A Message from Your Principal

Nov 2017 PTA Office: 718.605.1241 Issue 2 School Office: 718.984.1688

P.S. 32

Staten Island, NY

A Message from your principal…

Dear Parents/Guardians

There are many exciting events happening at P.S. 32 this month!!

Dates to Remember 11/07/17 Election Day – no school for students 11/15/17 Report Cards distributed to parents 11/16/17 Parent Teachers Conference – Half Day of School – Students dismissed at 11:20am 1:00pm-3:00pm – Afternoon Conferences 4:30pm-7:30pm – Evening Conferences 11/10/17 8:15am PTA Executive Board Meeting & General PTA Meeting 11/13/17 Open School Week for Parent Visitation 11/23/17 & 11/24/17 School Closed – Thanksgiving Recess TBA Awards Assembly

November brings us colorful leaves, a chill in the air and fun-filled activities at P.S.32. Our Fifth graders will be participating in our annual “Buddy Program”. Fifth graders will be partnered with Kindergarten students and will meet once a month for a special activity, topped off with a culminating event at the end of the year.

Every year Ms. Stentella provides “Respect for All” presentations to our students’ school wide. She will be conducting lessons as she visits each teacher and class presenting lessons the following topics: conflict resolution, self-esteem, bullying, positive play, friendship, and problem solving. Her presentations have been informative throughout the years.

In addition, our Leadership committee and Student Council/Student Advisory student committees continue to promote “Respect for All” within our school community through the implementation of various contests.

We encourage parents/guardians to visit the “Kids’ Corner” section of our website to view the works of “our student authors”. This section highlights the creative writing of our students as they respond to monthly writing prompts. Contest posters and students’ work continued to be displayed on our school website throughout the year.

The awards will be distributed to the students on Tuesday during parent engagement time from 2:30pm – 3:00pm. Please follow the schedule below: January 16 – Grades K and 1 January 23 – Grades 2 and 3 January 30 – Grades 4 and 5

March 13 – Grades K and 1 March 20 – Grades 2 and 3 March 27 – Grades 4 and 5

June 5 – Grades K and 1 June 12 – Grades 2 and 3 June 19 – Grades 4 and 5

In addition, you are also invited to attend our attendance awards ceremonies that will take place on February 13, 2017 and May 15, 2017 from 2:30pm – 3:00pm.

Report Cards will be distributed on Wednesday, November 15, 2017. Parent –Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, November 16, 2017. There will be a half day of school that day with an 11:20am dismissal to accommodate parent teacher conferences. Please note that the YMCA will not be in session on November 16th. Therefore, please make arrangements to have your child picked up at 11:20am. Times are as follows:

Afternoon conferences 1:00pm – 3:00pm Evening conferences 4:30pm – 7:30pm.

If you are unable to attend parent teacher conferences on November 16, 2017, please contact your child’s teacher to schedule another appointment. Teachers are available every Tuesday from 2:30-3:00 during Parent Engagement.

Open School week begins November 13, 2017 through November 17, 2017. We welcome all parents/guardians to come and visit your child’s class. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, November 13, 2017 8:30 am - 10:00 am Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Tuesday, November 14, 2017 8:30 am - 10:00 am 1st Grade and Class 240 Wednesday, November 15, 2017 8:30 am - 10:00 am 2nd Grade Thursday, November 16, 2017 8:30 am - 10:00 am 3rd Grade Friday, November 17, 2017 8:30 am - 10:00 am 4th Grade, 5th Grade and Classes 340 and 341

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join your child in a collaborative classroom experience as our parent engagement has expanded. Once a month our cluster teachers will be opening their classrooms from 2:40 to 3:30 P.M. to share their expertise and love for learning in a particular subject area. During this time you and your child(ren) will work together on a task similar to those taking place in the classrooms on a daily basis.

Below is a schedule of the dates and classes that will take part in this hands-on experience.

