Owl Blog March 2019

From Principal Kelly:

I hope that everyone had a safe and warm snow day.  March certainly came in like a lion, and hopefully spring is just around the corner.
Please be sure to complete your Learning Environment Survey.  Surveys will be distributed prior to parent teacher conferences and are an opportunity to share your voice in school-wide decision making.  Each family receives 1 survey. We will hand out the survey to the eldest student. Computers will be set up during PTCs to make the survey return a breeze.  If you return or complete your survey at PTCs you will also be entered into a raffle to win a bag of books and AmPark swag, as well as a $50 gift card! Classes with 100% return rates will also receive a special reward!
At PTCs, you will also notice members of our PA circulating in the lobby area to gather input into our yearly planning, such as workshop choices and meeting times.  We’d love to hear from you!

At our last PA meeting, we opened up with a presentation on Digital Citizenship.  We are sharing the resources on the website again so that all families will have access to the information.  Cyber safety lessons also take place periodically in school. Preparing our children for this new world we live in is so important for student safety and the shared resources can support these necessary conversations.  This was a timely meeting given the latest cyber safety news.

Information on the Momo Challenge was shared by the Department of Education:
What is The Momo challenge?
Please note it’s better to use this as an opportunity to teach good practices online.

• This should start by ensuring that kids know not to contact strangers online, regardless of the method. Setting privacy systems on devices with your child is a great way to have this conversation and agree on automatic precautions.
• Parents and guardians should ensure there’s an atmosphere of openness and transparency about online activity. Keep an eye on device usage and if you notice a child switching screens on their devices when approached or new numbers or email addresses on their devices it’s worth checking in with them.
• ​It’s also important to have video games and screens used in shared family areas so you can see what kids are doing. This also means they can talk to you more easily about anything that upsets them.
• In Minecraft, you would only see the Momo Challenge Character if your child is using mods and custom games, which are not available on the console version of the game. In Roblox, selecting the Restricted setting for your child’s accounts ensures they can only access games that have been checked for appropriateness.
• On YouTube, select restricted mode so that children cannot access content flagged by the YouTube community as potentially sensitive.

Book of the Month: My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits is a story that shares a message of the importance of staying true to yourself and taking pride in what makes you  unique. The people that are worth having in your life will notice the qualities that make you special and love you for them.

Student Leadership Notebooks have launched across the school.  Learn more about them here at Leaderinme.org.  Students will be sharing their learning during the May evening school night.

In April all families have the opportunity to attend the annual District 10 Parent Symposium at In-Tech on April 6th from 8:30 - 2:30.  There are workshops, events, guest speakers, and a new chorus that our own Bonnie is a part of!  We hope to see you there.

Last, but certainly not least, we want to extend a huge congratulations to our own Tomas Yafar for not only having won our AmPark School National Geographic Bee, but also officially qualifying for the New York State Geography Bee!  We could not be more proud of Tomas and his accomplishment! 

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March Happenings:
Women’s History Month
3/14 Parent Teacher Conferences
3/18 PK-2 Sing
3/22 AmPark’s Got Talent
3/25 3-5 Sing
3/29 Family Tea/PA Recap

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From the Wellness Committee: 
This month, Chef Ricardo and Chef Cathy will be leading WITS Labs making a truly delicious and healthy Broccoli Salad!  You are welcomed to come and join our young chefs in the K Cafe as they prepare the salad themselves during the week of March 18th-22nd.   
Please check out March's Alternative Lunch Menu here to see what's upcoming in our cafeteria.  Our next Wellness Committee Meeting will be held on March 7th at 8:30AM in the K Cafe.  We would love for any and all interested parents and families to come and join us!

From our PA President: 

Hello AmPark Families, 

We need all hands on deck this month with so many great events taking place. We would appreciate any time you can give us whether a little or a lot. The book fair will run the week of 3/11 thru 3/15 and we need volunteers to set up and run it. Parent teacher conferences will be held on 3/14 and we will be selling Auction tickets that day in the lobby. If we can get volunteers to man that table throughout the day it would be helpful. AmPark's Got Talent will take place on 3/22. If you would like to be part of the show please email [email protected] to sign up. We will also need volunteers for behind the scenes at the show and to sell snacks. Last but not least our Party Of The Year: The Spring Auction is coming up on April 5th. Please come enjoy a kid free night with free wine and finger foods. Childcare provided for AmPark Students! As always thank you for your participation and time. AmPark would not be as great as we are without all of you!

Thank you,

Odaliz Vasquez
PA President