PARENT COORDINATOR UPDATES
Dear PS 107 Families.
Thanksgiving is always a time of reflection for me. I try to be mindful and purposeful all year with my intention, but Thanksgiving for me is a time to be clearer with my appreciation.
I am so appreciative of this time I have been here with PS 107, with the families and students, but also with the staff. You all welcomed me and made me feel at home. I feel as though I have gained family in this new community and so much kindness has been shown in this brief time. It is a powerful and wondrous thing to be the recipient of.
I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and I wish for all of you to be able to have a moment of true gratitude and to feel love.
Please see below for Ms. Joanna’s weekly message and updates from myself and the PTA.
MESSAGE FROM MS JOANNA
Dear PS 107 Families,
All schools in District 15 were recently notified that we are required to complete a social-emotional screener for all of our students by December 2nd. There had been some conflicting communication from the Department of Education about these social-emotional screening tools, and we now find ourselves with a relatively short timeframe in which to complete them.
Schools are permitted to select their own social-emotional screening tool; however, with so little time, PS 107 has opted to use the Devereaux Student Strengths Assessment or DESSA, which all teachers were required to use (and therefore have been trained to use) in the 2021-22 school year. The DESSA asks questions about areas of social-emotional functioning including decision making, relationship building, confidence, and others.This tool will be completed by your child’s classroom teacher during the week of November 28th.
The results of this screener will not be included on report cards, will not have any impact on grades, and will not be used to make any diagnostic or evaluation decisions. The results will be stored securely in an online portal that meets the DOE’s strictest privacy and security settings and will only be viewable by your child(ren)’s teachers and select school staff such as the principal or counselor.
During the week of November 28th, teachers will complete the screening questionnaire for each student in their class. The questions on the screening are answered by teachers based on their observations of your child in the preceding 4 weeks. The questions are not asked directly to your child and your child will not lose any instructional time as a result of the DESSA.
Parents may opt out of the DESSA. If you would like to do so, please complete this form by Friday, November 25th at 5 pm. If you complete this form, your child’s teacher will not complete a DESSA for your child.
Whether you choose to opt out of the DESSA or choose to have it administered, know that the PS 107 community believes strongly in the importance of building the social and emotional skills of students. Social-emotional learning (SEL), which includes developing relationship skills, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, and optimistic thinking, is a cornerstone of all that we do at PS 107. If you have any concerns about your child’s social-emotional skills, please feel free to reach out to their classroom teacher or a member of our counseling team, Sarah Green (sgreen@ps107.org) or Colleen Dondero (cdondero@ps107.org).
Once again, if you would like to opt out of the DESSA screening tool, please complete this form by Friday, November 25th at 5 pm. If you have additional questions about the DESSA, please take a look at this information provided by the Department of Education or reach out to me directly at jcohen72@schools.nyc.gov
I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, filled with joy and celebration with your loved ones!
Warmly,
Ms Joanna
PS We have one new Amazon wishlist for a PS 107 family in need, and two additional wishlists with a few remaining items on them! During this season of giving, please consider supporting our families who need a little extra help during a challenging time.
To see all of Ms Joanna’s weekly updates, click here.
Don’t forget to follow our official PS 107 Twitter account! https://twitter.com/ps107brooklyn
LOST AND FOUND
Please take a look at the virtual lost and found for your child's items.
LABEL PLEASE
Please continue to label your children’s items with their Full Name (First,Last) and classroom. I have been able to return a few more items recently because there have been more labels. Thank you :)
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 .
PTA UPDATES
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Craft Fair - 12:00-3:00pm Dec 10th
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Parents' Special Education Support Committee - 12:00 pm Dec.14th
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Teacher Holiday Potluck - Dec. 21st
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Next PTA Meeting - 9am Dec 22nd
FOLEY FIRS
Starting the Friday after Thanksgiving, Foley Firs will start selling Christmas Trees. If you visit Foley Firs to buy your Christmas tree and mention PS 107, they will donate $10 per tree to our PTA! They are located on 8th Ave and 8th street, and offer free delivery and installation of trees. Also, if you would like to order online instead of visiting their tree stand (or track how much we have fundraised with them), check out their website at www.foleyfirs.com
SPRING AUCTION
The PS 107 Spring Auction will be on Friday April 28th at the Prospect Park Picnic House. We are now in the beginning stages of organizing the auction donations and need more help! We are looking for people that can volunteer to talk with some local businesses about donations to our school. Everything is all set, we just need some feet on the ground. If you can help in any way, please reach out to Alyse Dosik alyselaw@gmail.com or Christine Canedo-Pullan christine.canedo@gmail.com.
AMAZON SMILE
As we approach the holiday season, we wanted to send out a reminder that if you choose to make a purchase on Amazon, please consider doing it through Amazon Smile and select "Public School 107 Parent Teacher Association Inc" as your charity. Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of your eligible purchases to our PTA, but please remember that you have to shop on smile.amazon.com and NOT regular amazon.com every single time you purchase something in order for the contribution to take place.
PARENTS’ SPECIAL EDUCATION SUPPORT COMMITTEE
The Parents' Special Education Support Committee is hosting its next meeting of the year on Wed, Dec. 14th at noon. All are welcome to join. We'll be planning events and offering a forum to discuss our children's needs. Zoom link here and more information in the Konstella announcement here. Questions? Message co-chairs Ginny Wiehardt (glwiehardt@gmail.com) or Amber Lewis (lewis.amberlynn@gmail.com)
IMPORTANT DATES
- November 22 - Picture Make Up Day -early am
- December 1st - Middle School Applications Due
- December 10 - Holiday Craft Fair
UPCOMING HOLIDAYS
- November 24 - 25 - Thanksgiving Recess - School is closed
Thank you
Nadia