PARENT COORDINATOR UPDATES

Dear PS 107 Families.

What a heart-warming expression of the power of community and coming together seen during the Fall Festival! I thoroughly enjoyed watching the festivities and loved having an opportunity to meet some of you (even as I peddled the Lost and Found) :)

Please see below for Ms. Joanna’s weekly message and updates from myself and the PTA. 

MESSAGE FROM MS JOANNA 

Dear PS 107 Families, 

What a joy it was to see Fall Festival return to its pre-pandemic glory this past Saturday! The gorgeous fall weather was the icing on the cake. I can’t thank the Fall Festival co-chairs, Nisha Aoyama and Eve Dilworth, enough. Their impressive event planning skills made the day such a success, as did our many parent volunteers. I have so much gratitude for this community — your can-do spirit and the way that you generously give your time to support our school. THANK YOU!

I also wanted to make all of you aware that our teachers are in the midst of administering a number of required assessments to students. The NYC DOE mandates that all schools give academic “screeners” — short assessments that measure students’ skills in reading and math — three times a year. These screeners help teachers to measure how well students are responding to core instruction and whether additional support is needed. 

All NYCDOE schools are required to give Acadience Reading to students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade. These measure foundational reading skills and are administered one on one. In grades 3-5, PS 107 selected Star Reading as our academic screener, which is a computer-based assessment that’s administered in small groups or to an entire class at once. For K-5 math, we selected Star Math, which is also computer-based and administered in small groups or to an entire class at once. You can learn more about Star Assessments here.

These academic screeners will be administered three times this year — at the beginning of the year, mid-year, and at the end of the year. Our teachers will be interpreting the data generated by these assessments at their grade team meetings this year, and based on the results, will modify instruction and support students accordingly. Students will be taking these assessments in the next couple of weeks. 

Teachers are also in the midst of administering Fountas and Pinnell running records, which are given one on one, administered three times a year (beginning, middle, and end) and result in the familiar reading level that teachers have shared with you in previous years. A word of caution on these levels: they are but one measure of a child’s reading skills. As a school, we encourage children to read widely. Once you learn your child’s reading level, it is not necessary to restrict their reading just to books on that level. Motivation is a key factor in the development of reading skills. If a child is excited to read a text that’s higher than their assessed reading level, let them do so! You can provide support by answering questions they may have about the text or reading portions of it together so that you can deepen their comprehension.

Finally, a request from our crossing guards: please don’t cross against the light with your child in the mornings or afternoons. We’d rather your child be a minute later to school than risk an accident! Our crossing guards help all students cross safely when they are crossing at the correct time. Thank you for your attention to this important safety matter. 

Have a wonderful week!

Warmly, 

Ms Joanna

PS Don’t forget to follow our official PS 107 Twitter account! https://twitter.com/ps107brooklyn

To see all of Ms Joanna’s weekly updates, click here.

REMINDERS

FAMILY INCOME FORMS 

Did you know that completing these forms helps our school receive money for programs, regardless of whether your family qualifies for free or reduced lunch? If you haven’t done so already, please complete the Family Income Inquiry Form as soon as possible and help PS107 receive the funding we deserve. Deadline is coming up!

5TH GRADE FAMILIES

Please click here to access the DOE link for middle school enrollment information. The virtual information sessions offered by the DOE are listed both at the link and in the attached flyer.Please click here to view any changes to our middle school information document.  Mark your calendars for our own informative middle school enrollment workshop for 5th grade families on October 24th from 7 to 8pm.

LOST AND FOUND - Literal and Virtual 

At the Fall Festival I had the distinct pleasure of seeing several children reunited with favorite items that parents had no idea were lost! Please label your children’s items with their Full Name (First,Last) and classroom.  We make every effort to return items back to students if we can identify who they belong to.  Please take a quick look at our virtual lost and found here and if you see something that belongs to you, please email Nadia and we will be sure to get the item to your child to go home.  Parents usually send the picture with the email to make it clearer.

ENTERING THE BUILDING

Please be sure to bring your photo id and proof of your first vaccine dose with you when you enter the building. School Safety Agent Sharon must ask for both of these items when visitors enter the building.

