  Dear AmPark Families, Welcome back! It is so good to be back at AmPark with all of your beautiful kiddos lighting up the building with their excited smiles. We kicked off the year with our annual New Families Meet and Greet which certainly helped with those first day jitters for our youngest community members. It’s wonderful to see that new students in our upper grades seem to be making fast friends as well and folding right into our big AmPark Family. Speaking of our AmPark Family, our own Principal Kelly Fitzpatrick, brought into the world one of our newest members this summer. Malachy Owen Fitzpatrick was born healthy and adorable on August 10th and Kelly is absolutely the happiest new mom. While we miss her terribly, the amazing village that is AmPark, is working together to ensure what has been a remarkably smooth start to the year. As we deeply believe, we are all leaders at AmPark, and this acting principal is certainly grateful to all for sharing your leadership and support! Social and emotional learning is a priority at AmPark as we all work towards becoming the best versions of ourselves and learning how to problem solve obstacles along the way. One way we infuse both character and community building is through our Book of the Month initiative. Each month all classrooms participate in a shared text read aloud. September’s Book of the Month is All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. It is a story that shares the message we hold true in our hearts at AmPark, that everyone has a place, everyone has a space, and everyone is welcome in our school. We also use The Leader in Me and The RULER Approach to foster social and emotional growth. More information can be found here and here. Our classrooms are already cultivating a leadership environment as students design their own learning spaces and create the community agreements alongside the teachers in the form of the Class Charter. Please be sure to ask your child about the feelings they hope to have in school and the ways in which the community will work together to cultivate a safe, happy and healthy environment. Important Upcoming Dates (And please check the Calendar tab on this website to stay informed!): Back to School Night: Thursday, September 12th Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15th - October 15th School Sing: Please join us in singing our favorite AmPark songs to warm up for the week on 9/16 for students in grades PK - 2, and on 9/23 for students in grades 3-5. General PA Meeting: 9/18 School Closed: Rosh Hashana 9/30 & 10/1 On a few logistical notes, the DOE has issued the following letter regarding Lead-based Paint Removal and testing throughout NYC Schools: Division of School Facilities Letter to Families. Should you have additional questions or concerns, please visit the NYC DOE Lead-Based Paint Safety page here. On an AmPark specific note, as we prepare for construction to begin at Betty's Playground, we have stopped using the Exit 11 exit, as it will be covered in construction equipment someday soon. Our new breakfast arrival door is, and will be, (until construction is completed) Exit 10 a.k.a. the Glass Room exit. Thank you to families for your patience as we have work to smooth out the systems in place around this new location. 3rd - 5th Grades will continue to exit in the yard and families are welcome to come pick them up directly when you see your child's class come out. We are extremely grateful to PS 95 and Mr. Davis for accommodating us in the shared yard space. Please know that childcare will be available for Back to School night, provided by Roads To Success. Enjoy the time getting to know your child’s teacher and learning more about what they are working on each day. I look forward to seeing you all! In collaboration and with gratitude, Bonnie  Wellness In The Schools - A Note From Our Wellness Committee We’re very excited for a new year and our continued partnership with Wellness In The Schools aka WITS! Last year, AmPark was awarded a gold medal for our Wellness initiatives! As our incomparable Chef Marion reminds us, learning should extend to every space in the school and that certainly includes our cafeteria! Our mission is to ensure that our students are nourished both mind and body while learning healthy wellness habits for life. If you are interested in becoming more a part of the Wellness Committee this year, we are very interested to have more parents join us for discussions on WITS, gardening, sustainability and all things wellness! Please reach out to Audrey at [email protected] for details and more information. For all families new to AmPark, please know that our partnership with WITS ensures that we have access to the delicious offerings on the K-8 Alternative Lunch Menu. The menu is full of locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, as well as healthy, tasty options including a full salad bar daily. Please click this link to check out the September Alternative Lunch Menu. Wishing you all well, The Wellness Committee  A Message from Our PA Co-Presidents
Hello AmPark Families, We'd like to start off by welcoming you to the new school year. My name is Odaliz Vasquez and I, along with Crystal Teron-Salas are your PA Co-Presidents. Anna Goldman is our PA Secretary and James Vasquez Jr. is our PA Treasurer for the 2019-2020 school year. Please note that back to school night is this week on 9/12 and there are 2 sessions. Also, we will be holding our first general PA meeting on Wednesday 9/18 beginning at 6pm with an expedited election to fill our VP of Fundraising and VP of Parent Involvement positions and cannot wait to see you there! Childcare is provided for all AmPark students while parents attend the meeting whether your child in enrolled in our afterschool program or not. Thank you and we cannot wait to meet our new families and to welcome back all returning families. Odaliz Vasquez & Crystal Teron-Salas Co-PA Presidents Comments are closed.
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