Principal's Weekly letter 10/2/24
Principal's Weekly letter 10/2/24
October 2, 2024
Dear Families,
October 15th will be the last day families can order an IS230 uniform. If you need help please contact Mr. Salazar, our parent coordinator.
Our first week of our silent reading initiative was a huge success. Both students and staff enjoyed reading in silence and having the opportunity to actually start or finish a book they have wanted to read. Every Friday for one 45 minute period students and teachers will engage in silent reading activity. We are asking students to bring a book from home or they can borrow a book from our classroom library. Research shows that silent reading improves students' understanding because it helps them concentrate on reading rather than pronunciation. This practice also allows children to read faster and improve comprehension. Silent reading also helps develop reading skills for a purpose, as the focus is on understanding the content. Below is an article noting the benefits of silent reading.
https://ascd.org/el/articles/ten-minutes-a-day-for--silent-reading
We held our final grade expectation assemblies on Monday, September 30th. During the assembly Administration, Deans, Guidance Counselors and our S.E.L team went over our Academic, Behavioral and Social expectations of IS230. We are asking both students and parents to read and sign the contract. As of October 1st all students have received their updated Student I.D cards and we have started to implement our morning arrival swiping via our CASS system. Signed contracts should be returned to your child’s Homeroom teacher by October 2nd.
8th grade families the High School Application process opened up on October 1st. The high school application process is an exciting and daunting time. The High School application process is completed online via your NYC My school's Account by our 8th grade student’s parents/guardians. It is very important that you take the time to navigate the website and application process. We will be here to support you during this process via Parent workshops and setting up individual appointments with your 8th grade Guidance Counselor Mr. Gellard, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the families to complete the application process. Our first high school application workshop will be on October 7th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m in English and on October 10th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m in Spanish both will take place in our Main Auditorium.
We are excited to announce that on October 7th our Student Government Application is ready for any student interested in being a part of Student Government. Applications can be picked up from your child’s social studies teacher the week of October 7th. The deadline to Submit the application is October 18th. Campaigning will take place the last two weeks of October and our Election will be held the week of November 4th.
We will hold 6th grade boys basketball tryouts on Tuesday, October 8th from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the Main Building. We will hold 7th and 8th grade boys basketball tryouts on Thursday, October 10th from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Students can pick up permission slips from Mr. Dritto in the Main Building and Main office of the Annex building. 6th grade girls basketball tryouts will take place on Thursday, October 17th from 2:30-4:30 p.m. We will hold 7th and 8th grade girls basketball tryouts on Thursday October 24th from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Students can pick up permission slips from Mr. Espinal in the Main Building and Main office of the Annex building.
The 21st Century After School Program applications are now available! If your student is interested in participating in any of the clubs below, please print and fill out the application and cover sheet or pick up an application. Applications must be turned in physical copy to the After-school office in the main building . If your child is accepted into the program, you will be notified via email. We have limited space so it is first-come first-served and you must receive email confirmation that your student has been accepted before they may join the program.
Math and Nutrition with Ms Stevens on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 4:30pm
Shining Stars with Ms Flynn on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 4:30p
Debate Club with Ms Avila on Tuesdays and Thursdays until 4:30p
Creative Arts with Ms Shuaib on Thursdays and Fridays until 5:00pm
Badminton/Fitness with Mr. Uccellini on Tuesdays until 4:30pm (7th & 8th grades only)
Volleyball/Fitness with Mr. Uccellini on Wednesdays until 4:30pm (7th & 8th grade only)"
There are still a few spots available with our new partnership with the Community Affairs Bureau Queens Youth Strategies Division as we have collaborated with former IS230 student P.O Julia Hoch in creating a Girls soccer club Shoot for Goals “Queens of Queens.” The goal of the program is to focus on conditioning, improve soccer skills and be mentored by former college athletes that focus on academics, career guidance and goal setting. This is for girls in grade 6,7 or 8th. Spots are limited. For more information please see the flier that was shared with all families.
Starting the week of September 16th, we will start to conduct our Baseline I-Ready ELA, Math and Science Amplify testing. All testing will take place during your child’s regularly scheduled class time. The purpose of the baseline test is to provide students, teachers and families with a complete picture of our students' performance relating to their grade level and national norms. The tests take roughly 2-4 periods to complete. It will be the responsibility of the classroom teachers to ensure students complete the baseline assessment and any make-ups. Families please encourage your students to complete I-Ready or IXL assignments that are assigned for homework and independent practice to help your child’s growth. The testing dates are below:
ELA: 9/16/24-9/20/24
Math: 9/23/43-9/27/24
Science: 9/30/24-10/10/24
Once all baseline testing has been completed by the middle of October families will receive two documents from your child’s ELA and Math teachers. The documents are entitled I-Ready Growth Report and I-Ready Growth Diagnostic for Families. These documents will explain to families how to read and understand your child’s ELA and Math I-Ready Data. There is a QR code on the back of the I-Ready Growth Report that translates the document in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese and Spanish. Please take the time to read and sign the documents with your child.
Emergency Preparedness
This past week we held two fire drills which ran very smoothly. We are planning on holding more fire drills next week.
Restorative Practices / CRSE Corner
I am excited to announce a new project that we hope that all of our families will participate in. In preparation for our November CRSE celebration we are creating an I.S. 230 Recipe Book with students and families. The purpose of the recipe book is to celebrate our diversity here at IS230 and what a better way than through food. We hope to sell the recipe book to our school community and hopefully donate any profits to a cause within our Jackson Heights community (TBD). To submit a recipe please see the links below:
English Recipe Submission Form: https://forms.gle/ZT6Yond89e6Q2FLe7
Spanish Recipe Submission Form: https://forms.gle/hLJ9XYRYvboRWJUX9
One of our newest and biggest initiatives this year is rolling out Homeroom. Homeroom will take place from 8:00 to 8:20 a.m. every morning. Homeroom is mandatory and part of your child’s school day. The purpose of Homeroom is to provide a space for our staff and students to take attendance, conduct announcements and most importantly an opportunity to connect with their peers in a meaningful way before starting the day. We are utilizing the MorningSide Cultural Affirming Wheel as our framework. To learn more about Restorative Practices and Morningside, please visit the link below.
https://www.morningsidecenter.org/
Important Upcoming Dates
October 3, 2024: School Closed- Rosh Hashanah
October 4, 2024: School Closed-Rosh Hashanah
October 7, 2024: High School Application Workshop in English 5:30-7:30 p.m (Main Auditorium)
October 10, 2024: High School Application Workshop in Spanish 5:30-7:30 p.m (Main Auditorium)
October 11, 2024: SLT meeting 7:20 a.m (Main Library)
October 12, 2024: Specialized High School Application Workshop in English/Spanish 1:00-3:00 p.m (Main Auditorium)
We look forward to improving communication and relationships here at IS230.
Please visit our website www.is230.org to get more information and sign up for E-Chalk Notification.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mr. Ajith Satyanarayana
