In this Newsletter
A Note from Ms. Rached
Kindergarten Open House Tours!
School Pics Are Ready! Order by December 18th.
Upcoming Events 🗓️
Afterschool Winter Registration opens Dec. 8th at 10am
❄️ Holiday Market ❄️ - Saturday, December 9th
Kindergarten Open House Tours - Monday, December 11 (and Dec 14)
Equity Meeting - Thursday, December 21, 9am, Zoom
🎉Spirit Day: Pajama Day - Friday, December 22nd 🎉
đź“š Book Market - Call for Graphic Novels & Chapter Books
5th Grade Update - Middle School Application Deadline (Dec 8th)
Equity Committee Updates
Lunch Form
A Note from Ms. Rached
It has been wonderful seeing families at our Open Classrooms in Media Arts and Music, which will continue through the end of this week. Please check the events page for the dates and times. Our Media Arts and Music programs are entirely funded through PTA contributions - thank you for helping us make our students’ experience here so special!
This year, classroom teachers in all grades have been integrating writing strategies from The Writing Revolution (Hochman, J, & Wexler, N, 2017)into their writing instruction, as well as reading, social studies and science class. One of the key components of the Writing Revolution writing strong sentences. Students have been practicing practicing expressing themselves using the 4 sentence types:
Declarative (a sentence that states a fact)
Exclamatory (a sentence that is an exclamation!)
Imperative (a sentence that is command or order)
Interrogative (a sentence that asks a question)
You can support your child in writing great sentences at home in a few ways - here are a couple of examples:
Incorporate practicing complete sentences into a routine part of the day (i.e., dinner-table prompts like “My favorite part of the day was....” or “Something I am looking forward to tomorrow is...”.
Practice sentence-creating games such as making each type of sentence around one topic.
Reminders
Dropping off items for students in the main office
As we work to minimize classroom disruptions during instructional time, we are asking for your help... if you are dropping off a lunchbox or water bottle, students who are missing these items can check for them in the main office on their way down to lunch.
Head lice
We have had a couple of reports of headlice over the past week. Please make sure that your notify the school if your child has lice so that we can follow up appropriately.
Arrival/Dismissal
Please try to keep an aisle between where the students line up for dismissal and the curb so that classes can pass through if needed.
We have received reports of dogs acting aggressively and students tripping over leashes at pick-up. We are kindly asking our families to not bring their dogs to pick-up.
Kindergarten Open House Tours
We are excited to announce that we are hosting Kindergarten Open House Tours in December! If you know any families who might be interested in joining our community, please encourage them to sign up for the tour. This is a great chance for prospective families to explore our classrooms, meet our dedicated teachers, and discover what makes PS154 a special place for learning and growth.
Sibling, Graduation and Makeup Pics Are Ready! Submit your order by December 18th!
Exciting news – Sibling, Graduation, and Makeup pictures are now ready for viewing, and they are nothing short of AWESOME! 🎓🌟 Now, here's a fantastic opportunity to transform these incredible moments into lasting memories. Select your favorite shots and maybe add a few to your cart as delightful gifts for family and friends.
But hold on, there's more to this story! We're halfway towards achieving our fundraising goal and need your support to reach 100%. Here's the inside scoop – if we don't hit our school order target, we won't receive fundraising dollars from Stomping Ground. So, submitting your order by December 18th is crucial! Anything ordered after this date won't be included in our target goal. Please help us get there by selecting one of those cute photos today. To place your order, simply visit our school's Picture Day page. Let's make this fundraiser a picture-perfect success!:
TO VIEW YOUR PHOTOS, CLICK ON "VIEW AND PURCHASE" AND ENTER ONLINE CODE:
PS154 + FIRST FOUR LETTERS OF CHILD'S FIRST NAME + FIRST FOUR LETTERS OF CHILD'S LAST NAME
e.g., Jane Smith = PS154JaneSmit
For first or last names that have less than 4 letters, use the # of letters in the name
(e.g. Jo Kay = PS154JoKay)
Upcoming Events
❄️ Holiday Market ❄️
Saturday, December 9th, 1-5 pm, PS 154
’Tis the season! Come one, come all to our festive #PS154 Holiday Market—with seasonal crafts and activities, tasty food and drinks, and a delightful array of wares from local vendors to meet your holiday shopping needs! Housewares, ceramics, sweets—oh, my!
