Dear Langston Hughes Family,

Well, the first full week of school is in the books! Thank you so much for your cooperation and support as we continue to tighten up our systems for arrival and dismissal. Remember, on Monday we will begin to use our permanent arrival procedures. Here are a few tips that you should follow to help everything run smoothly:

• Arrive on time. Any students who are not with their teacher by 8:05am is marked late. Students can begin entering the building at 7:45am. If your child is in grades pre-k - first grade bring them to exit 11 where they will be greeted by Ms. Tanisha. Students in grades 2-5 will enter the building through the main entrance on East 93rd street.
• 3K students are the only students who will be taken up to the classroom by a family member.
• Dismissal begins at 2:00pm for 3K and Pre-k students and it will take place in the cafeteria. Parents of those students should use the main entrance on East 93rd street. We would like for the little ones to be picked up before the larger group of students come down.
• Dismissal for all Kindergarten through grade 5 students will take place in the schoolyard. Students in grades K through 5 are dismissed at 2:20pm. It is important that parents of those students do not enter the schoolyard before 2:20pm when the lunch period for the other school ends. Sharing a building requires careful choreography and mutual respect. Let's do our part.
• Avoid double parking! It causes problems for the school buses, our neighbors, the staff leaving and entering the area, and your fellow parents. Drop-off and pickup is so much more efficient when we are mindful of one another.
• On rainy days, dismissal will remain the same for 3K and pre-k students. Kindergarten through grade 2 students will dismiss through exit 11. Grades 3 through 5 will be dismissed through exit 9, the exit across from exit 11 in the schoolyard.

Thank you so much for your cooperation and continued patience, and have a wonderful week!

Denean Stephens-Spellman

Thursday, September 21st is Dads Take Your Child to School Day. We are looking forward to celebrating the many dads and father figures that bring their little ones to school. Join us from 8:00am - 9:00am for light refreshments and a small token of our appreciation! Please RSVP so we can know how many men to expect.

Thank you to all of the families that participated in Homecoming Spirit Week. The children looked great! Here are few pictures from the week's activities. Also, it was great getting to chat with some of you online during our virtual curriculum night, A Day in the Life of a Student.

The Rising Start After-school Program is our free arts program. We offer instruction in dance, chorus, steel pan, and tv production. The program takes place Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:20pm-5:30pm. Limited seats are available. If you are interested in having your child's name entered into a lottery for the seat, please call the main office and we will send home an application. We have the applications of those of you who signed up at Homecoming.

• September 25: Yom Kippur --Schools closed

• September 26: iReady Reading assessment for students in grades K-5

• September 28: iReady Math assessment for students in grades K-5

• October 2-6: Smile NY free dental examinations

• October 9: Indigenous Peoples/Italian Heritage Day--schools closed

• October 27: Fall Ball for grades 3-5 5:30pm-8:00pm

• October 31: Literary Character Day Parade for grades 3K-2

• November 2: Half-day for Parent-Teacher Conference--11:10am dismissal

• November 2: Parent-Teacher Conferences--Afternoon and evening times to be announced

• November 7: Election Day - No students in attendance

• November 13: Picture Day

• November 23 & 24: Thanksgiving recess--schools closed

• December 25 - January 1: Winter recess--schools closed

• January 2: School resumes