 Hello Families, Fall is upon us and this new season is bringing some new beginnings. Please join us in welcoming Lauren Pane back to AmPark part-time to support classrooms, small groups of students, and to provide students with the opportunity to take books out of the library again. Former fifth grade teacher, Mike Molloy, who is pursuing a degree in social work, will also be joining us on Fridays to support our early childhood grades. These familiar faces bring so much love for our kiddos! It was beautiful to see the synergy at our first Parent Association meeting of the year between our familiar AmPark faces and those new to the community. Thank you for coming out to partner with the school! At the meeting we discussed expanding community partnerships and field trip opportunities that support the integrated units of study that students will participate in across the year. Our kindergarten and first grade teachers met with Carlos from Salvadori to plan neighborhood walks, architectural studies, and the creation of 3D models of our community. Our students will dive into this work throughout the fall. Second and third grade have already booked a series of trips to the Botanical Gardens for culinary institutes to study food from around the world when they embark on their New York State and country studies. Fourth and Fifth graders will dive into art and artifacts with an inquiry lens when educators from The New York Historical Society begin their sessions. There will be plenty of opportunities for hands-on and minds-on learning across the grades! Staff and students are fully engaged in social and emotional learning as we re-familiarize ourselves with our favorite self-improvement tools such as the 7 habits, the classroom charters, and the mood meter. We invite parents to learn alongside us on October 22nd at a family engagement event where we work to create our own personal WIGs (Wildly Important Goals). Come on out and learn how to develop meaningful personal or professional goals, track progress, and keep yourself on track with an accountability partner. If you want to read more books, get to the gym more often, or clear closet clutter these Leader in Me methods can help! October’s Book of the Month is Two by Kathryn Otashi. The big ideas of the story revolve around acceptance and kindness as a friendship changes. Students will focus on the message: I can be less than I am or great than I am. The choice is mine. Thanks to our strong parent/teacher/student partnerships our students made great gains last year as evidenced by the 3rd - 5th grade state tests. We increased proficiency in ELA from 39% to 51% and from 46% to 49% in math. We are not going to stop there! The work continues this year. You can access your student’s scores through NYC Schools Account (NYCSA). For information on NYCSA registration, see the NYC Schools Account page. Please speak with Angie or Damaris for support. At AmPark, we strive to teach students to be citizens of the world by engaging in local and larger service initiatives. One way to engage in service is to donate funds or goods to organizations. This month, students are invited to have their WonderWalk sponsored by collecting pledges to benefit the March of Dimes. Students are also invited to limit their own sugar intake at Halloween while also showing care to service members by donating candy to Treats for Troops the week after Halloween. Students will have many opportunities across the year to engage in other types of service learning too. Important Dates: Don’t forget to check the calendar! October 8th - Schools Closed October 19th - Family Tea/PA Recap October 22nd - PK-2 Sing in Multipurpose Room, October 29th 3-5 October 23rd - AmPark Middle School Information Night October 24th & 25th - Picture Days October 25th - Great American SpellCheck (school fundraiser and qualifying round for school spelling bee) October 31st - Wonder Walk fundraiser for March of Dimes  A Message from Our Wellness Committee We are very excited to get our Wellness Committee started next week! Our 3rd-5th graders have been filling out their WITS committee applications and will be ready to meet and discuss the menu with Chef Ricardo on October 11th. We would love for more families to join us in the K Cafe for our first meeting. In addition, our PreK and Kindergarten students will be planting our hydroponic tower garden and learning about salad bar etiquette with our Wellness Chefs this week! For more information on becoming involved with WITS at AmPark please reach out to [email protected]. Please see this month's Alternative K-8 Lunch Menu here! Parent Coordinator's Message Hello Families, October is a very busy month this year. I have Advocates for Children coming in on the 23rd of October from 9:00-10:30 am to conduct a workshop on School Discipline and Behavior support. Please be on the lookout for flyers. Also, AmPark's Picture Day will be held on the 24th and 25th and detailed information will be sent home soon. If you are interested in volunteering, please email me at [email protected]. Lastly, March of dimes will take place on the 31st hope to see you all there. All Best, Angie Lebron We are closing out this blog entry with teacher brags! We asked our staff, “What’s going well so far?” Take a look at their responses and take a peek into your child’s classroom: Pre-K 2 has fully adjusted to our new school environment and we love listening to read alouds, taking turns and getting to know our classmates while we play! Our kindergarten classes are rocking independent reading from their favorite read aloud star books! Kindergarten kiddos are learning how to read privately in partnerships. They are learning how to look closely, say what they see, and sound like a storyteller. Such grown up work for the beginning of the school year. Way to go kindergarten friends! First graders begin with the end in mind as they develop their reading plans and set goals.  Jen’s class is crushing math talks! Students solve word problems using a variety of strategies and explain their thinking to the class.  Scott’s class synergized by working together as teams to create post-it thinking posters about the read aloud Stray by Cynthia Rylant.  Kelley and Casey’s class has started STACK Time as a way to build community and facilitate respectful conversations, that help build up their classmates and resolve issues that arise in the classroom. Health Education 4th-5th Kiddos have established our charters for health class and are diving into the 8 dimensions of Wellness and identifying our healthy habits for each. Physical Education K-2 We have been working on maximum participation and our personal responsibilities within PE while playing Dance Dance Noodle Tag and Set the Table. Physical Education 3-5 We have been working on maximum participation and the social benefits of physical activities while playing Dance Dance Noodle Tag and Caterpillar Riot. Pre K PE We have been exploring the space and equipment we use in PE and practicing safe body movements. Pre K Lunch and Nap We have been brave about trying new foods and cleaning up after ourselves. A great nap after always helps are bodies get rested for an afternoon of fun! Happy October to all!  Parents' Association Corner
Hello AmPark Families, I hope you all had a great summer! September flew by and I want to not only welcome everyone back to school but thank all of the families that came out to the Meet and Greet orientation, as well as Back to School Night and the first General PAmeeting on 9/26. It was great to see and meet all of you. I'm thrilled that we were able to fill all of our positions on the Executive Board and am happy to announce the 2018-19 board members: President: Odaliz Vasquez Treasurer: Shante Thomas Secretary: Eva Maldonado VP Fundraising: Inocencia Olivo Co-VPs of Parent Involvement: Elizabeth Flores and Crystal Teron-Salas October is here and we have a lot of exciting events coming up. Our next General PA meeting is on 10/17 and I will be sending an Evite for it so be on the lookout! 10/26 is our Costume Party from 7pm - 9pm. Please come join us for a fun night! Original/Creative costumes are encouraged. No masks or weapons are allowed and parents are required to stay with their children. We need volunteers for the party so please be on the lookout for the Sign-up Genuis link. Our popular Halloween Bake Sale is on Wednesday, October 31 at drop-off and pick-up and as always, it is tentative pending volunteers to run it. A sign-up will be sent for this as well and a request for donations will be included. If you haven't signed up to receive the Parents' Association emails, you won't want to miss out! We send updates, reminders and important information regarding school happenings, so please sign up today. All you have to do is send a quick email to [email protected] and ask to be added to our blasts. Want to help AmPark raise some extra funds? Please clip your Box Tops, check for expiration dates and send them to school in a ziploc bag with your child's name and class on it. The deadline for Box Tops is Friday, 10/19. The class who collects the most Box Tops will win a pizza party! You can also help AmPark earn easy money by downloading the Shoparoo App and snapping pictures of all your receipts within 14 days. Get more information by clicking the link here: Shoparoo Fundraiser. I'm looking forward to a great year! Best, Odaliz PA President Comments are closed.
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