Park Avenue Post
Community Newsletter
Starting on February 5 and continuing for 10 weeks until April 25, we will be conducting a READING CHALLENGE at Park Avenue Elementary!!
The basic gist of it is that we will kick off with World Read Aloud Day where Park will be virtually streaming published authors from around the country to read their books, share their experiences in getting published and talk about their "authorly ways". This day will be the kickoff day of our reading challenge.
For the book challenge, we will challenge our students to read 10,000 books over 10 weeks which means approximately 2 books per student per week. Of course, at the upper levels, it may be different than kindergarten reading, but grade levels are only in competition with the students in the same grade!! For each book that students read, they will post a cut out of a sneaker on their classroom door with the title of the book read and student's name. Any reading counts, in school, online at home etc. At each grade level, the class that reads the most books will receive a pizza party and a movie day (connected to a book that has been made into a movie) which will be sponsored by the PTO.
At the end of the 10,000 book challenge, if the kids meet the goal of 10,000 books, then Elsy and I will award a funny prize to the kids. We will get student voice as to what they want to see, but we're thinking along the lines of a pie in the face, slime, or other thing that the top 10 readers get to personally do and the others get to watch.
At Park, we're going to honor the tradition of SPRING INTO READING on April 25 between 9-11am, and we will be inviting various local "dignitaries" to come to Park to read to our students. At the end of the day on April 25, we will be having a GREAT READING RACE on the PCHS track to celebrate the students' efforts at achieving a 10,000 book / 10 week challenge. (This actual race may or may not include inflatable costumes and pie in the face activities, but details are still being worked out.)
More info to come but please start to talk it up to your kids and challenge them to get psyched up about it. If we're going to hit the goal, then each class would have to read somewhere in the range of 400 books over the course of 10 weeks or 40 books per week or 2 books per student per week.
The one rule is that students must read at their reading level.
PLEASE CLICK HERE for our Spread the Love and Show Our Unity Spirit Days across January and February. There are lots of days, but they are not consecutive days so please mark your calendars!!
In our modern world, kids spend too much time on screens, and I'm sure that many of you would agree that our kids should be interacting during indoor recess when possible. I need your help to make this a reality. While my teachers and monitors already work hard to keep kids off screens during recess, it's hard when there are not enough alternatives.
For this reason, I am asking parents to donate or buy games for teacher classrooms to entertain the kids for indoor recess. Teachers, and students, have input their wish lists IN THIS SPREADSHEEET. I'm asking that families look through their closets and other spaces for toys, games, and art items that could be used in the classroom. I'm hopeful that class parents will spearhead this effort and, with any luck, hopefully we can get enough games and toys in classrooms to end screen time all together.
As a parent myself, I know quite well how chaotic and difficult the morning routine can be to get everyone out the door to be at school on time, so we do everything we can to be understanding while also launching instruction at the first bell in the morning.
In the mornings, I stand outside until 8:30am with music and high fives at the ready. At 8:30am, I begin my "migration" towards the front door and try to inspire kids that are still making their way to school to "beat me through the doors" to avoid getting a late pass. After the front doors have closed, students are required to get a late pass.
Recently, it seems that there are more and more people coming later to school as the winter goes on. Please make every effort to have your children here and in the front door by 8:30am. Your cooperation is appreciated.
The Port Chester Rye Union Free School District believes:
Physical activity is essential for the healthy growth and development of children;
Recess can serve as an outlet for reducing or lowering children’s anxiety;
Recess activities encourage children to take turns, negotiate, or modify rules and interact cooperatively.
As per the guidelines below, every attempt will be made to provide elementary school children with a daily outdoor recess (approx. 20-30 minutes). The final decision about the daily recess environment will be made by the school principal or his/her designee. Consultation about daily recess conditions is encouraged between the four elementary schools and every attempt will be made for the four schools to make similar arrangements. Appropriate clothing for outdoor play is essential. Parents must be certain that children come to school with warm jackets, hats, and gloves in cold weather and boots and snow pants when it is snowing or there is snow on the ground. School monitors may need to assist students in dressing appropriately in these conditions. If school staff notice earlier in the day that a student is not dressed appropriately or has the proper clothing with them for outdoor recess, the child will not be permitted to participate in outdoor recess and a parent must be notified.
Building Administrators will utilize the WeatherBug app to make consistent informed decisions on outdoor activities.
PLEASE CLICK HERE for the Virtual Principal Coffee schedule and link. AP Elsy Gonzalez will be joining us to conduct a coffee chat in Spanish while I conduct the conversation in English. All are welcome!
There are a lot of great things coming up! Please mark your calendars:
Here are some upcoming highlights:
- Wednesday, January 29 - Lunar New Year (NO SCHOOL)
- Thursday, January 30 - Black History Month Laser Light Show Assembly
- Friday, January 31 - Grade 3 Trip to Jacob Burns
- Wednesday, February 5 - World Read Aloud Day
- Tuesday, February 11 - PTO Meeting
- Friday, February 14 - Valentine's Day Parties
- Mon-Fri, Feb 17-21 - NO SCHOOL (Winter Break)
- Tuesday, February 25 - 100th Day of School!
- Friday, February 28 - PAS Winter Dance
The Port Chester School District's mission is to develop responsible and self-sufficient citizens who value cultural diversity, are creative and adaptable, and have the skills to think critically, communicate effectively, and continue growing individually.
The district's vision is "SUCCESS FOR EVERY STUDENT".
- Email: cdreves@portchesterschools.org
- Website: https://www.portchesterschools.org/pas/home
- Location: Park Avenue, Port Chester, NY 10573
- Phone: 914-934-7895
- Twitter: @craigdreves