Evans Park - Community Newsletter

Dear Evans Park Elementary Community,

It is incredible to believe that we will be soon be welcoming the warming days of the Spring season. This is a time of year to marvel at the tremendous growth of our students and the fabulous memories that we have had during the 2024-2025 school year. As we recently celebrated our 100th Day of School, it served as a time to reflect on all that we've learned, and the fact that we are entering the second half of the yea! While our kindergarteners dressed like they were 100 years old, we know this is a time not to rush and cherish these special moments together.

In this newsletter, you'll find information about some of our students' amazing experiences and accomplishments over the past months. In addition, as we approach the second half of our school year, you'll find essential information regarding events and opportunities to connect as a community. As always, our Tigers continue to make us proud as they challenge themselves and grow as a part of the Pearl River community!

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership!

Sincerely,

Joe Avdek

Principal

Thank you to all of our community members and Evans Park staff that provided feedback on the format of our outdoor concerts.

As shared in the previous newsletter, our outdoor events provide us the opportunity to come together as a greater community and celebrate our students. These events are attended by far more people than could be contained within our indoor spaces, and allow families to easily rotate to the front rows to see their child perform. However, these events are contingent on the weather and we may have to use a rain date in the event of inclement conditions.

After speaking with our school staff and reviewing the survey responses, we will be moving forward with an outdoor concert format without a rain date. In the event of inclement weather, the concerts will be moved inside and would be limited to two persons per family (regardless of multiple students). There would be two indoor concerts held for families with last names A-L and M-Z in the morning and afternoon, respectively.

As done for our Winter Concert, we will continue to work with our Technology Department to make videos available to all of those who cannot attend regardless of format.

During the end of January and the start of February, Evans Park promoted reading with our Pick A Reading Partner (PARP) initiative. This started off with a kick-off assembly, Crack the Case: A Reading Adventure and culminated with our day of reading for Rockland Read-In. PARP is designed to foster the love of books through reading at home individually or with others.

Thank you to our amazing PTA for providing an assembly to get our students excited about literacy, and, thank you to all of our partners who joined us to read over the three weeks!

As we enter the second half of the year, there will be many opportunities for students to celebrate, connect with our community and showcase the fabulous learning that they have done all year. Many of these events provide moments for families to witness these accomplishments and share in these memories together.

In order to support families in planning for these upcoming events to the end of the year, please review the LINKED FILE which outlines our events through June. Please note: some dates may be subject to changes.

On January 31, students at Evans Park explored the rich history and traditions surrounding the Lunar New Year festival. Thanks to Art teacher, Mr. Tom Price, and teacher assistant, Mrs. Li Lee, students were transported back in time to learn the origins of the festival through stories, dance, and an enthralling presentation. Kudos to Mr. Price and Mrs. Lee for sharing this incredible learning experience with the students at Evans Park and across the Pearl River School District!

In addition to this part of this learning experience, our students put on their own Lunar New Year parade! These experiences allow our students to explore diverse cultures, cultivating a love of exploring beyond the classroom.

On February 28, Evans Park kicked off our One School, One Book reading promotions! Each family received a copy of Chris Grabenstein’s, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library: an exciting tale of the opening of a new library with hidden puzzles made by an eccentric gamemaker, Mr. Lemoncello. We hope all our students and families will join us for an exciting adventure about the joy of reading, teamwork and creative problem solving.

Also, we understand that families do not always have the opportunity to read due to busy schedules and other wonderful moments together. The Evans Park staff has provided AUDIO FILES of our staff reading the book together as an additional option. We look forward to going on this reading adventure together!

On Wednesday, February 26, we recognized Random Acts of Kindness Day. Students across our school were challenged to do something small that may make a big impact on an individual and our community as a whole. Together, we gathered for a brief assembly led by our clinical team to share how one little act of kindness spreads happiness throughout our community. Students then had the opportunity to participate in a letter writing campaign where they wrote letters to their peers, teachers or community members about how their acts of kindness have spread happiness.

As we continue to focus on building a sense of school connectedness, our students are working to show the large impact even small acts of kindness can have.

Our fourth grade students have been working all year on their oral speaking skills, collaboration and creativity to explore our Social Studies curriculum. Each Friday, we have been joined by Stage Left - a community organization that teaches through the performing arts. As students learn about our New York State and American history, they also develop acting chops and real-life collaborative skills.

We look forward to welcoming our fourth grade families for their classes' performances on the following dates:

• Wednesday, April 2nd @ 1:30pm - Alm/Mitchell
• Thursday, April 3rd @ 9:30am - Sheridan/Donnelly
• Thursday, April 3rd @ 1:30pm - Smith/Servello

Throughout the school year, our fourth grade students expand their love of music through learning to play the ukulele. Students gain exposure to reading music and playing simple chords to make music together, led by Music teacher Sarah Loveland-Gill.

We are excited to welcome our fourth grade families in to hear our learners play songs and teach a family member how to play musical tunes. This will be an exciting interactive and educational opportunity to celebrate the love of music together. Thank you to Mrs. Loveland-Gill for organizing this event!

On Thursday, February 26, the Evans Park PTA hosted an amazing night of fun for Pearl River families at Pearl River High School. The Harlem Wizards put on a stunning performance as they played an exhibition game against PRSD teachers and parents. Thank you to all of our volunteers for making this event possible, and, thank you to our PTA and community for their amazing support of school and students!

The safety of our children, families and staff are of the utmost priority. Working together for the betterment of our children and school community, we can make the necessary changes for the safety of all.

At the entrance of our campus on Marion and Patton Place during arrival and dismissal, cars have parked on both sides of the street facing the wrong direction, or are parked in the "No Parking" zones. These cars are obstructing the view of our buses and walking families. This has led to congestion, later dismissal times, and an unsafe environment for our students and families both on, and off, of our campus.

I ask for your partnership and support in maintaining the safety of our students, families, staff and buses during arrival and dismissal. We ask that you follow all traffic laws and safe practices, both while driving and parking on and off of our campus, during arrival and dismissal times.

All parents and teachers are urged to join the Evans Park PTA to unite home, school and the community for our children. Money raised through dues and fundraising is used for cultural arts assemblies, after-school programs, field trips, instructional equipment and materials, and similar needs. Please follow this link for more information.

We are grateful for the amazing support of our PTA and their partnership in creating incredible opportunities for all of our students!

Please be sure to complete our DAILY DISMISSAL CHANGE FORM before 11:30am in order to inform us of any changes to dismissal for the day. In an effort to coordinate a safe and efficient dismissal, we kindly ask for your support and cooperation.