 Hello AmPark Families, Thank you to everyone who participated in last month’s many events from the African American Read In, to the Family Sweetheart Dance, and the Kindergarten 100th Day parade! This month we hope to see so many of you in again for Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 5th. As you come in to meet with your child's teacher, please take a few moments to complete our School Survey. Last year we had an 82% return rate, which is wonderful, however we are excited to exceed that number this year! As an additional incentive to completing the survey, all parents and students who bring in completed surveys will be entered into one of two raffles. Parents will receive a chance to win a movie night themed basket and students will enter a raffle for passes to Rock & Jump! Please let your voice be heard on how you feel about AmPark and get your chance to win one of these exciting prizes! March’s Book of the Month is Drawn Together by Minh Lê. This text is a picture book that shares a message about reaching across barriers to build lasting relationships and complements Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.  As we work together to support our students in addressing their concerns over Coronavirus, we would like to offer some resources in addition to those letters that we have sent home from the Department of Education... In true Brainpop fashion, the well known and much beloved characters of Tim & Moby do a beautiful job explaining the epidemic and how kids can best handle it. Also, we love the folks at Brainpop for making it one of their free videos. Please check it out here: Brainpop. NPR has shared an illustrated infographic paired with a truly wonderful 3 minute audio news clip, that is directed just to kids, which could be another resource for our upper grade students. It's got such a positive message about "looking to the helpers" that has a powerful Mr. Rogers-like calming message. Please take a look and listen here: NPR. In this time of worry, we are the helpers and our children need our reassurance on what is real and what we all can do. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the school with concerns or additional resources/support.  We have some exciting new partnerships offering new Arts Enrichments at AmPark! We will have a short stop action animation film residency for students in grades 3 - 5, as well as all of the students in Joe’s class! This is coming as a gift to us courtesy of Lehman College Art Gallery and Councilmember Cohen. The focus is on the New York immigrant experience. In this residency students will engage in a two day a week residency beginning April 20th where they will work with a renowned artist to create a short film. Each session will be one period long and the entire program will run for five weeks. It will culminate in a Film Festival where each of the shorts will be premiered. Students will make everything from the storyboards to the sets! There will also be a Musical Theater partnership beginning for our students in grades 1 and 2! Our lucky 1st and 2nd graders will have the opportunity to participate in a musical theater program through the Bronx Arts Ensemble this spring. This grant comes courtesy of Francisco’s collaboration with their program director and will also culminate in a performance for our students and their families. Dates to follow soon. On a Wellness Committee Note… During the Week of March 9th, Chef Cathy will be in, leading Curried Cauliflower Soup Labs! Parents are not only welcomed, but encouraged to come in and volunteer to support as our young chefs try out making an amazing and healthy new recipe. Please see the schedule here and we hope to see you in the Lab! Broccoli & Cauliflower Benefits Cards & Recipes  Important Happenings: Ongoing March - Women’s History Month 3/2 - 3/6 - Scholastic Book Fair in Library 3/2 - Read Across America Day 3/2 - K-2 Sing 3/5 - Mock Math Exam for Grades 3-5 3/5 - Parent Teacher Conferences Afternoon and Evening Sessions; ½ Day for students, & Please complete your Parent Surveys when you come by! 3/9 - 3/11 WITS Curried Cauliflower Soup Labs 3/9 - 3-5 Sing 3/25, 3/26 ELA State Testing for Grades 3-5 4/26 March for Babies: As champion fundraisers for the March of Dimes, we have been invited to take part in their annual March for Babies walk in Manhattan as an AmPark team. No further fundraising is required. Niomi will be in touch with teachers and families about joining. We would love to see you there! From the Parent Association:
Coming up this week: 3/2 @ 8:20am: K - 2 Sing 3/2 - 3/6 w/ evening hours on 3/5: Book Fair 3/5: Parent Teacher Conferences (Half Day Dismissal 11:30am) Sign up genius link for book fair (volunteers needed): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080445AEAD2FA7FC1-ampark12 General PA meeting this month will begin at 5:30pm with Bonnie's cyber bullying presentation. Evite link: http://evite.me/Kh4FkJwKgS. Lucky 31 March Raffle! Don't forget to sell Lucky 31 March Raffle Tickets to all your family and friends! You should have received tickets before the break. And remember to buy at least 1 for yourself! Tickets are only $10 and you will be entered to win a cash prize every day in March! - check the little calendars on the raffle tickets to see the winning money pot for each day in March. Even if you are a winner, you will be entered to win again. And again! Total of $2,000 in the pot!! The more tickets you have, the better chance to win! The bottom of the ticket should be filled out, cut off, and returned to the seller. All completed raffle tickets must be returned with payment no later than February 28th in order to be entered every day. Put both in an envelope and return to your child's teacher or place in the PA lock box in the office (left end of the counter). Daily winners will be posted on the amparkpa.org. Total winnings will be calculated and paid out in the beginning of April. More tickets can be requested by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]. Or, make copies on your own! Keep selling! Thank you. And remember, all profits go directly to programs and supplies for our kids. There are so many ways to support your AmPark PA and our AmPark kids. Three simple ways include ShopWithScrip, Stop and Shop A+ Rewards Program, and Amazon Smile. These are ongoing programs that only require that you shop as you normally do. Spring Auction Update We're headed into the Roaring ‘20s for this year's May 15th Spring Auction! Early Bird Tickets are only on sale until March 5th. For only $15 , your ticket includes unlimited food and drink, free childcare for AmPark students, and the opportunity to take home some fabulous auction items - often way below cost! Click the Early Bird link above. Tickets will also be available in the lobby during March 5th Parent-Teacher Conferences. Raffle tickets for your child to win a special lunch and/or activity with a favorite teacher and a few friends, will also be available starting at the conferences. Sign up here to help sell tickets! In case you missed last year's (incredible) party, we had a lot of amazing Auction items and we were able to raise $10,000 for school programs and teacher grants. So far, we have donations from Legoland, Rockin Jump, the Westin Hotel Times Square, the NY Jets, 5 Wits, Bread and Yoga, Aquabilities, Hand and Stone Massage Spa, and so many more... We're aiming for even better this year! Soliciting donations is underway, but we always need help. Come join us at the next Auction Committee meeting on March 3rd at 6pm or contact me to see what you can do - [email protected] Also, do you or anyone you know have a business that may be interested in donating goods or services to the auction? It's a wonderful way to get new customers and demonstrate your commitment to supporting our school. All donations are 100% tax deductible. Congratulations to Shante Thomas for winning 2 tickets to the Spring Auction! 2 tickets are raffled off at every PA meeting, so come join us! Thank you, Alisha Speciale, 2020 Spring Auction Chair Comments are closed.
|