*Monday, June 6th, 4th grade students will be taking the New York State Science written exam. Please make sure your child comes to school on time.

*Art Show Rescheduled June 6th at 5:00 p.m.

*NO SCHOOL Tuesday, June 7th AND Thursday, June 9th

*Field Day for grades 3 and 4 in the school yard on Wednesday, June 8th. Make sure to wear team colors

*Field Day for grade 5 at Alley Pond Park Friday, June 10th. Wear your 5th grade graduation shirt! Be on time to school so you can walk over with your class---any late students will not be permitted to attend field day.

Safety is our biggest priority here at P.S. 188Q. I know that many of you are wondering about our safety protocols. Here are a few key items:

1. All doors except ONE main door are locked and alarmed. We are a public building and are required to keep one door unlocked.
2. We have walkie talkies that are directly linked to the NYPD and School Safety. The NYPD is directed to respond immediately when a school calls either 9-1-1 or on the walkie talkie.
3. We have a Building Response Team with specific roles if and when an emergency arises in both buildings that are trained in all three drills

• Evacuation Drill- we need to vacate the building
• Shelter-In Drill- where there is something going on outside of the school and we need to stay inside--no one goes in or out of the building and all doors are manned by school staff
• Lockdown (soft or hard)- all classroom and office doors are locked and students move to safe area of the classroom. In a hard lockdown (a person has a weapon), staff and students are trained to only open the door for law enforcement.

We practice each of these drills multiple times a year. Teachers reviewed each drill with the students this past week. We did this back in March as well. We also have plans in place for when activities are taking place outside the building. These are all part of our school safety plan. I am hopeful that we can put in more safety measures in the future to keep the students and staff safe when they come to school each day.

We have updated our Device Policy. In order to foster student-led conversation, we are no longer allowing students to use their Chromebooks or iPads during morning arrival, recess or while waiting for the bus. Chromebooks or iPads will only be used for instruction supervised by a teacher or a staff member. We will send our updated device policy next week to all families.

Please remember the Gifted and Talented application is open online. You have until June 13th to complete it.

I want to thank Tanny Teng-Chang, Miranda Chui and Grace Budhrum for serving on our School Leadership Team for the past two years. I look forward to welcoming new parent members to the team in September.

I hope to see you at our Art Show and the next Coffee and Conversations at 10 a.m. I will highlight the work that has been taking place in the classrooms throughout the school. If you are unable to attend, we will post the presentation in next week's newsletter.