PS 87 Calendar
See here for details and location/Zoom information.
| September 2021 | |
| 13 | First Day of School |
| 16 | Yom Kippur – No School |
| 17 | All School Welcome in the Big Yard 4 – 6 p.m. |
| 23 | Curriculum Night – Remote |
| 29 | PA Elections |
| October 2021 | |
| 1 | International Dinner Dance 7 – 8 p.m. |
| 4 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 11 | Italian Heritage/Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No School |
| 23 | Harvest Fest |
| November 2021 | |
| 1 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 2 | Election Day – Remote School Day |
| 4 | Parent Teacher Conferences – Half Day of School/ Remote Conferences |
| 8-12 | Scholastic Book Fair |
| 11 | Veterans Day – No School |
| 25-26 | Thanksgiving Break – No School |
| December 2021 | |
| 6 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 24-31 | Winter Recess – No School |
| January 2022 | |
| 3 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 17 | Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day – No School |
| 28 | Report Cards Distributed |
| February 2022 | |
| 1 | Lunar New Year – No School |
| 7 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| March 2022 | |
| 3 | Parent Teacher Conferences – Half Day of School/ Remote Conferences |
| 7 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 29-31 | ELA Assessment |
| April 2022 | |
| 4 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 15-22 | Spring Recess (includes Good Friday and Passover – No School |
| 26-28 | Math Assessment |
| May 2022 | |
| 2 | Eid al-Fitr – No School |
| 9 | Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 24- 6/3 | Science Performance Assessment |
| 30 | Memorial Day – No School |
| June 2022 | |
| 6 | Science Written Assessment Family Book Group 6 – 7 p.m. |
| 7 | Clerical Day – No School |
| 9 | Anniversary Day – No School |
| 20 | Juneteenth – No School |
| 27 | LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!Report Cards Distributed |
Calendar Updates
Check the calendar again! Several new entries have been added since last week’s BPN issue. The full school calendar is always available on the website as well.
Reminder – Mask Up in the Morning!
All adults and children should be wearing masks on the drop off line each morning. Thanks for your cooperation and more on the DOE’s safety measures below.
PA Meeting Time Preferences
We are planning our General PA Meetings for the school year. and could use your help in determining the times that work best for you. Please take a moment to fill out the following one-question survey:
Curriculum Night – Thursday September 23 (Pre-K Sept 30)
Join your child(ren)’s teacher(s) virtually on Thursday night to hear what they’ve got planned for the year. Times will be staggered so parents with kids in different grades can attend. The schedule is as follows:
K and 1st grade: 5 p.m.
2nd & 3rd grades: 6 p.m.
4th & 5th grades: 7 p.m.
Pre K: September 30, 5 p.m.
Teachers will be emailing the Zoom links to parents prior to the meetings.
Join the Parents Association Board!
The PA Board decided to hold off on board elections until the fall to get a better sense of what the new school year and student population would look like.
We are holding our first General PA Meeting on September 29th. We are currently seeking parents to fill a number of executive board positions. If you are interested in running for office, please reach out to us at pa-president@ps87.info. We’d be happy to answer any of your questions. The one thing we know for sure is that this year, the administration is going to need PA support, so please consider stepping up and taking a leadership role during this important time.
Open positions:
Presidents
Communications
Secretary
Community Affairs
Family Giving
Welcoming/Membership
Enrichment
Auction
Events
Afterschool Liaison
You can also visit our website to fill out the form if any of the volunteer opportunities interest you.
Thank you,
Angie & Rita
PS 87 PA Presidents
Save the Date! Harvest Fest is Back!
PS 87’s Harvest Fest will be held during the afternoon of Saturday, Oct 23. This annual fall tradition will take place outside this year on West 77th Street and the Big Yard. We’ll come together and celebrate as a community with live music, arts, crafts, games, and a Halloween maze. Everyone is encouraged to come in costume!
Get your PS 87 Merch – Shop the Store and Show Your School Spirit!
New and returning families – shop now and support PS 87 with your purchase! Show your school pride with our exclusive selection of uniquely branded products. 100% of the profit goes towards the PS 87 Parents Association to help sustain the resources and programs that benefit every student at PS 87. Items may be shipped or picked up at Big Frog on the Upper West Side.
