This Week @ PS 88Q
January 26th, 2025
No School Wednesday, January 29th: Lunar New Year!
A Message From Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
I hope everyone had a wonderful week. As we enter our last week in January, we also approach the halfway mark of the school year.
Monday we have our graduation pictures for our kindergarten and Grade 5. That is definitely an indicator that our students are moving forward every day! With middle school and kindergarten applications closed already, preparing our students for the next chapter is so important.
Tuesday is our District 24 CEC meeting @ PS 305. Details are below
Wednesday: No School in Celebration of Lunar New Year !
On Thursday, our students will all enjoy a wonderful performance to celebrate Lunar New Year.
On Friday morning, I would love to see everyone for Coffee and Bagels! Join me, Ms. Ivett, Ms. Heras-Torres for our bi-weekly Coffee and Bagels! Ask me any questions, meet other families, and have breakfast with us!
On Friday Evening, join us for Cozy Movie Night!
Have a great week!
National School Counselors Week
National School Counseling Week 2025, "School Counseling: Helping Students Thrive," will be celebrated February 3-7, 2025, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.
Our amazing Guidance Counselor, Mr. Carlos Canales, does this work every day! Let's show him some love and appreciation. Oh, and it is his birthday this week too! Feel free to share videos, pictures or wishes.
Social Justice Committee Initiative: Pajamas and Socks
Our Social Justice Committee is always taking care of our community! For all families who donate new socks or pajamas at the Cozy Movie Night, you will receive a NO HOMEWORK PASS! I will be at the entry door collecting, and distributing the NO HOMEWORK PASS TO ALL FAMILIES WHO DONATE!
PTA Cozy Movie Night: January 31st
✨The PTA would like to invite you all to COZY FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT taking place on Friday January 31, 2025.
✨ We are planning many improvements for this year and are excited for a fun, more safe, more organized evening!
🎬Doors open at 5pm. Movie starts at 5:30pm.
🎟️ Entry is FREE and will be ticketed on a first-come, first-served basis at the door.
☕️ 🍿 There will be limited FREE hot cocoa and snacks for kids. Snacks from home are welcome! ⭐️Vote for the movie here: http://bit.ly/VOTEMovieNight2025
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 1/29 via social media!
💕This event cannot happen without Parent Volunteers!💕
✅📋Sign up here to help: https://bit.ly/MovieNight25
PLEASE NOTE: ** All children must be accompanied and supervised by their parent/adult AT ALL TIMES.
** ** This is NOT a drop-off event.
** Looking forward to seeing our wonderful PS88 community,
Your PTA Executive Board
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT: Friday, January 31st
Doors open at 5pm, Movie starts at 5:30pm
We're excited to bring back this event with many updates to make it a more enjoyable event for all of our families!
Entry is FREE and ticketed at the door - first come, first served.
Limited snacks and hot cocoa are FREE for kids.
Snacks from home are welcome!
** All children must be accompanied and supervised by their parent/adult AT ALL TIMES during the event. **
Vote for the movie here: bit.ly/VOTEMovieNight2025
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 1/29 via social media.
This event cannot happen without enough parent volunteers!
Sign up here to help: bit.ly/MovieNight25
PTA ANONYMOUS FEEDBACK FORM: bit.ly/ParentNeeds202425
Please use this form to communicate any and all needs, concerns, and thoughts.
You always have a place where your voice will be heard.
We will use this feedback to lead Q and A during General Membership Meetings, will pass it along to administration and the SLT, and reference it often to keep in touch with parent thoughts.
It will remain open for the entire 2024-25 school year.
Graduation Pictures
3K and Pre-K Applications
It has been wonderful meeting our future families at our Open Houses! Over the course of the last two months, we have hosted 10 Open Houses! Kindergarten applications closed on Friday, January 24th, but 3K and Pre-K is open until February 28th. We will host additional open houses in February. Many of our families asked some of the questions below:
- What time does the school day start and end?
- The day begins at 8:00am and ends at 2:20pm. Early dropoff is available at 7:30am Tuesday-Friday. We do partner with Supermoon for aftercare.
- Do students have to be toilet trained?
- Students do not have to be toilet trained.
- What does the school day look like?
- Our program is an authentic early childhood program that includes the following:
- Family Style breakfast, morning meeting, center time, gross motor play, family style lunch, nap time, afternoon meeting, read alouds, small group instruction.
- What curriculum do we use?
- We use the NYCPS approved curriculum, Creative Curriculum.
- Are parents part of the program?
- Yes! You bring them into the classroom each morning, and enter the classroom at dismissal. Each class hosts many parent events, and culminating events as well. Teachers communicate daily through messaging apps and through a classroom Padlet.
- What is the after care program?
- Supermoon operates on site. Information is below
Town Hall Meeting @ PS 88Q
NY Hall of Science
The New York Hall of Science is dedicated to creating programs and events that reflect the evolving needs of families, schools, and community based organizations that attend, work or reside in District 24.
To help us do this, we’ve created a short survey to collect general feedback that will be used to inform program development and future potential collaborations. Please take a moment to complete the survey . The survey is available in English, Spanish as well as Chinese for the parent survey portion.
As a token of our gratitude, five survey participants will be randomly selected to receive a $25 Amazon gift card. Your feedback is incredibly important to us. Thank you for being part of our mission to better serve our community!Updated NYCPS Guidance
CEC News
Please join the CEC24 members at the upcoming CEC24 Hybrid Meeting on Tuesday, January 28th
at:
Location: Learners and Leaders
Public School 305
360 Seneca Avenue (updated address)
Ridgewood, New York 11368
Time: 6:00 - 9:30 pm
Registration Link to join the 6:00 pm Hybrid meeting:
https://nycdoe.zoom.us/meeting/register/p-tsP8ESRlKLaZxZpXLzXQ
Meeting ID: 986 2242 6280 Code #: 113485
From Our Chancellor
Make Your Voice Heard: Run for Your CEC
Dear Families and Colleagues,
Every two years, our school system holds elections to fill hundreds of critical roles on our Citywide and Community Education Councils. The parents and family members who serve on these councils (known as CECs) shape our school communities in countless ways—relaying parents’ feedback to our Family and Community Empowerment (FACE) team, participating in the hiring of superintendents and parent coordinators, approving school zoning lines, and so much more.
Visit schools.nyc.gov/Elections2025 to learn about CECs—both how to run and how to get involved this election season. Candidates will campaign from late February through April, and voting will take place from late April through mid-May.
Teachers: Please share this information with your students’ families.
Parents: I hope to see your names on the ballot. Your voice matters!
In partnership,
Melissa Aviles-Ramos
The Chancellor’s Spotlight:
Tesa Wilson, who now works on our FACE team, served on her CEC for 15 years, including five years as president. During her tenure, Wilson collaborated with U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez to secure a multimillion-dollar grant to fund arts and technology programs in District 14. To Wilson, seeing the impact of her efforts was immensely rewarding—many of the programs supported by this grant continue today. “Representing the families in my school community and advocating on their behalf was truly an honor,” she said.