Visit your child’s class for music!  The PTA Music Committee has made arrangements to have an ‘open class’ so parents can visit and see what is happening in music at PS 154.

Please check with your teacher for details and to confirm the times.

Wednesday, Jan 25 – 1^st Grade
1-210: 2^nd period – 9:30 – 10:15
1-205: 3^rd period – 10:20 – 11:05
1-202: 5^th period – 12:15 – 1:15
1-208: 6^th period – 1:20 – 2:05

Friday, Jan 27 – 3^rd Grade
3-308: 2^nd period – 9:30 – 10:15
3-310: 3^rd period – 10:20 – 11:05
3-304: 4^th period – 11:10 – 12:10

Friday, Jan 27 – 4^th Grade
4-303: 2^nd period – 9:30 – 10:15
4-305: 3^rd period – 10:20 – 11:05

Friday, Jan 27 – 5^th Grade
5-306: 4^th period – 11:10 – 12:10
5-307: 6^th period – 1:20 – 2:05

Monday, Jan 30 PK
PK-102: 6^th period – 1:20 – 2:05

Monday, Jan 30 K
K-201: 1^st period – 8:45 – 9:25
K-109: 2^nd period – 9:30 – 10:15
K-101: 3^rd period – 10:20 – 11:05
K-110: 5^th period – 12:15 – 1:15

Monday, Jan 30 – 2nd Grade
2-203: 2^nd period – 9:30 – 10:15
2-206: 3^rd period – 10:20 – 11:05
2-207: 5^th period – 12:15 – 1:15

Updated Visitor Procedure

We have made a change to our visitor procedures.  As before, all visitors (including parents) must show photo ID and sign in at the front desk.  Visitors who are going to a classroom or to the meet with a staff member will continue to go to the main office, where office staff will call to make sure the teacher/staff is available.  Beginning Monday Jan 23, visitors going to the 2nd or 3rd floors will receive a color coded laminated pass for that floor.  These passes are to be returned to the office when leaving the building.  You can find this policy on our website here.

Special Activity on February First Friday

On February 3, every class will participate in a ‘Fitness Break’ during First Fridays.  Parents will have the opportunity to see (and join in) the Fitness Breaks that are going on in our classrooms as part of our ‘Move to Improve’ grant.  We look forward to seeing you all there!

Community Code

All classes will be having class meetings and buddy activities over the next few weeks to discuss and celebrate our community code.  Take a moment to discuss the code with your child and talk about what it means to them.

At PS 154, we are a caring school community that helps each other to be the best that we can be.

• We treat each other with kindness and respect.
• We are careful with each others’ bodies and feelings.
• We ask for help when we’re not sure what to do.
• We take good care of our school and everything in it.
• We are honest and fair and always try to do our best.

Lost and Found

Our lost and found has grown to epic proportions.  The next time you are in school, please take a moment to look through and claim anything your child(ren) may have lost.  Anything unclaimed as of Feb 17 (the Friday before mid-Winter break) will be donated.

Everyday Math for Parents Workshop

Mr. Havlik did a great presentation before the Jan 12 PTA meeting on how to help your children with Math.  Missed it?  You can find the whole presentation (including links to sites with videos that explain various Everyday Math ‘algorithms’ you may be unfamiliar with eg partial sums, lattice multiplication etc.) on our website here (there is also a link on the home page in the For Parents section, and on the Curriculum page under Mathematics).

Great news! We will be able to continue our Test Prep program this year.

For those who don’t know, Test Prep is a program we offer as a supplement to our curriculum to help prepare our students for the New York State ELA and Math standardized exams in grades 3, 4, and 5.  It is a voluntary program which takes place over the course of eight Saturday mornings from 9:00am – 12:00pm.  Half of each session is devoted to teaching test taking strategies in literacy and half to test-taking strategies and review of content in math.  In the past, Test Prep was funded through a district-wide grant, but last year the grant was no longer available and we funded the program through the school’s budget.  Because of cuts in the budget, we were not sure if we would be able to hold these classes.  We are very pleased to announce that we will be able to cover the cost of these classes.

Test Prep is a supplement to our school’s curriculum.  It is not necessary for students to participate, although we do feel that there is a benefit to those that do.  In some cases, teachers will reach out to families whom we really feel need the extra help.   We believe that our curriculum is a sufficient vehicle for success on the state exams and many students who do not participate in Test Prep score at very high levels.  All of our classes do a unit of study in ELA where we familiarize our students with the test format and focus on helping our students to be stronger readers, tackling stamina, volume, and comprehension.  We do the same in math, utilizing exams from previous years.

Although standardized test scores have little to do with our mission as a school, we recognize their importance with respect to middle school placement and promotion and are happy to be able to offer this to our community once again.   We have tentatively set the start date to be Saturday, February 4.  A more detailed notice with a schedule and permission slip will be sent home over the next few weeks to our 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade families.

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please let me know.

Warmly,

Samuel Ortiz

Principal

Kindergarten Registration                                                                                           

Applications will be available in the main office from:  Jan 9 – Mar 2, 2012, 9:00-11:00 AM

Please bring your child’s original birth certificate or passport and two (2) valid proofs of address.

Pre-Kindergarten Registration.. will begin Mar 5.

Have a child eligible for PK in 2012-13?  Please let us know so we can get an estimate of how many siblings there are!

Fill in the form, or email Diana Plunkett (dplunkett@schools.nyc.gov) the following:

Current Student’s Name & Class, PK Eligible Student’s Name, Your Name, Address, and Phone/Email.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the school (718-768-0057), check our website’s registration page or the DOE website.

From the Music Committee…

The Wish List Items are arriving..

The next Armory Day for 2nd -5th graders is Tuesday December 13.

Parent volunteers are always needed.  To help, email Mrs. Ussery

The schedule for the rest of the year is (for grades 2 – 5, unless noted):

Jan 10;  Feb 14;  Mar 6 (for K & 1); Apr 3; May 15 (K & 1);  May 22

After-school enrichment club registration will be held on Wednesday Dec. 7th, Thursday Dec. 8th and Friday Dec. 9th. You may drop off your registration in person between 8:30 am and 10:00 am on the days listed above - or you may send your registration in with your child- or you may place the registration form in the PTA’s Lock Box which in the school’s main office.

You can find the clubs catalog and registration forms on the After School Blog.

Penny Harvest Ends Next Week!

All the goods ordered in Ms. Guzzi’s fund raiser are here.  They are going home today, but if you ordered a lot (thank you!) you might want to make arrangements to pick up from Ms. Guzzi.