IMPORTANT DATES
December 24 - January 1 - Winter Break - No School
Find the A/B Cohort calendar here: Weekly Schedule
Please continue to check your Google Classrooms for information from your teacher. As a reminder, you should also check Mr. Foreman's Google Classroom for important updates: class code gk2k2sr
Kindergarten Enrollment
The Kindergarten application is completely ONLINE and is open NOW. The deadline to submit your application is January 19, 2021. If you have a child born in 2016, you will apply to kindergarten this winter and your child will begin kindergarten in September 2021.
Find out more information here: NYC Kindergarten Enrollment
RECENT COMMUNICATIONS
LATEST MESSAGES FROM THE CHANCELLOR
Schools.nyc.gov/freemeals
All families can continue to go to any school building (9am-12pm on weekdays) to pick up three free grab-and-go meals per day. No identification or registration is necessary. Halal and kosher meals are available at some sites.
Big Apple Awards for Teachers & Staff
Students, families, educators, school staff, and community members can nominate teachers and counselors by visiting the Big Apple Awards website, today through January 10, 2021. Nominees must be current, full-time public school teachers or college counselors in a district school, charter school or early childhood education center in New York City who demonstrate exceptional success in the classroom.
SCHOOL-WIDE REMINDERS
In person students will need to complete their health screening at home every morning before they arrive in school. Click the link here: Online Health Screening
All families must complete the Family Income Inquiry Form, which helps schools receive money for their programs. This is the lunch form, but even if you do not receive school lunch, you still need to complete the form.
Zoom difficulties? Please reach out to Ms. Rached (lrached@ps154.org) with any issues joining Zoom meetings. This is a much faster way to get support than posting to the class stream.
Complete the Emergency Blue Card here: Emergency Blue Card. Please email the completed form to dwattenbarger@ps154.org
PTA UPDATES
PTA GENERAL MEETINGS & SLT MEETINGS
Thursday December 16 - General PTA Meeting - 6:30 PM
Zoom details will be provided in the days ahead of the PTA General Meetings.
Minutes from SLT Meetings are posted on the webpage:
ps154.org/school-leadership-team-slt
Minutes from PTA General Meetings are posted on PTA’s webpage https://www.ps154.org/your-pta
PTA EVENTS
WINTER HOLIDAY HANGOUT THANKS
A big thank you to Sara Murphy and the PS 154 PTA for organizing the first ever virtual Winter Holiday Hangout. The community really came together to engage in these Virtual Experiences. Thank you to everyone who purchased experiences, participated, and created some great memorable experiences for our families and community. Special thanks to:
Jaymie Kelly, for putting together cocktail kits and coordinating our amazing cocktail host, Hillary Bennett.
Gina Abrahamsen for coordinating with our amazing vendor Juicebox Wines.
Sarah Shears, Cara Zwerling and Danielle Mendez for putting together a magical winter craft.
The fine folks at Eat Offbeat for being so kind, and to the great chefs who will deliver delicious food to your home.
Nicole Brier for being the cookie master and showing the kids how to decorate their fantastic Butterly Bakeshop cookies kits, which she is now selling in store (and special thanks to the Brier kids).
Finally, a huge shout out to Mr. Gioia who was a fantastic special surprise guest.
SOCIAL EMOTIONAL COMMITTEE (SEL)
PROACTIVE PARENTING DURING DISTANCE LEARNING WORKSHOP FOLLOW UP
Thank you to Donna McLauglin from Open-mindED Consulting for her engaging, informative and honest Zoom Learning Workshop on Proactive Parenting During Distance. With the aid of her niece, who acted as moderator and case study, she was able to provide helpful strategies for motivation, engagement, goal setting, establishing routines, as well as techniques for both kids and parents to lower their stress levels and increase productivity and restore peace at home. A copy of the slideshow will be made available to the participants. Please reach out to PTA President, Jaymie Kelly if you would like Donna’s details for further discussion at pta_info@ps154.org.
SEL COMMITTEE CHAIR NEEDED
These Social and Emotional Committee talks have been invaluable, especially during this challenging and stressful time. However, the PTA is arranging these events on an ad-hoc basis as we do not have a Chair or Co-Chairs for this invaluable committee. We have integrated so much of its teachings in to both the classroom and the home over the past few years. We understand that parents have limited bandwidth right now, but we would love to maintain this great work at this crucial time. If you are interested in working on this, perhaps collaboratively with another person or a team, please reach out to Jaymie Kelly at pta_info@ps154.org.
PS 154 FUNDRAISING
END OF YEAR DONATIONS
A reminder from the PTA that your donation funds essential programs, and now in this season of giving, the PS 154 PTA needs your support even more. We understand it is a difficult year, but please join us in giving what you can on our Donate Page, https://www.ps154.org/donate or by signing up for easy monthly donations. While we aren't all at school everyday, we will be soon, and we will need to use these funds to rebuild the PS 154 our community loves. No donation is too small, your support means the world to us and to your kids!
PS 154 SHOP’S FESTIVE TREATS
With the holiday season upon us, now is a great time to pick out fun, festive, and useful gifts at our PS 154 Shop for those special people in your life. Items are discounted so it’s your chance to pick up a bargain and support the school at the same time! Visit https://www.ps154.org/shop.
COMMUNITY CORNER
Please remember as you do your holiday shopping, whether it is in the local community, or online that a number of places give back to our school. For a full list of participating organizations, please visit: https://www.ps154.org/donate. We wish a Happy Hanukkah to all of you that celebrate it!
