Dear Families,
“ONE POCO NIGHT” IS THURSDAY, JANUARY 26! I really hope your family comes and celebrates with us! Student cultural performances begin at 6:00 sharp in the auditorium, followed by food, crafts, and festivities in the gymnasium at 6:30. We already have a number of families signed up for food, but we’re in need of many more! Please check out this sign-up link, talk to your neighbors, and even reach out to us if you’re looking to partner up with another family that shares your heritage – we're happy to help! Here is the sign-up link again, in case you missed it:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f094fa9a62ca6fd0-onepoco#/
I’ve also attached additional details and FAQ below.
QUICK FAMILY CULTURE SURVEY – PLEASE COMPLETE FOR US!!
As we begin planning for this community event, please fill out THIS SURVEY on your family’s culture(s). This information will help us understand the cultural roots that make up our community and better inform our teaching. Thank you for your participation!
CELEBRATING MLK: VIRTUAL VISIT FROM MS. CORA MILES
Our 3rd through 6th graders, and then our 7th - 8th graders, were treated to a wonderful virtual talk with Ms. Cora Miles, who is on the Board of the MLK Institute for Non-Violence and is a colleague and friend of our ENL teacher, Ms. Joy Scantlebury. During the event, Ms. Miles discussed the life, influences, and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and shared her personal experience with the Civil Rights Movement. It was wonderful.
JPK REGISTRATION FOR 2023-2024 – IT'S ALREADY TIME!
Registration for our full- day Junior Pre-Kindergarten (JPK) Program for the 2023-24 school year is open! In order to help us plan, we ask that if you have an eligible child, you register before FEBRUARY 28.
Eligibility for JPK (3s Program): Child must be 3 years of age on or before December 1, 2023.
Please use the link below or the QR code to go to our District’s website to register.
· Tinyurl.com/PocanticoRegistration
Early Childhood programming provides opportunities to get to know the needs of children from an early age and allows us to improve student outcomes by teaching preschool students the school readiness skills that will help to ensure their success. These skills include social, self-regulation, numeracy, language, and early literacy skills. Early childhood programs also provide opportunities to support family engagement by strengthening parent-child relationships and supporting families in learning about their child's development. Most importantly, this will be a fun, engaging, and wonderful experience for your children, providing a strong educational foundation and a love of learning.
Our program's first year has already been extremely successful, with positive feedback from the community. Most importantly, our students are thriving and happy to come to school! We are excited to see what our second year has in store for us!
WINTER INTRAMURALS AND AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
If you’re wondering if you missed any registration for new after-school clubs or intramurals, do not fear – you did NOT! We’ll be sharing those shortly as soon as we finalize the scheduling and supervising details. Stay tuned!
2ND QUARTER ENDS JANUARY 27
Just another reminder that the 2nd quarter ends on Friday, January 27th, so please reach out to your child’s teachers if you have any questions or concerns, and teachers will be doing the same. We still have three solid weeks to go. If your child is in the middle school, please log into the parent portal, review your child’s gradebook, and start a conversation if appropriate.
3rd – 8th GRADE STATE TEST SIMULATIONS UPDATE
In preparation for our 3rd – 8th grade NYS assessments in April and May, we’ve started running brief “simulations” with the students, where they get a chance to explore the actual testing platform and all its tools through answering practice questions. So far, we’ve done it with 7th and 8th graders, and our systems worked incredibly well and the response from the kids has been equally positive. We’ll continue to work our way down the grades next week!
PTA MEETING - PARENT ATTENDEE SURVEY
We had a great in-person and virtual turnout to this week’s PTA meeting, which featured presentations by our Director of Student Services, Christy Perricelli, as well as by our School Psychologist, Ashley Macri, and our JPK Teacher, Mia Kargen. The PTA would love to hear your feedback, so if you attended in any way on Wednesday evening and didn’t complete the paper survey, please complete this brief electronic version – thank you!!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSchy0s123OGFqJBQXjwPreU3VuKZF-uR4Z_x47CiMlOzTga3g/viewform?usp=sf_link
EDUCATOR/PARENT MOVIE SCREENING - “LIKE”
On January 31st at 7pm EST, iMPACTFUL – a creator of films for schools, businesses, and non-profits – is offering a free screening of the documentary “LIKE” for educators and parents. This movie discusses the impacts of social media on our lives and the effects of technology on our brain. Technology can be a very powerful tool, but there is always a balance, and this documentary seeks to understand and address the struggle to find our balance in our virtual and real worlds.
· Click here for a link to register
· Additional information from iMPACTFUL, including the trailer
ELMSFORD SPRING TEE BALL – PRE-K and K
Elmsford Little League Spring Tee Ball registration is open until FEBRAURY 2nd for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children. It’s a great way for boys and girls to build early skills and learn sportsmanship and teamwork – don't miss out! We’ve attached flyers at the end of this newsletter, and the link is here: https://www.elmsfordlittleleague.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1875186
UPCOMING EVENTS AT ROCKEFELLER
If you’re interested, we’ve attached the February calendar of events being hosted at Rockefeller Park, including several fun kid-friendly activities!
COVID HOME TEST KITS STILL AVAILABLE
There is still plenty of general winter sickness around us, especially coming off of the holiday break. Please pay extra close attention to symptoms of flu or COVID, and If you’re in need of COVID home test kits, even if just to have in your closet, please reach out to Nurse Juliet and we can send home some boxes in your child’s backpack. We have plenty to share with you.
LUNAR NEW YEAR
Lunar New Year is this weekend – it is the Year of the Rabbit! Happy New Year to all our families who celebrate!!
Have a great weekend!
Adam