Date Teacher 11/5/17 Mr. Galvin 11/12/17 Ms. David 11/14/17 Ms. David 11/19/17 Mr. Hahn 11/21 /17 Mr. Hahn 11/28/17 Mr. Plagge 1/2/18 Mr. Plagge 1/9/19 Mr. Galvin

Daytime Student Assemblies

There will be an awards assembly at the end of the month. The date and times will be forthcoming. Students will earn certificates for Excellence and Progress in Reading and Math. This will be a Formal assembly. Students should dress in assembly attire.

The following are three awards that reflect our students’ personal and academic habits and are aligned with the Common Core standards: Exemplary Work Habits and Communication Skills Award, Persistence and Engagement in Academic Goals Award, and Exemplary Self-Regulation Skills Award.

At the first assembly in November 2017, we will be focusing on the Exemplary Work Habits and Communication Skills Award. In order for your child(ren) to receive an award in this area, he/she must be able to work independently and collaboratively with his/her classmates, and effectively manage his/her time.

At the second awards assembly in February 2018, we will incorporate the Exemplary Work Habits and Communication Skills Award from our awards assembly and add the Persistence and Engagement in Academic Goals Award. Students who receive the Persistence and Engagement Academic Goals Award must set and strive for their appropriate goal(s) and be persistent through all tasks.

At the third assembly in May 2018, we will incorporate all three of the following new awards: the Exemplary Work Habits and Communication Skills Award, the Persistence and Engagement in Academic Goals Award, and the Exemplary Self-Regulation Skills Award. For the latter award, students must seek out appropriate challenges and solve them as needed, rather than avoiding them, and demonstrate self-reflection and self-control when dealing with others. I hope all of our students work toward achieving the above-mentioned goals and receive awards during our assemblies.

Benchmark Assessments: All students in grades K-5 have taken Benchmark assessments in Journeys and GoMath. These assessments are aligned to our new instructional programs as well as, the rigorous Next Generation Learning Standards. The material that encompasses this assessment is what your child is expected to learn/know by June 2018. Therefore, they will be given the same assessment in June which will identify their areas of progress. Your child’s classroom teacher is monitoring progress on an ongoing basis and uses the data from the Benchmark Assessments as a tool to meet your child’s needs. Comparing the Pre-Benchmark Assessment, the Mid-Year Assessment, and the Post Benchmark Assessment will show the progress your child has made from September 2017 to June 2018.

Journeys: Journeys is a rigorous instructional program. This program tests the students’ deep comprehension. They are implementing open-ended questions, which invite the students to think about their response. The constructed responses questions that are aligned to this instructional program scaffold and allow the students to give multiple possible answers in which they are asked to justify their reasoning. Journeys is also being supplemented in each classroom with other resources that help to support the topics that are being taught within the next Generation Learning Standards.

What is Close Reading? (excerpt from Educational Leadership, Dec. 2012/Jan.2013/Vol. 70/No.4, Common Core: Now What?, pgs. 36-41)) Essentially, close reading means reading to uncover layers of meaning that lead to deep comprehension. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) supplies clarification useful for teaching with Common core standards in mind:

Close, analytic reading stresses engaging with a text of sufficient complexity directly and examining meaning thoroughly and methodically, encouraging students to read and reread deliberately. Directing student attention on the text itself empowers students to understand the central ideas and key supporting details. It also enables students to reflect on the meanings of individual words and sentences; the order in which sentences unfold; and the development of ideas over the course of the text, which ultimately leads students to arrive at an understanding of the text as a whole. (PARCC, 2011, p. 7)

If reading closely is the most effective way to achieve deep comprehension, then that’s how we should teach students to read. But that description doesn’t match much of the instruction I’ve witnessed in recent years.

