Dear Families,
Next week is a busy week for Poco, with a slew of enriching events. Next week is One World Week, and as part of our learning, Poco alum Molly Rickles will be giving presentations on Monday on water conservation. On Tuesday, we have our Swan Lake Walk, we have a visit from the Harlem Magic Masters, an evening presentation on special programs at the school, food celebrations, and a Friday evening costume party! See all the details below!
IMPORTANT – FOOD ALLERGIES AND PARTIES
As is the case with all schools, we have children with a variety of serious food allergies. If you are interested in sending food into school, either for a birthday or for a holiday, you MUST first clear it with the classroom teacher(s) AND the nurse IN ADVANCE and food must include options for ALL students given the respective restrictions. If food arrives in our lobby, our security guard will call the nurse to make sure it was planned and approved in advance. If a student brings it in from the bus or car circle, we’ll send the child to the office to make sure it is approved. Otherwise, we won't be able to deliver it to the classroom. Thank you for understanding!
HALLOWEEN PARADE, PARTIES, & DISMISSAL
Parents are invited to the bus circle for our Halloween Parade, but ONLY class parents or parents you assign are allowed in your classroom to support any activities. In terms of dismissal, we will only dismiss students to parents when we have written permission in advance.
TEACHER RESIGNATION
We recently received a letter of resignation from Ms. Angel Richard, who had been our middle school health teacher as well as one of our physical education teachers. We certainly wish her well and we are currently utilizing one of our substitutes, Mr. Levi Bayus – a certified physical education teacher, to fill her role until a permanent replacement can be found.
BUS ARRIVAL READINESS
Our bus routes to school are running very smoothly and on schedule right now – and you having your child/ren outside at your bus stop and ready to board when the bus pulls up is critical to this success. As the weather begins to get colder, it is always tempting to stay inside for as long as possible, but we really need to make sure everyone is outside before the bus shows up. Thank you!
SWAN LAKE WALK - OCTOBER 25
We’re looking forward to finally holding the annual Swan Lake Walk! Below is a link for signing up to volunteer or donate. Next week’s weather doesn’t look great, but we still have our fingers crossed.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ea5ae22a0fcc43-2022
HARLEM MAGIC MASTERS - OCTOBER 26
Do you remember the Harlem Magic Masters? This Harlem Globetrotters-like group will be putting on a show for our kids outside during their recess time on October 26th! They’ll also be spending time in Briarcliff ahead of their big evening family event at Briarcliff High School on November 4th. See the flyer in our Sports section for ticket prices and details!
ESSA PROGRAM INFORMATIONAL SESSIONS – OCTOBER 26
We have THREE informational sessions we’re holding in the school library on Wednesday evening – we hope you can attend but if you can’t, they will be recorded. A letter was sent home about these presentations, but here is the lineup:
5:30 – School programs funded by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
6:00 – Our ENL Program (English as a New Language)
7:00 – Social Emotional Wellness Team and our After School Mental Health Support
PTA HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARTY – OCTOBER 28, 6:00-7:30!
The PTA Halloween Monster Bash is back! The party will be held on Friday, October 28th, from 6:00 - 7:30 pm in the school gymnasium, with “low sensory time” from 5:30 – 6:00 pm. After that, there will be a DJ and a photobooth, plus you’ll even be able to purchase dinner at a food truck in the bus circle! On top of all that, there will be a bake sale fundraiser, a 50/50 raffle, and more. Cost is $5/person or $20/family of 4+.
Volunteers are needed! Could you help make this party a success? Contribute desserts for the bake sale? Volunteer at a table for a few minutes? Learn more or sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090548aeaf2da3fd0-ptahalloween
Thank you!
PICTURE DAY PHOTOS & RETAKE DAY - NOVEMBER 4
You should have received an email this week from Irving Simon with a link to access and order copies of your child’s photo from Picture Day. Did your child miss Picture Day or is the photo flawed? Not to worry. Retakes are scheduled during the school day of November 4 (please ignore the calendar’s reference to October 19). Plus, you also have an additional opportunity to RETURN to school with your children in the late afternoon/early evening for SIBLING or FAMILY PHOTOS. Children must go home at the end of the school day and then you would bring them back for the special photo shoot. The school cannot provide after school supervision for this.
COAT DRIVE UNDERWAY!
Our annual Pocantico Coat Drive is underway and runs through November 18th! If you have any gently used coats of any size (infant to adult) that you’d like to donate, please send them in. We’re also collecting hats and gloves for kids to use at recess (and keep) when needed – thank you!
LOANER LAPTOPS
We seem to be missing some of our loaner laptops, so if you come across a laptop that either has a red “Library Loaner” sticker on it or a label that says “Pocantico Library,” please send it in to school on Monday. If your child still needs it, that’s fine but we just need to account for them all in our system.
VIRTUAL PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES – NOVEMBER 8
The first marking period comes to a close on November 10, and we are holding virtual parent-teacher conferences via TEAMS on Tuesday, November 8. There is no school for students that day and we have set aside both the afternoon and evening as meeting options, depending on your schedule. We’ll be sharing a link to PTC Wizard next week, where you can book times to meet with different teachers. Our teachers look forward to speaking with you!
Enjoy the weekend!
Adam
