Happy Fathers Day to all of our dads, our grandfathers, our uncles, our godfathers and everyone who holds that special role. I hope you have a wonderful day.

This week is filled with Grade 5 celebrations! From commencement, to the breakfast, the dance, and the last walk through the halls, it is time for our graduates to close out their years at PS 88Q. It is time to celebrate, time to reflect, and time to remember all of the memories. On Thursday, when they take their final walk through the halls, all of our staff and students will greet them, cheer them on and wish them well. It is a tradition we started a few years ago, giving every one the opportunity to wish them well, as well as give the graduates the opportunity to revisit some of the classrooms they once were in.

Monday, there is no school in celebration of Juneteenth. Our last day of school is Tuesday, June 27th, which is a full day. Report cards will be released digitally through your NYCSA on Friday, June 23rd, and paper copies will be sent home Monday, June 26th. If you haven't gotten on your NYCSA, now is the perfect time, as it will have all of your child's information (state test scores, attendance, bussing information, report cards, etc)

Have a wonderful week!

Juneteenth, a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth,” commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas, delivered news of freedom to enslaved Black people. It is considered the end of slavery in the United States. Approximately 250,000 African Americans who had been enslaved were informed that the Civil War had ended and were proclaimed legally free.

President Joe Biden signed Juneteenth into law as a federal holiday in 2021, making it the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Day in 1983. Consequently, federal employers are required to provide the date as a paid holiday to their employees, and other states have followed suit.

Let's take this day to stand in solidarity with our Black and African American employees in celebrating Juneteenth – the day “all” Americans became free.

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” ― Nelson Mandela