Workshops: We are pleased to offer many informative workshops to our families at P.S. 32. These workshops are held during the day, as well as the evening in order to meet the needs of everyone. Many of these workshops are informative and will help families work together with the teachers to meet the needs of their child. The following workshops will be held throughout the 2017-2018 school year:

 Meet & Greet with Administration ● Healthy Habits

 Discipline Code ● ELL Parent Workshop

 Growing in Pre-K ● How to prepare your child for the NYS ELA

 Story Night ● How to prepare your child for the NYS Math Test

 Go Math ● Peer Relations

 Behavior Modification Planning ● Internet Safety

 Ready! Set! Go! Off to Kindergarten ● Transition into Junior High School

 504’s ● Kinder-gather

 Arts Night ● Common Core State Standards

 Math Game Night ● Navigating Think Central

 Self Esteem ● Test Taking Skills

 Child Abuse ● Progressive Discipline

 Pre-K Gingerbread ● Lego Night

 Monthly Support Group ● Band Concerts

 Fun Math for your Pre-K student ● Recorder Concerts (2nd & 3rd Grade)  Anti-Bullying; Peer Pressure ● Student & Citizen of the Month Awards Night

 Perfect Attendance Awards ● Volunteer Breakfast

 Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony ● Pre-Kindergarten Moving Up Ceremony

 Dancing Classrooms – 4th & 5th Grade ● Crafts with MS. Spataro

 Pre-K-1 Student Performances ● 3rd Grade Strings Concert

We look forward to seeing all of our wonderful families attend these informative and exciting workshops.

THE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE (excerpt from Reading Rockets (2007)) Parent-teacher conferences are a great opportunity for families to sit down one-on-one with your child's teacher and talk about school progress. Here are some tips to make the most of this time. Parents often find themselves at school for parent-teacher conferences around this time of year. For many families, this is your first opportunity to sit down one-on-one with your child's teacher to talk about school progress. It's important to use this time to ask any questions you might have. Here are some questions that might help set the tone for a productive and positive conference:  At what level my child is currently reading? What type of growth have you seen so far this year?

 Can you describe my child's reading? Is it fluent and expressive? Does my child read at an appropriate pace?

 At home my child enjoys reading ______. Can you make any other recommendations for reading material?

 At home we try to talk about what our child has read. What other things can we do at home to help with comprehension?

 What sorts of things can we do at home to keep our child motivated about his/her schoolwork?

Did you run out of time? It's often hard to fit it all in during one conference. If you still have unanswered questions, follow up with a written note, or schedule a second face-to-face meeting. Develop a solid relationship with your child's teacher — consider it your homework for the year! Eight parent-teacher relationship builders from an article from Reading Rockets entitled: 10 WAYS PARENTS CAN FOSTER POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH TEACHERS

Communicate with your child’s teacher(s) early and often. If you prefer direct contact, establish a regular time to visit or call the teacher to set up a time that works for you and the teacher. If something happens in the home that may affect classroom performance, let the teacher know immediately.

Actively participate in parent-teacher conferences. For example, come prepared with a set of questions, comments, and if necessary, concerns.

If your schedule permits, volunteer to spend time in the classroom or chaperone class trips. For parents of older students, come to school-wide events. Also, find out how to better support learning in the home.

Understand that since teachers cannot always communicate during the school day, you may not get as an immediate response as you do at your workplace. But don’t let a call or email go unanswered. If necessary, call or write again.

If your child is having a problem in class, talk with the teacher first.

Find out how the school operates. It will help you understand what teachers can and must do, what their limitations are and how you, the parent can help.

Ask your child’s teacher and the school to clarify what your child should be learning and doing during the school year and ask for ways you can help reinforce the educational program at home.

Set high expectations for your child. Your child will benefit from it and the teacher will appreciate it.

Enrichment through the Arts and Science Program (ETAS)

In preparation for the intermediate school, we provide Enrichment through the Arts and Science Program (ETAS) for our third through fifth graders. The students in grades four and five meet twice a week and third grade meet only once a week for thirty minutes, during the school day. The children are surveyed, ranking the enrichment area of their choice from 1-5. Students will participate in three specialized programs throughout the year (one per trimester), such as: Technology, Knitting, Mystery Picture Art, Trivia, Crosswords, Art, Jazz, Advanced Recorder, Literacy Games, Scrapbooking, Board Games, Dance, Food and Nutrition, Math and Art, Yoga, Sports and Visual Arts.

