Family Newsletter - 10-5-26

• There are a number of School Spirit Days and activities to take part in as a school community, as well as our Open House and Fall Festival. Please see the upcoming events calendar below and encourage your kids to join in.
   
• We celebrated National Custodian Appreciation Day Friday, as we thanked and honored all that Ivan and his custodial staff do to keep our building clean, safe and running in good condition. Keeping our building clean is only a small part of the work they do. They are constantly troubleshooting maintenance issues, managing upkeep of the facilities and ensuring that our school remains a welcoming and functional place for all. Please take the time to thank them for their dedicated service to our school community. As we continue to see improvements around our building, now that the scaffolding has been removed, the contractors will begin working on the landscaping (grass, trees, flowers) along the front of the school. 
   
• I am excited to announce that we will be resuming our Mandarin Dual Language partnership with P.S. 101. Special thanks to Ms. He, who will be coordinating and managing the monthly trips and activities. Our 8th grade 824 students will be traveling to P.S. 101 once a month to foster their language proficiency and promote meaningful learning and practice, serving as teacher assistants with the Dual Language children at P.S. 101. Students will take part in arts and crafts that align with monthly themes, reading stories and leading educational games.
   
• Families, if you have not done so yet, please complete the school foods lunch forms using the following link:  form online, .  Just a note, the family income inquiry forms are ONLY used to provide schools with their Title I funding, which is used to support all of our after-school programs for our students.
   
• You must have a current email address, phone number and home address listed in your child's NYCSA account to be linked to my Parent distribution list. Update or register following this link: https://www.schoolsaccount.nyc/

• All of our students will received  an important notice to bring home last month, providing you with information to access PRACTICE (see attached flyer). PRACTICE is our online grading and family communication system. Once you log in using the email address you have on file with the school, you will have access to all of your child's teachers, their homework assignments, attendance, projects, tests and grades. You will be able to communicate with teachers, and your child's teachers will be able to communicate with you. This valuable resource bridges the home and school environment for our students, bringing us together as one school community.
   

• D21 21K281PA is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
  
  Topic: IS 281 PTA Meeting
  Time: Oct 13, 2026 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
  
  Join Zoom Meeting
  https://nycdoe.zoom.us/j/93668259441?pwd=w3iuIrDxFFuYjeZEwYX1tjrGHfmZRN.1
  
  Meeting ID: 936 6825 9441
  Passcode: 296073
   
• Learn how NYC Solves supports student learning and discover ways families can strengthen the home-school connection in mathematics. October 6th 6:30-7:30 PM 
  https://zoom.us/meeting/register/xNsDGs4aRG2mN1nji3x_jw

Academic Vocabulary Word of the Week: 

10/5/2026 – Compare, Support

Spanish: Comparar, apoyar

Chinese:  比較、支持

Russian:  Сравнить, Поддержать

Urdu: موازنہ کرنا، حمایت کرنا

Compare (v.): To find similarities between 2 or more things

     Synonym: connect

Support (v.): to back up or hold up; to give assistance to something

     Synonyms: reinforce, help