This Week @ PS 88Q

I hope everyone is enjoying this warm weekend! Who doesn't love a spring weekend in February!

This week was filled with so many wonderful things, but to be honest every day is. Each day as I walk the halls, or spend time in classrooms, I am always amazed at what happens at PS 88Q. Each door I open plunges me in to a room of students and staff who are doing wonderful things. How lucky am I to be able to witness this every day. I do forget that me and our amazing assistant principals get this perspective everyday when spending time in the classrooms, cafeteria, hallways, staircases, and arrival and dismissal points. This week, I will share everyday what life looks like in PS 88Q! My social media skills are less than fabulous, but I will be sharing all day all week, a day in the life at PS 88Q! If you don't follow us on instagram, check us out! I will also share these pictures in a weeklong video for you as well, and send it out before mid-winter break.

Reminders:

This week is Respect For All Week. Please see the daily focus for the week.

Next week, there is no school for Mid-Winter Break (February 19-February 23). We return to school on February 26th.

Have a great week! And see you Thursday evening for a special performance and for our Tiny House displays!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

We are so excited about our next performance. Our students have begun working on their music performance that celebrates love. February 14th is Valentines Day, but that shouldn't be the only day we recognize the power of love. As we prepare to celebrate Respect For All Week (February 12-16) this very week, we focus on the power of love. Respect For All Week highlights the following:

Monday, February 12: Wear Yellow Celebrating Kindness/Be an Ally (Kindness Ties us Together). All students will create a link in the Kindness Chain

Tuesday, February 13: Wear Blue Anti-Bullying/Cyberbullying:Students will take part in the Wrinkled Heart Activity

Wednesday, February 14: Wear pink, red or white. Students will enjoy the All You Need is Love Performance and share their "love stories"

Thursday: Wear Cultural Attire or Rainbow: Respect for Diversity Students will share their "This is Me" collage

Friday: Wear Green. Nobody Eats Alone/Make a New Friend. Students will take part in class to class partnerships

Chefs in the Schools is a Menu Development and Chef Training program, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services and the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy. The initiative builds upon WITS’ 18-year history of working in NYC public schools and the many collective efforts already underway.

The initiative began with the launch of New York City’s first-ever Chef Council, composed of celebrated chefs, culinary industry professionals, and food activists. The Chef Council has developed scratch-cooked, plant-based, and culturally relevant recipes that will be featured on the NYC public school menu in Fall 2023.

The Chef Council recipes were sampled and tested in schools across the city. Six Chef Council recipes are now featured on the Fall NYC public school lunch menu: Caribbean Spiced Jerk Chicken Thigh, Jollof Cauliflower, Kachumber Salad, Pineapple Rice Medley, Roasted Adobo Chickpeas, and Sofrito Rice, and will continue to be featured throughout the school year.

This fall, 72 new WITS Chefs began our innovative side-by-side training program in NYC public school cafeterias throughout the city paired with our traditional Flagship programming model in a select number of schools. WITS Chefs are training NYC public school cooks on how to create the new Chef Council recipes in addition to culinary skills such as scratch cooking, batch cooking, mise en place, storage and organization, and the why behind WITS’s work to increase scratch-cooked, plant-based, and culturally relevant meals in public school cafeterias.

Please join us Friday, February 16th @ 9am to taste some of these delicious foods!

We are so excited to support this amazing program, Honor Flight. One of our wonderful SLT members, Michelle Henriquez shared this wonderful opportunity with us. Our students will be creating wonderful messages for these courageous veterans. See below for some information regarding this admirable organization.

https://www.honorflight.org/

Our senior class is getting closer to their final months at PS 88Q. It is such a wonderful time, exciting about all that is ahead of them, but they are still 88'ers! There is something that happens to them the minute they put that cap and gown on last month for pictures. A mix of excitement and some fear. For many, PS 88Q has been home six or even seven years! We understand this , as we see it every year. That is what makes thses final four months at PS 88Q so special. Some of you have joined our grade 5 team already, and some may still want to join https://forms.office.com/r/QyeRYeqj2A

We will have our first meeting the first week in March. For now, here are some updates

Grade 5 Trip to Barclay Center for College Basketball Game: March 12

June 20th is Graduation

June 21 is School Dance

If your child was born in 2020 and lives in New York City, they are eligible to attend Pre-Kindergarten in Fall 2024.

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/pre-k

If your child was born in 2021 and lives in New York City, they are eligible to attend 3K in Fall 2024

https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/3k

We are excited about our amazing program, and our partnership with Supermoon. We are awaiting approval for this wonderful aftercare opportunity.

If you would like to visit our school, reach out to loshaughnessy@schools.nyc.gov

Please join the D24 team and learn more about NYS tests and ways you can support and prepare your child at home.

Date: Tuesday, February 13th

Time: 10:00AM English, Spanish, Bengala and Chinese

6:00PM English, Spanish, Arabic and Polish

Zoom Webinar ID: 936 4896 3985

Passcode: 242424

PTA UPDATES

Take our poll!

The PTA is planning an after-school Salsa program for this year for our younger PS88 students. We will be selling T-shirts and Mugs designed by Mama’s Got Heart to raise funds for this program (all excess funds will go toward other after school programs for our students).

We need your input!

Read more about this program and take the poll here:

https://forms.gle/FJjy6Y31SpveL1hB8

Real Talk:

Are there questions or concerns you have as a parent that you would love to talk to other parents about or have an informal chat with the school about? Let us know! We’re thinking about having a Real-Talk session before each of our PTA Meetings for just this sort of thing. Worried about class sizes? Wondering about budget cuts? State testing? Let us know what you’re worried about, wondering about, and curious about!