Special Events & Celebrating Student Success

Students in grades K-5 take part in many special activities and events. Every Friday is school Spirit Friday. Students are encouraged to participate. In addition, three times a year students attend an Awards Assembly. They are acknowledged for Perfect Attendance, Excellence & Progress in Reading, Writing, and Math. This year the students will be honored for “student of the month and citizen of the month.” The following is the criteria for both:

Student of the Month:  Student progresses most this month based on performance assessments

Citizen of the Month:  Completes all homework and class work to the best of his/her ability  Work is presented on time, neat and with his/her best effort  Responsibility to oneself and other students  Follows classroom rules and expectations  Model citizen throughout the entire school building.

All students of the month and citizen of the month names will be posted on the school website on a monthly basis. All of the students of the month will be honored at the PTA meeting in April. All of the citizens of the month will be honored at a PTA meeting in May. Parents will be invited to see their child receive this honor.

In addition, all students are invited to complete the Math Mission that is printed in the monthly PTA Newsletter. Twice a year students in second and third grade have a Spring & Winter recorder concert, just like the fourth and fifth grade bands. In May, students and teachers look forward to our annual Dance Festival. Even though the performers in the talent show are third through fifth grade students, the entire school has an opportunity to see the show. Our upper grade students are also involved in the Math Bee, Gator Bowl and 4th Grade Spelling Bee. As you can see, we showcase, highlight acknowledge, and recognize each students’ success and build upon their strengths.

Conflict Resolution Programs

Safety and respect is an integral part of our school community. Our guidance counselor presents various ongoing lessons to every class in our school reaching every student on the following topics: conflict resolution, problem solving, self esteem, friendship, getting along with others, anti-bullying, manners and expressing feelings.

Academic Intervention Services Our academic intervention services are provided to assist students that need additional support. Many of our additional support services include AIS in grades 3-5 starting in Fall 2017 through Spring 2018. Please speak with your child's teacher if you have any concerns. Special Education Our Special Education Initiative fosters least restrictive environment. Our students have individualized program to meet their specific areas of need. We have seven ICT programs: one on each grade except two on Grade 5. We also have three self-contained Special Education classes and one IEP teacher. We have students that are mainstreamed into general education for one subject such as math or attend a 12:1, 12:1:1 or ICT for a percentage of the day to address their specific weakness. Students with disabilities will continue to be provided with the services they need as stated in their Individualized Education Programs, and at the same time they will have increased access to the same curriculum and be challenged to reach the expectations of the Common Core Standards. The SIT team meets twice a month to review students who are not meeting grade level standards. We have developed a Response to Intervention plan which includes, push in and pull-out AIS with programs such as Fundations and Wilson. Getting the Most Out of Nonfiction Reading Time Excerpts from Reading Rockets (2012)

Nonfiction books give kids a chance to learn new concepts and vocabulary, as well as broaden their view of the world. Learn how to take a "book walk" with a new nonfiction book and how to model active reading. Reading together remains one of the most important things adults can do with their young learner. Today, recommendations include reading information or nonfiction books with much more regularity. Nonfiction books present many opportunities to learn new concepts and vocabulary, as well as broaden a child view of the world. Nonfiction books are written differently than picture books in that there are often more pictures, graphics, charts and photographs included within the pages. Parents can ease the transition into more nonfiction reading by encouraging your child to preview a book before reading and to be an active reader who asks lots of questions. Take a "book walk" One great way to make predictions about an unfamiliar nonfiction text is to take a "walk" through the book before reading. By looking closely together at the front and back cover, the index, table of contents, the glossary, and the photographs or other images, readers can start to get a sense about the topic. This scanning and skimming helps set the expectation for the reading. Take the time to walk through the book before starting to read. Encourage questions A second way to develop more understanding with nonfiction books is to encourage your child to be an active reader who asks lots of questions. Parents can model these behaviors by talking or thinking out loud as you turn the pages of the book. This is a helpful way for your child to see and hear what a successful reader does when faced with difficult or unfamiliar topics. For example, "When I looked at this photograph, I asked myself, "Where is Antarctica? Is that the same place as the South Pole?" Then talk together about how and what you would need to do to find the answer to the questions. This will reinforce that many questions can be answered by reading a text closely and by paying attention to captions and picture titles. Some children enjoy writing their questions on sticky notes and working to answer them during the reading. Previewing a text and asking questions are two terrific ways to navigate nonfiction texts. Enjoy spending more time with some fascinating informational books! Building Your Child's Vocabulary (Excerpt from Reading Rockets 2009)

