Dear Families,

All NYC public schools are required to practice the protocols they will follow for different kinds of emergencies throughout the school year.  The first is a building evacuation, or “fire drill”. We practice this drill several times throughout the year; it’s the one your children will be most familiar with. There are different scenarios that would call for building evacuation, but the most common would be a danger within the building such as a fire. The second type of safety protocol we prepare for is a lockdown. During a lockdown an announcement is made over the PA and children and staff respond by turning off the lights in classrooms, locking classroom doors, moving out of the sightline of the windows or classroom doors, and maintaining silence until the lockdown has been lifted. This drill is to prepare for the very unlikely event of imminent danger inside the building.  Neighborhood School teachers discuss different drill practices with children well ahead of time so that they feel safe. They communicate that this is our school and we want to make sure that only people who belong here are here. We will have our first evacuation drill this week. Please contact me if you have any questions about any of our school safety drills. 

Studio in a School begins this week!  Our K/1, ⅔, and ⅘ classes begin art this week.  Over the course of the year, children will explore a full range of 2- and 3-D media, including drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, printmaking, 2-D design, and media technology.  Valerie Hammond will work with our K - 3rd grades and Leigh Ruple will work with our 4/5s.  

This Week at TNS

• The School Leadership Team will meet on Thursday from 8 - 9:30 AM in Room 314.  All are welcome.

• The ECO Committee will meet on Friday morning after drop-off in the small cafeteria.

Looking Ahead

• There is no school on Wednesday, October 9 in observance of Yom Kippur.

School Lunch Options for October 

Week of October 2:  Alternative Lunch Menu Entrees

Week of October 7:  Classic Lunch Menu Entrees

• 10/7 - both hot entrées will be available (veggie tacos, Mac & Cheese)

Week of October 14:  Classic Lunch Menu Entrees

• 10/17 - both hot entrées will be available (vegetarian chili, Jamaican Beef Patty)

Week of October 21:  Alternative Lunch Menu Entrees

Week of October 28: Classic Lunch Menu Entrees

• 10/28 - both hot entrées will be available (veggie tacos, Mac & Cheese)

Have a good week,

Dyanthe

The weekly newsletter is here! Please click on the image below to download a PDF version of the TNS PTA newsletter for the week of 10/2/19 .

The weekly newsletter is here! Please click on the image below to download a PDF version of the TNS PTA newsletter for the week of 9/16/19 .

Dear Families,

I am sharing a few pics of the signs and tee-shirts ⅘ students made for the climate protest to Tompkins Square Park on Friday morning.  In addition to cries like, “What do we want? Climate change! When do we want it? NOW,” the students thought up their own chants like, “Save the turtles!”  Once we got to the park and met up with the Earth School, our students led the entire community in several rounds of “This Pretty Planet.” The experience was exhilarating and inspiring for students, staff and the parents who joined us.

Our younger students were also spurred to action last week.  At Wednesday morning arrival, two students approached me in the lobby explaining that they needed to wash their hands before going to class because on their way to school they had been picking up garbage to “you know, help save our planet!” 

Sing is Friday at 8:45 AM in the recess yard, weather permitting.  Classes sit in concentric circles with the innermost circle reserved for our youngest students.  We ask that parents and younger siblings not join the classes seated in the circle. Instead, they are asked to remain on the outer barrier of the gathering.  Pre-K classes do not participate in September sing. 

Once everyone is there, ⅔ teacher, Chelsea will use a rain stick to signal for quiet, followed by a few repetitions of the call and response - -  leader:  HEY!, group:  HO!  Then we will begin singing the songs in the order as outlined in the Sing sheet.

In order to ensure Sing goes smoothly, we ask families to:

• Sing during the songs and wait until the whole Sing is finished to talk to your friend or neighbor.

• Stay quiet between songs so we can transition smoothly into the next song and start singing in unison.

• Save your applause.

• Wave goodbye to your child at the end of Sing and exit quickly so that classes can also exit quickly.  The last two songs, the two goodbye songs, are part of the Sing and we ask everyone to Sing along as a way of saying goodbye.

We will also have a bake sale in the lobby on Friday morning.

This Week at TNS:

• We will have a Middle School informational meeting for our 5th-grade families on Tuesday morning in Room 314.   Come learn more about the process of applying to middle school and hear from other families who have been through it.

• Curriculum Night is Thursday, September 26.  Childcare will be provided for TNS students (not siblings).

• Pre-K and K/1st-grade families will meet in the classrooms from 5 - 6 PM and then will meet with out-of-classroom teachers and support staff in the Library from 6 - 6:30 PM.  

• 2nd through 5th-grade families will meet in the Library from 5:30 - 6 PM and will meet in classrooms from 6 - 7 PM.  

• The PTA will host a “Mix and Mingle” for families in the front courtyard garden from 5:30 - 7:30 PM.  

• Friday is a half-day.  Dismissal is at 11:45 AM.

Looking Ahead:

• There is no school on Monday, September 30 and Tuesday, October 1 in observance of Rosh Hashanah.

Have a good week,

Dyanthe

Dear Families,

I am writing to let you know that Sing is going to look a little different this year.  

It is an important practice for schools to revisit long-standing traditions regularly to consider what is working and what’s not.  It is in this spirit that our staff came together several times last year to reflect on Sing. 

Sing began at TNS when the school was small enough to hold all classes in the first-floor gym space (it’s a small space!). The school wanted to create a time when students and staff could come together around a shared activity - singing.  Singing brings our voices together as one, offers an opportunity to teach history, language, and learn about other cultures. It connects people of all ages. It is also an activity that children of any age can participate in. Originally, Sing was held in the middle of the day and was only for staff and children.  At some point, we changed the time of Sing to the morning after drop-off and began to include families.

Our school has grown a lot larger since then.  In response, we moved Sing to the auditorium. However, as we have continued to grow we find ourselves having outgrown this space as well and can be overwhelming for many children!  We thought of a few possibilities to resolve this, one being to hold Sing outside. Of course, the weather puts some limits on this. 

After discussing Sing thoroughly and at length, our staff decided to try a new format this year.  Sing will happen on one of the last Fridays of the month. Sometimes Sing will include families and other times, it will only be for staff and children.  Whenever possible, we will hold Sing outside in the recess yard.  Here are the dates we will have Sing with Families:  9/27, 10/18, 12/20, 5/29, and 6/26. They are also on our TNS calendar (http://tnsny.org/docs/calendar). 

Our staff has made these decisions through a thoughtful process, taking into consideration the needs, well-being, and safety of our children.  We thought of and tried out many different scenarios and decided that this one feels right for TNS, as we are now. We will reflect on how it went at the end of the year and will revisit this tradition on a regular basis to make sure we are doing the best we can for our children. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Dyanthe