PARENT COORDINATOR UPDATES

Hello PS 107 Families!

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

MESSAGE FROM MS JOANNA 

Dear PS 107 Families, 

In this week’s letter, I’d like to address a topic that we’ve all experienced in some way during our lives: bullying. The very word conjures up painful memories of our years in elementary, middle, and high school. Perhaps we’ve even experienced bullying as an adult, whether by a colleague, a supervisor, a neighbor, or someone else in our orbit. 

First and foremost, I want to be clear that we do not tolerate bullying at PS 107. Once we are made aware of a situation that may constitute bullying, we investigate it thoroughly, address it with all of the children involved, connect with parents, and if appropriate, engage in restorative meetings to address the harm caused by the incident. 

Next, it’s important to define bullying because it is something quite specific that more typical childhood conflict does not rise to. (See here for the difference between bullying and conflict.) Bullying includes behaviors that are repeated over a period of time. There is a pattern in which a particular child is deliberately targeted by another child. There must also be a perceived power imbalance, in which the bully has more perceived “power,” whether physical or social, that they use to control or harm the other child. Many, many students have experienced conflict with other children or other children being unkind to them, but this does not mean it is bullying. To be clear, we are not OK with children being unkind either, and we address it in very similar ways; however, children being unkind to one another or having conflicts is relatively typical behavior as they are learning about themselves and how to treat others in a community in a respectful manner. We believe that a big part of our jobs as educators is to teach children how to be kind and caring community members.

When, following an investigation, children are found to be the victim of bullying, we provide them with significant support, from counseling to ensuring that they are connected with a trusted adult at school with whom they feel comfortable sharing any additional incidents that may occur. Being the victim of bullying can have profoundly negative effects on children, and we know that connection with and support from their community is what helps to mitigate the impact.

We also approach the student who is in the role of bully from a place of compassion and empathy. While the behavior is not at all OK, we want to understand what causes it so that we can intervene. Research (and our own experience) demonstrates that children who bully lack prosocial skills, have low self-esteem, and may have experienced traumatic events. We all know the expression “hurt people, hurt people,” and that is certainly the case when it comes to bullying. As a result, we do not simply punish children who bully others. We also provide them with support, such as counseling. We also work to identify positive activities that they can become involved with at school so that they feel more connected to the community, building social skills and reducing the (usually unconscious) desire to cause harm. Punishment, which is designed to isolate children, may in fact lead to more aggressive behavior, rather than reducing it. 

Finally, how do we address the third role in bullying — bystanders? Bystanders witness bullying, but don’t do anything to stop it. We work with all of our students, teaching them to be upstanders in the face of bullying. Even if children do not feel comfortable in the moment standing up to another child, we remind them that there is always an adult nearby who they can tell about the incident. 

Unfortunately, conflict will always be a part of all of our lives. The way that we approach it can significantly reduce its impact and prevent it from rising to the level of bullying. At 107, we are teaching children to recognize the signs of bullying and to report it to an adult. We are also working hard to create a connected community and positive climate in our school that helps to prevent bullying in the first place. If you have concerns about a situation that you feel may be bullying, please reach out School Counselor Sarah Green or Social Worker Colleen Dondero to discuss it.  

Last but not least, as you may have noticed, we’re experiencing the return of a familiar pest that we haven’t seen much of since the Covid-19 pandemic started: LICE! Social distancing seemed to keep head lice at bay — we had next to zero cases in the last few years — but since life has returned more or less to normal, lice have made a comeback as well, and we’ve had multiple cases reported over the course of the last two weeks. Prior to the pandemic, we had regular, schoolwide lice checks, and we’ll be resuming them this Monday. The Lady Bug Team will visit all classrooms on Monday. Please help the PTA pay for this valuable service by clicking here. Thank you to Nadia Benlarbi and the PTA Executive Board for making the Lady Bug visit happen so quickly. 

Have a terrific week!

Warmly, 

Ms Joanna

PS Many thanks to those of you who have donated bags of candy to us! Our staff greatly appreciates having a regularly full candy dish in our conference room. We are always looking to keep our stock of chocolate high to help staff get that sugar rush when they are flagging, so we welcome any additional donations of individually wrapped chocolate. Just drop them off in the main office. THANK YOU!

NEWS

D15 CCEC Candidate Forum

Monday, March 27, 2023, 6:00 pm

Log into Forum HERE.

Candidate Forums are the best opportunity for your community to meet the candidates running for a council seat. Forums are organized by the district and borough Presidents’ Councils, in collaboration with the Office of Family and Community Empowerment (FACE).                                    Meet the candidates running for a seat here. See attached flyer for more details.

REMINDERS

LICE CHECK - MONDAY 3/27/23

The Lady Bug crew will visit the classrooms this Monday in the morning.  Please use this link to help the PTA fund this service. We are planning a follow up visit after spring break, date tbd.

*Please keep up your own checks after we have our school wide visit. Vigilance and due diligence are the most effective tools against the spread of lice. 

SCHOOL SURVEYS  - LAST WEEK!

All classes with 95% completion of the NYC School Survey can win a PIZZA PARTY!!                        How can you help to make this happen for your students:

• Parents/guardians should complete a separate survey for each child enrolled at PS 107
• Parents/guardians can take the survey online at NYCSchoolSurvey.org
• To access the survey, parents/guardian should enter the letter “f” (lowercase) followed by their student’s identification (OSIS) number which can be found on their report card, student ID card, NYCSA account, or Operoo (e.g. f123456789)
• The deadline to take the survey is March 31st, 2023
• The online survey is available in 10 NYCDOE supported languages: English, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Urdu

Once you complete the survey, please complete this google form so we may track your child's classrooms progress.                                                                                                                                                      Questions? Contact: parentcoordinator@ps107.org 

COVID-19 UPDATES

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 . We are still reporting positive cases to the situation room and notifying classrooms and staff.

LOST AND FOUND 

Please click here to view the virtual lost and found. I have hats and scarves temporarily bagged for two weeks due to our current lice appearance. They will make a reappearance after the break :)

Please continue to label your children’s items with their Full Name (First,Last) and classroom.  The full name is important as we do have students with the same first name and including the classroom saves the extra step of looking up children in Operoo to find their classrooms to return the items to them.  

PTA UPDATES

IMPORTANT DATES

• March 27-  Lice check with  The Lady Bug NYC
• March 31 - Family Morning Cycle 2, session 1
• March 31 - School Survey completion deadline
• April 1 - Stem Day

UPCOMING HOLIDAYS

• April 6 - 16 - Spring Recess - School Closed

Thank you,

Nadia