Save the Date: Back to School Night – September 17th
-more info to follow
September 5, 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome Back! I hope that everyone had a restful summer break. This school year we will continue to provide instruction that is fully aligned to the Common Core State Standards and supports our School’s Instructional Focus for 2018-2019:
Students will be engaged in developmental writing tasks and independent reading supported through teacher and peer feedback.
We will continue to support our students’ social emotional learning (SEL) through Classroom Pacts that establish norms on how students want to feel in school every day. This year we will incorporate the use of the “Mood Meter” that helps students and staff to recognize and manage their emotions in order to persevere through challenging times as well as to celebrate accomplishments and set future goals.
Students in grade K-5 will be immersed in the Teachers’ College (TC) Reading and Writing Project. Aligned tightly to the Common Core’s instructional shifts, TC’s instructional materials include a balance of rigorous fiction and non-fiction texts, build students’ academic vocabulary and knowledge across content areas, engage students in using evidence from texts to make oral and written arguments, and develop students’ critical thinking skills.
In mathematics, students in grade K, 1, and 2 will continue to use the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Go Math program. In grades 3, 4, and 5 students will be immersed in the NYS Math Modules program which provides added instructional enrichment in mathematics and encourages conceptual understanding. Our math program is strongly aligned to the instructional shifts required by the Common Core standards: they focus deeply on a narrower set of key topics for each grade, clearly connect students’ learning across grade levels, and ensure students have the opportunity to practice skills and apply their thinking to real-world problems.
New to our school’s curriculum this year is the Science Amplify program which is designed to inspire students to read, write and argue like scientists to gain a better understanding of the world, as they gain the skills needed to master the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Teachers will continue to challenge all of our students to think critically, to read and understand more difficult texts, to do more writing, and to apply the math they are learning in the real world. Please feel free to visit the Common Core State Standards website: http://www.corestandards.org/, for further information on grade level expectations in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Sharing Is Caring is our school wide theme for our student activities. Sponsored PTA assemblies will support the NYC DOE Diversity and Equity Initiatives that promote and foster good citizenship among students, teachers, and families.
With this letter you will be receiving our new parent information packet that includes a blue emergency card which we must keep on file for every student. Please read through the packet of information carefully, and sign and return any required tear-off’s to the main office. You will find another cover letter inside the packet that lists all of the enclosures.
We have a great year planned for our students! Please feel free to contact me or Mrs. Lilly Chu, our parent coordinator with any questions, ideas, or suggestions.
Sincerely,
Karen Scott-Piazza ☺
Principal PS205Q
First Friday of Every Month is 205 Logo Wear Day!
Everyone is encouraged to show off their school pride with PS 205 Logo Wear.