Pro Tip: Take a picture of both and save them to your home screen or in your camera on your phone. This way if you have your phone with you, you will have both items easily accessible.

COVID UPDATES

Positive cases of COVID in students must still be reported to the DOE’s Situation Room; therefore, if your child tests positive, please alert our Parent Coordinator, Nadia Benlarbi, at parentcoordinator@ps107.org and copy Principal Joanna Cohen on your email at jcohen@ps107.org .

SCHOOL NEWS

• Introducing the First Issue of the PS 107 School Newspaper!  The 5 Day Week
• Bulletin Board Volunteer -Looking for a crafty parent to create our Staff Bulletin Board for the year. Interested ? Please contact Nadia for more details.

PTA UPDATES

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Picture Day - Mon, Oct 17
• PTA Meeting - 6:30 pm Thursday, Oct 20  Zoom Link Here
• Tea Collection School Days - Oct 17 - 23
• PTA Fun Run - Oct 23
• Stoop Crawl - Fri, Oct 28
• Powerhouse Book Fair - Nov 15-18

FALL FESTIVAL SUCCESS

This Saturday was an amazing experience at our fabulous Fall Festival.  There were so many families participating, volunteering, and enjoying the festivities.  A huge THANK YOU to everyone that attended and helped make our annual Fall Festival a huge success!  

TEA COLLECTION SCHOOL DAYS FUNDRAISER 

Starting Monday shop Tea Collection and use the unique promo code for PS107 community members.  We originally thought the discount would be 20%, but surprisingly it has been increased to 25% off! The great thing about this promo code is that when you use it, the PS 107 PTA will earn 20% donated back. Be sure to use the promo code below at checkout by entering it into the “Promo Box” during checkout. This code is not meant to be shared with coupon or deal sites, however please spread the word within our community to maximize our fundraising potential this week!

PS 107 PTA Promo Code is: SDF22PS107

STOOP CRAWL NEEDS DESSERT HOSTS

Our Annual Stoop Crawl is coming up in just 2 weeks on October 28th and WE NEED DESSERT HOSTS.  If you have a space that can hold 30 people please offer to host! We are willing to barter special arrangements to make it happen!

If you are not able to host but would like to attend, the last day to buy tickets for this highly anticipated event is this Wednesday, October 19th!

Here is the link to buy tickets:  https://ps107.wufoo.com/forms/ps-107-stoop-crawl-2022/

If you have never been to the Stoop Crawl before (previously known as the Eat & Greet or the Progressive Dinner), now is the time! This is a chance to meet new families, mingle with old ones, and have an outdoor and safe adult night out with other PS 107 families. It is commonly reported that people meet some of their BEST parent friends from PS 107 at this event.

SIGN UP FOR THE PTA FUN RUN - OCT 22

ALL PS 107 families are invited to run, walk, skip, scoot, and/or stroller their way through the 14th Annual PTA Fun Run, hosted by Council Member Hanif, on Oct 22nd at 9:00AM.  

For more details, see the announcement that went out last week here. To sign up for the fun run, click here. Council Member Hanif's office does not want the cost to limit any community members from participating. Please reach out to Mia Perez (MPerez@council.nyc.gov) if you need financial support.

Remember, this is a fun run and we welcome everyone --any ability!

IMPORTANT DATES

• October 17 - Picture Day! (Make-Up Picture day 11/22)
• October 19 - D15 Town Hall with Superintendent Alvarez - 6:30 - 8 pm                                   (Topic MS admissions) Click HERE for Zoom Registration * See Attached Flyer 
• October 20- Meet the Principal for Fourth Grade 9-10am. Click HERE for the zoom link
• October 20 - PTA meeting 6:30pm
• October 22 - Council District 33’s School Showcase 10:00 am -1:00 pm
  hosted by CM Lincoln Restler * See Attached Flyer
• October 24 - PS 107 5th Grade Middle School Information Session - 7-8pm                            Zoom information to follow
• October 26 -  Chancellor’s Town Hall hosted by CEC 15 - 6:30 -7:30 pm                                           In person at MS 88
• November 3 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - Virtual Platform 

UPCOMING HOLIDAYS

• November 8 - Election Day - Students do not attend school
• November 11 - Veterans Day - School is closed

Thank you

Nadia