May Principal Newsletter
Dear RBS Family,
With the change in the weather and the increase in scholar activities after-school, we are seeing some overall changes in the scholars. Behavior is a little looser, homework is being missed and overall scholars appear to be ready for a summer vacation. The teachers and I have talked with scholars reminding them that we are looking for their best behavior in the classrooms, playground, bus, and all areas of their school day. We expect all scholars to behave in a respectful and safe manner. We are proud of them and their accomplishments and encourage scholars to finish their school year doing their best!
We begin this month by celebrating our wonderful staff and recognizing all mothers. The first week of May (the week of May 1 - 5) is Staff Appreciation Week. One of the nicest gifts a scholar or parent/caregiver can give a staff member is a letter of appreciation for a staff member’s file or a card. I accept letters throughout the school year and during the summer so please feel free to send these in at your convenience.
Thank you to those parents/caregivers who completed the School Survey. The responses from this survey are used to establish priorities for the school like how we can improve communication to parents/caregivers, enriching the existing curriculum and ensuring that the learning environments are inclusive for all scholars.
Many thanks to Mr. Blatman for all of his amazing efforts in sponsoring and coordinating the District 5 STEM Expo being held on Saturday, May 20th. We love seeing all of the projects and are pleasantly surprised to see new explorations! We are thrilled that this STEM Expo provides scholars an opportunity to collaborate on projects where they investigated something they were wondering about. Hats off to our budding scientists!!!
We want to wish all moms a very wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 14th.
There will be no school for scholars on Monday, May 29th in observance of Memorial Day. Thank you to all families who have lost a loved one or who has a loved one currently serving in the armed services on behalf of our country. We recognize the sacrifice that families make in support of loved ones who serve.
Alvaro Cabrera is the parent of a second grade scholar and he has invited all families to participate in an online focus group regarding progressive education. The purpose of this activity is to help answer the question: What should progressive education look like when applied to our school? The ideas that emerge from the forum will be synthesized, summarized and organized by the group facilitator, and handed to the PA board and the school as a contribution to this important ongoing debate. To participate, families can enter whenever your schedule permits, during a period of five days, to post, comment, and answer to other parents. The online group will be open from Wednesday April 26th at 7am, to Monday May 1st at noon.
Please save Saturday, June 3rd to join all of us at the Family Day Spring Festival. The event runs from 12pm – 4pm and we expect a day of fun-filled activities for families.
Best regards,
Reggie Higgins
Principal
This month is full of events for our scholars:
Alley Pond Park K-111 May 2nd
Harlem Grown 2-206 May 3rd
Dewitt Clinton HS (Behind the Book) 2-206 May 9th
Instinet(Read Ahead) 5-207, 5-216 May 11th
Global Language Project Select classes May 15th
Harlem Grown PK 107 May 18th
District 5 STEM Expo All classes May 20th
Harlem Grown PK 103, PK 112 May 24th
American Museum of Natural History PK 103, PK 107, PK 112 May 26th
Randalls Island Grades 1 -5 May 26th
S’Cool Sounds Select classes May 31st
TADA Musical Theater (206,207,215,216) May 30th
TADA Musical Theater (108,110,211,213,217) June 1st
Family Day Spring Festival All families & classes June 3rd
SAVE THE DATE
· PK Stepping up is June 20th
· Kindergarten Moving up is June 21st
· Fifth grade Promotional Ceremony is June 22nd