Charleston Gift Wrap Fundraiser
PS 87 will be holding its first fundraiser of the year, selling gifts and gift wrap through Charleston Wrap. Charleston gift wrap is thick paper on generous rolls, and their gift items range from household items to everything personalized! They even have personalized gift wrap options. The virtual sale will begin on October 1. Website links and more information to follow.
ICYMI Virtual Town Hall – Recording and Slides
In case you missed it, the September 9th school-wide town hall is available here. Passcode: t2*UQ&5e. In addition, here is a copy of the powerpoint from the meeting.
DOE School Safety Measures
Full details on safety measures and procedures are covered in the above deck and recording, but here is a summary of the key policies that the Department of Education has put in place. In partnership with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the NYC DOE is emphasizing the use of multiple layers of protection against COVID-19 and encouraging those who are eligible to get vaccinated. Strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include:
- Properly wearing a face covering at all times when on DOE property
- Increasing ventilation, wherever possible
- Washing and sanitizing hands regularly
- Staying home when sick, after being in close contact with a person with COVID-19, or if someone in your household is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms
- Ensuring students maintain a distance of at least three feet from other students
- If eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, getting the vaccine (required by 9/27 for all staff, contractors, and volunteers)
Information from DOE on Health Screening and Random COVID-19 Testing
Here is a family update from the DOE that includes information on giving consent for Covid testing for children in 1st -5th grades. Pre-K and kindergarten students do not get tested. Consent can be given through the NYC schools site, or by filling out and sending in the paper forms with your child. Consent given last year has expired and must be given again for this new school year.
The update also covers the required daily health screening. Please complete this form each morning to show at drop-off.
Construction Update
Since parents are currently restricted from the building, most reading this won’t be able to see just yet, but ask your kids! When they entered their classrooms today, they may have noticed that an army of contractors followed by an army of cleaners have been through the school. The classrooms now have new radiators and, better still, each class now gets their own thermostat to control the heat. Additionally, on the 1st floor the asbestos floor and ceiling tiles were removed and now there is (apparently) a nice new blue tile floor and fresh ceiling tiles. The custodial staff deserves your thanks for getting everything cleaned and furniture straightened out in time.
While it is out of sight from the kids, the asbestos removal in the boiler room has been completed. This brings to a close all of the known asbestos remediation inside the building. All of the re-occupancy letters to support that this work was done in a safe manner have been posted to the school website. The temporary boiler on 77th street continues to heat the building while the new boiler construction continues.
Future Phases:
Due to construction material shortages, specifically roof insulation, no work was done on the roof this summer. When the insulation is on hand, the School Construction Authority will schedule the roof work. One window was removed from room 101 and is with the new window manufacturer to ensure that the new window units being manufactured will fit properly. Finally, the other external work in the schedule (mainly brick work) has not occurred. This will occur at yet unscheduled future dates. When we have updates we will share them on the website and in BPN.
Please email pa-safeconstructioncommittee@ps87.info with any questions.
DOE/Community/Parent Advocacy Updates
The NYC Department of Education continues to update the link below. Keep an eye on it for the latest information from the Department of Education.
District 3 website with updates from Superintendent Christine Loughlin:
Parent Advocacy
If you have any suggestions, ideas or questions about community affairs/parent advocacy, please reach out to us, Jill Rackmill and Erica DePiero, your PA Community Affairs volunteers at pa-communityaffairs@ps87.info.
We will inform you of meetings and events that could be helpful to our school community. Please check out our Parent Advocacy resources page on the PS 87 website here.
NYC COVID-19 Updates
Thank You to Spring Lake Day Camp
PS 87 thanks Spring Lake for being our biggest sponsor year after year! Here are details about Spring Lake’s Fall Fest.
(Flyer about Spring Lake’s Fall Fest to be embedded into email template).
| Backpack News is published during the school year by the Parents Association of PS 87. E-mail articles or updates to Backpacknews87@gmail.com. For details on how to sponsor Backpack News, go to the Fundraising bar at site.ps87.info. The PS 87 PA does not endorse any of the services represented by paid sponsorships. Editors: Angie Arlia, Beth Goldstein, Madhuri Iyer, Greta Karris |
English
Albanian
Bengali
Chinese (Simplified)
French
German
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Spanish
Urdu