Talking to and reading with your child are two terrific ways to help them hear and read new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words are easy, non-threatening ways to get new words into everyday talk. Here are some ideas to get you started. All parents want their child to do well in school. One way to help your child is to help them build their vocabulary. Beginning readers use knowledge about words to help them make sense of what they're reading. The more words a reader knows, the more they are able to comprehend what they're reading or listening to. Talking to and reading with your child are two terrific ways to help them hear and read new words. Conversations and questions about interesting words ("The book says, 'The boy tumbled down the hill,' and look at the picture! How do you think he went down the hill?") are easy, non-threatening ways to get new words into everyday talk. Sharing a new word with your child doesn't have to take a long time: just a few minutes to talk about the word and then focus back on the book or conversation. Choose which words to talk about carefully — choosing every new word might make reading seem like a chore. The best words to explore with your child are ones that are common among adult speakers but are less common to see in the books your child might read. When introducing new words to your young learner, keep the following four helpful hints in mind:

First, provide a simple, kid-friendly definition for the new word: Enormous means that something is really, really big.

Second, provide a simple, kid-friendly example that makes sense within their daily life: Remember that really big watermelon we got at the grocery store? That was an enormous watermelon!

Third, encourage your child to develop their own example: What enormous thing can you think of? Can you think of something really big that you saw today? That's right! The bulldozer near the park was enormous! Those tires were huge.

Lastly, keep your new words active within your house. Over the next few days and weeks, take advantage of opportunities to use each new vocabulary word in conversation. Take the time to share new words and build your child's vocabulary. You'll be enormously glad you did!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Nancy Spataro Principal Important Dates to Remember 11/07/17 Election Day – no school for students 11/15/17 Report Cards distributed to parents 11/16/17 Parent Teachers Conference – Half Day of School – Students dismissed at 11:20am 1:00pm-3:00pm – Afternoon Conferences 4:30pm-7:30pm – Evening Conferences 11/16/17 8:30am - PTA Executive Board Meeting & General PTA Meeting 11/13/17 Open School Week for Parent Visitation 11/23/17 & 11/24/17 School Closed – Thanksgiving Recess TBA Awards Assembly Treasurer’s Report PS 32 P.T.A. Revised Statement of Income and Expense For the Period of July 1, 2017 to August 31, 2017

Beginning Balance $ 9,377.88

Income: Yearbook $ 75.00

Total Income $ 75.00

Expenses $ - PTA Supplies $ 6.00

Total Expenses $ 6.00

Ending Balance: $ 9,446.88

*Revised due to accounting error PS 32 P.T.A. Statement of Income and Expense For the Period of September 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017

Beginning Balance $ 9,446.88

Income: Fundraising $ 5,521.02 Membership $ 126.00 School Services $ 4,254.00

Total Income $ 9,901.02

Expenses $ - Auditing Expense $ 350.00 Copy Machine $ 217.10 Federation $ 160.00 Fundraising Expense $ 1,075.00 Holdover Copy Machine $ 461.52 Holdover Teachers Air Conditioner $ 200.00 Incentives $ 270.55 Installation Dinner $ 78.00 PTA Supplies $ 3.00 School Services $ 4,354.16 Social Secretary $ 25.00 Telephone $ 150.86 Total Expenses $ 7,345.19

Ending Balance: $ 12,002.71

Please write your answers in the box and cut out and return to your teachers by November 15th. Please Note: Do Not Put Your Cut Out in an Envelope. Please put in Child’s Home Folder paper clipped to Math Mission Bookmark. Also, please put your child’s first and last name as well as class number. (If your child did not get a bookmark, the teacher is holding them in class) The following PTA sponsored events are scheduled for the month of November November 15th - Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Sale Money Due November 16th – Scholastic Book Fair November 30th - Painting with a Twist Event for Parents (money due by November 22nd)