportunities for students in the NYC public schools. The city is opening many Summer Rising sites across the five boroughs. The closest site to PS 107 (and our official “partner” site) will be PS 130, in Windsor Terrace. But, parents can apply to any site in the city. Applications will be open from April 17th through May 1st, and you will learn about your child’s placement approximately one week after applications close. Enrollment is not first-come, first-serve, as it has been in the past. Please review the application instructions carefully and reach out to Nadia Benlarbi, Parent Coordinator, at parentcoordinator@ps107.org with any questions.
This week, on April 19th and 20th, our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students will take the New York State English Language Arts (ELA) test. We know that they are well-prepared and will be able to tackle the test with confidence! The New York State Math test is coming up for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on May 2nd and 3rd. Please encourage your children to try their best, but not to worry if there are questions they aren’t sure how to answer. These tests have very low stakes and are a good opportunity for students to practice their test-taking skills.
This Friday, April 21st is Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims around the world. It is a day off from school for students. Eid Mubarak to all PS 107 families who are celebrating!
STRUCTURED LITERACY PILOT UPDATES
As all of you know, PS 107 is one of New York City’s structured literacy pilot schools. This is a great honor and puts us at the forefront of the literacy instructional shifts that are happening across the nation and across our city, based on a settled body of research about how the brain learns to read called the Science of Reading. In order to effectively make these shifts, our teachers need to be trained, and this training will begin the week of April 17th. Our school will be working with the AIM Institute for Learning and Research. Nineteen PS 107 teachers will be taking a 55-hour, graduate-level course called Pathways to Proficient Reading, where they will learn the fundamentals of evidence-based literacy instruction.
Participating teachers will be out of their classrooms for six days between mid-April and the end of the school year so that they can take the course modules. This will get them part of the way through Pathways to Proficient Reading, and they will complete the course over the summer. Your child’s teacher should let you know when they will be out of the classroom to complete the course modules. We have worked hard to stagger the days teachers are out of the classroom as much as possible to minimize the impact on your children. PS 107’s wonderful team of substitute teachers will also provide full days of instruction when your child’s teacher is out. We also believe all of this is worth it — this is highly specialized training that we are fortunate to be able to provide to our teachers thanks to the New York City Department of Education’s and Assemblymember Robert Carroll’s support of our shift to structured literacy.
ICYMI: WHAT HAPPENED OVER THE BREAK?
Over the Spring Break, News12 interviewed Councilmember Shahana Hanif on measures that we are working on to improve pedestrian safety on 8th Avenue in the vicinity of PS 107. A big thank you to all of the families who reached out to the Councilmember’s and the Assemblymember’s offices! Changes have already started — and more are on the way. This could not have been accomplished without the advocacy of our entire community.
Lastly, over Spring Break, we reinstalled our spectacular ecosystem sculptures on the side of our building! These were taken down last year to be refurbished by the original artist (and former 107 parent) Marney Fuller and PS 107 students (who provided a lot of able assistance in the spring of 2022!), and they now look better than ever. We’re starting the process of remaking the Big Yard as well, and we’ll be continuing the ecosystem and sustainability theme in that space.
Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Ms Joanna
PS Our Science teacher, Ms Abby, is still in need of some critical supplies! Can you help by ordering from her Amazon wishlist?