Park Avenue Post
Community Newsletter
Here's a quick message from Rachel:
Hello everyone! Thank you all for being so welcoming to me over the course of the past 2 weeks. I am so excited to be at Park and to work alongside all of you. At Park, my role consists of being a member of the clinical team, while also developing partnerships with community resources for our families. I'm working hard to hit the ground running and in just this last 2 weeks, I've been focused on visibility and relationship building including:
Morning High Fives with Mr. Dreves
Meetings with the clinical team
Collaborative projects with the other elementary school community coordinators
Connecting with representatives from community resources touring facilities
I look forward to getting to know each of you!
In case you missed it, PLEASE CLICK HERE for a letter of introduction from our new community schools organizer/Social Worker - Rachel Brown.
I'm pleased to share that our entire first grade will be participating in a pen pal project with first graders at Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School in Rye Brook this spring. Each student will be matched with a partner student at Ridge Street and will exchange two letters over the course of the spring. King Street School students are also participating! Then, we're working on scheduling an inter-visitation visit where all students will come together at one of the schools for a fun day together with their new friends. Our goal is to help bridge deeper connections between Port Chester and Rye Brook students and have our students the proper way to write and address a letter. Stay tuned for more info. We're super excited to be pioneering this project!
Please help us spread the word about our UPCOMING OPEN HOUSE for INCOMING Kindergarten families that will be joining us in the 2025-2026 school year.
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2026
Time: 6:30-7:30pm
This evening will include a building tour, meet the kindergarten teachers, station activities and community partners. Flyers will be coming soon. ALL INCOMING KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES THAT WILL BE ATTENDING PARK AVENUE NEXT YEAR ARE WELCOME! Please help us spread the word.
Thanks to AP Elsy for her leadership and to our kindergarten teachers for planning and contributing to this project.
Starting on February 5 and continuing for 10 weeks until April 25, we will be conducting a READING CHALLENGE at Park Avenue Elementary!!
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.
The one rule is that students must read at their reading level.
In our efforts to beautify Park Avenue, our art teacher, Ms. Temple, has been working with kids on a mural project. She's been working with fifth-grade students and some special education students to paint murals that add color and creativity to the school while also promoting social-emotional learning. Through this process, students have had the chance to express themselves, work together, and take pride in their contributions. The murals not only make the school a more welcoming place but also serve as a reminder of creativity which can happen on and off paper. Kudos to Ms. Temple for her hard work in making Park such a special place!
Additionally, I'm pleased to announce that the Tamarack Tower Foundation has approved a grant application for $5,000 to further beautify the school. The idea is that we will use this money to put inspirational messages on the walls around the school so that the walls themselves speak to our students. Stay tuned for more information, but we are so grateful for our partners at the Tamarack Tower Foundation for their support!!
Please be aware that due to our snow day before break, our 100th day of school has shifted by one day. The 100th day celebration will now be on Wednesday, February 26th. Please adjust your calendars.
PLEASE CLICK HERE for our Spread the Love and Show Our Unity Spirit Days.
Here are some updates on all of the activities in STEM class this winter.
- Kindergarten students have been learning to login to their Chromebooks using their quickly developing fine motor skills to drag & drop in pre-reader coding activities.
- First and second graders are coding in teams on Tynker and Scratch Jr. They enjoy solving puzzles on Tynker and designing interactive scenes with Scratch Jr.
- Third grade has been learning about weather safety through engineering design activities, such as; Waterproof that roof, weather tool building and weather data collection.
- Fourth graders are creating logos, stories and animations with CSFirst. Students work together, debugging coding solutions for their presentations.
- Fifth graders have begun learning 3D Print design with Tinkercad software. Partners follow tutorials to create keychains or math tools.
- Students in Ms. Remy’s class have been working with the Spike Lego Prime Kits to build vehicles and amusement park rides.
At this point, we have only had one snow day. We have a total of 3 snow days built into our calendar. If we reach the THIRD SNOW DAY, then there is a possibility of remote learning. Please see below.