As always, these events cannot happen without parent volunteers. Please consider signing up to make this event a success!
The PTA elves have gone above and beyond, offering up holiday magic for kids of all ages including a gratis show by Brooklyn Magic Shop (at 2:30pm) and student performances from After School clubs including:
Mestre Foca — Capoeira (1pm)
Group Guitar (3:30pm)
Rock Band (4pm)
Instrumental Band (4:30pm)
Check out the events page for all event details and activities.
Entrance is free—and all are welcome! Friends, family, and fun fun fun. If you pre-ordered crafts and/or tickets, you can pick them up at the ticket sales table the day of the event.
Best of all: proceeds from all activities will go toward enriching our school's programs and facilities. That’s (quite literally) music to our ears!
So, let's make this Holiday Market a beautiful celebration of our vibrant community. Be sure to follow along here as we tempt you, announcing the extra special local businesses that will be participating.
See you there!
Book Market - Call for Graphic Novels & Chapter Books! 📚 📢 📕
We are accepting graphic novel and chapter book donations (for all ages). Please bring your gently used books and drop them into the blue bins labeled “Book Market Donation Bins” on the stage in the MMR.
Do not donate other book types for the time being - other book genres will be donated externally immediately as we do not have capacity to take them.
Feel free to send back any graphic novels or chapter books previously sourced from the Book Market as well (if your child is ready to part with them!).
5th Grade Update
Middle School Application Due Friday, December 8th
The Middle School application deadline is rapidly approaching. Did you realize that you have the flexibility to submit your child's application with your initial choices and have the option to make changes until December 8th? Take a moment today to complete your child's application and ensure your preferred selections.Join us in preparing your child for Middle School:
Your child’s Middle Schools Application must be submitted by December 8th!
Learn how to setup your MySchools account - creation codes were sent home in your student’s backpack.
Equity Committee Updates:
Newsletter & Exciting Opportunities:
We're excited to involve you in our upcoming Equity events. We understand that life can be hectic, to make it easier for you to engage, we're offering various ways to participate.
Whether you want to contribute to our Community Potluck or join impactful cultural events with short-time commitments, your involvement is crucial. Explore this month's newsletter (December 2023) for additional details and don't miss the chance to sign up for the Community Potluck – because who can resist delicious food? Let's collectively make a meaningful impact - complete the interest form (Interest Form)!
Join the Black History Month Planning Group!
Be a vital part of the upcoming Black History Month celebrations by joining members of the Equity Team in planning sessions. If you're interested in contributing, please reach out to mbuckley@ps154.org. Planning sessions will be scheduled at a time that accommodates the availability of those who wish to participate. Your input is valuable, and we welcome your participation!"Lunch Form
As you may know, we ask families to fill out a Family Income Inquiry form each school year. The Family Income inquiry form is a key factor in determining whether our school receives funding.
If you have not yet done so, please complete your form today! This form is quicker and easier than before! This form should be completed for each family, if your child eats school lunch or not. If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact the PS154 Parent Coordinator, Tanica Gordon.
Lunch Form
As you may know, we ask families to fill out a Family Income Inquiry form each school year. The Family Income inquiry form is a key factor in determining whether our school receives funding.
If you have not yet done so, please complete your form today! This form is quicker and easier than before! Please complete this form at: https://www.myschoolapps.com/. This form should be completed for each family, if your child eats school lunch or not. If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact the PS154 Parent Coordinator, Tanica Gordon.