In order to meet NYS Regulations for instructional requirements in public schools, the Board of Education District Calendar for the 2024-25 school year states: At the discretion of the Superintendent, the 3rd Emergency Closing Day shall be either a day without classes or a day of remote instruction if permitted by NYSED. If permitted by NYSED, the Port Chester Public Schools shall hold remote instruction and not lose instructional days beginning with the 4th Emergency Closing Day. Currently, NYSED permits remote instruction to count towards NYS daily and hourly instructional minimums for public schools.
To be ready for remote instruction, PCRUFSD offers the following guidelines and resources to families.
- K-12 School schedules during Remote Learning - Full Day English and Spanish
- PCRUFSD Remote Learning Guide for Families UPK-12 English and Spanish
- FAQs for Remote Learning Due to Emergency School Closure English and Spanish
- The Parents’ Guide to Google Classroom English and Spanish
- How to Use Google Meet During Remote Learning English and Spanish for Students
- How to Use Google Meet During Remote Learning English and Spanish for Parents
ALL OF THIS INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE DISTRICT WEBSITE - CLICK HERE
Ms. Dykstra offered information about a FREE seminar to conduct a digital wellness checkup for families with young kids. It's on Wednesday, February 26 at 8pm eastern time.
Here is a quick summary of what the seminar is about:
What does the latest research tell us about how young minds are adapting to advanced tech tools? In Common Sense's new report, "The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Zero to Eight, 2024," we explore how the youngest users are experiencing media and technology—from gaming and AI to reels and reading—and how parents can help their little ones establish healthy habits. In this virtual well visit, our experts will share tips from professional practice and personal experience on how to role-model, find quality content, and use tech together as a family for balanced digital well-being.
CLICK HERE to register if you are interested.
The Port Chester School District is working with Smile NY to provide dental care to our students on the school district's campus at no charge. We are hopeful that providing dental care to our students will be an amazing asset in our community-based schools model and an enormous support to our families. Please stay tuned for more information but we are excited to offer this support to our students!
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.
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!
Please be aware that our 5th grade graduation ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, June 25 at 9:30am.
It will be held on the grass and road in front of the school as long as it's not raining. Each child will get TWO tickets to the ceremony. IF the ceremony is held outside, the two tickets will give each family the right to 2 seats, but you are welcome to invite other family members as long as they understand that it will be standing room only for them. IF THE CEREMONY MUST BE MOVED INDOORS TO THE GYM DUE TO BAD WEATHER, THEN ONLY 2 PEOPLE PER STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND. No rain date will be utilized.
The Kindergarten graduation ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 24 at 9:30am on the back playground.
It will be held outside on the back playground as long as it is not raining. Each child will get TWO tickets to the ceremony. IF the ceremony is held outside, the two tickets will give each family the right to 2 seats on the back playground, but you are welcome to invite other family members as long as they understand that it will be standing room only for them. IF THE CEREMONY MUST BE MOVED INDOORS TO THE GYM DUE TO BAD WEATHER, THEN ONLY 2 PEOPLE PER STUDENT WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND. No rain date will be utilized.
There are a lot of great things coming up! Please mark your calendars:
Here are some upcoming highlights:
- Wednesday, February 26 - 100th Day of School!
- Friday, February 28 - PAS Winter Dance
- Tuesday, March 11 - PTO Meeting
- Thursday, March 13 - 5th Grade Visit to PCMS
- Wednesday, March 26 - Early Dismissal / P/T Conferences
- Friday, March 28 - PTO Variety Show
- Monday, March 31 - Supt. Conference Day - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
- Mon/Tues, April 7&8 - NYS ELA EXAM FOR GRADES 4&5
- Wed/Thurs, April 9&10 - NYS ELA EXAM FOR GRADE 3
- Tuesday, April 8 - PTO Founder's Night
- Monday-Friday, April 14-18 - SPRING RECESS - NO SCHOOL
- Friday, April 25 - Spring Into Reading Celebration
- Tues/Wed, April 29&30 - NYS MATH EXAM FOR GRADES 4&5
- Thurs/Fri, May 1&2 - NYS MATH EXAM FOR GRADE 3
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
