8 minute read
Lower School
A Message from our Lower School
Dear Lower School Families,
Welcome to the 2022-2023 Academic School Year!
We hope you all have enjoyed a meaningful summer. It is with great anticipation and excitement that we welcome you back to school for our 2022-2023 academic year. As we are preparing for the start of the school year, we have included important details related to operations, safety, and structures to be sure we are all prepared and ready for the opening of our doors as we welcome everyone to school in person. Most importantly, we once again ground ourselves in the grace, care, integrity, and respect we uphold in our partnership together as a vital importance deepening our community commitment to social responsibility and the ever evolving landscape of education. Please review the details included below. We look forward to the first of our upcoming steps together, and being back in touch with you again soon.
“Look for truth within yourself… live a life of simplicity, love, and service. Let your life speak,
and trust that your children will learn by example.” —Robert Lawrence Smith, A Quaker Book of Wisdom
As we start a new academic year this fall, we want to center around these essential and intertwined principles: l We are committed to living our mission as a Quaker school. l We are committed to excellence, both academic and personal. l We are committed to the social and emotional well-being of all members of our community. l We are committed to seeing the Light, the joy, and the love both in ourselves and in each other. This summer provided a much needed moment to reconnect with friends, family, space, values, and reflection. Inspired by the quote above, we trust the truth and light within ourselves and within our community to continue to help guide us as we enter the new beginning that a school year offers each of us. It is within our own Quaker values and beliefs that we usher in a new start holding your children and their experience at the center of our preparation. We have committed to an investment in both the social and emotional health and wellbeing of our students, as well as the continued important education our Quaker environment provides. Let us all continue to serve in our capacities as examples for the children of Brooklyn Friends as we move forward together in partnership. You will be receiving a communications from your child’s teachers on the afternoon of Monday, August 29th. In friendship, and with warmest regards,
Jason Novak Katie Banks Head of Lower School Assistant Head of Lower School for Academics
9:00–11:00 am
As we welcome everyone back to the start of school, this year we have planned a two-hour window of time to invite students and families to connect with all of our teachers in advance of the first day of school. On Tuesday, September 6, we welcome all students and families to come to our Pearl Street building to meet, introduce themselves, and connect before the first day of school. Teachers will be available and present in their classrooms from 9:00–11:00 am on September 6 for visits from students and families. You may come by Pearl Street to visit anytime between 9:00–11:00 am. We hope that this time offers a glimpse into school in advance of the first day as well as an opportunity to connect together as we welcome everyone to the start of another school year. Specific names of teachers and room numbers are located in our Student and Family Handbook, and we will also be sure to have a reference guide available to view when you arrive to the building. We are excited about offering this opportunity for connection and having everyone in the building together!
Summer Professional Learning
We place an important value on creating a rigorous and expansive professional learning community among our colleagues. We feel strongly that professional learning supports the best of what we can offer in classroom experiences for our students. Our colleagues have engaged in a variety of professional workshops, seminars, and personal development work this summer. The list below offers a lens into some of the opportunities members of our colleague body have experienced that will support your children’s learning and our upcoming school year. We are excited to share more with you throughout the new school year.
l Shifting the Balance Resource and Course l AIM Pathways to Literacy Leadership l The Reading and Writing Project: July Writing Institute l 2022 National Anti-Racism Teach In General Conference l Personal book study reading including but not limited to: The Identity Conscious Educator: Building habits and skills for a more inclusive school by Liza Talusan
Welcoming New Lower School Colleagues
The 2022-2023 school year brings new colleagues to our Lower School. As a community member, please reach out in the coming weeks and welcome the colleagues below as they join us at BFS. The qualifications, skills, former experiences, expertise, and educational philosophies that the following individuals bring will add to our already vibrant and committed colleague-body. These are a point of pride as we enter the 2022-2023 school year. Photographs as well as detailed bios will be updated and shared with our community in the coming weeks following our opening days after colleagues engage in the start of their new school year.
Lower School Classroom Teachers
l Sam Ashmore, 1st Grade Head Teacher l Cameron Crump, Kindergarten Associate Teacher l Natalie Emery, 3rd Grade Associate Teacher l Nick Lerangis, Kindergarten Associate Teacher l Amanda Magnavita, Kindergarten Head Teacher
Lower School Specialist Teachers
l Loreto Barranco, Spanish Specialist l Julie Gibson, Dance Specialist l Admir Ivojevic, Physical Education Specialist l Doris Rodriguez-Graber, Art Specialist l Ana Oropez-Parra, Library Specialist l Alyssa Postman Putzel, Lower School Learning Specialist
Lower School Returning Colleagues who are Stepping Into New Roles
l Tasfia Ali, 4th Grade Head Teacher l Rachel Maldonado, Lower School Psychologist and All-School Wellbeing Coordinator l M’Balia Rubie-Miller, Middle School Learning Specialist and All-School Learning Support Coordinator
Lower School Colleague Partnerships and Specialists
Arrival and Dismissal Procedures to Pearl Street
Morning Arrival
As a way to continue to uphold safety, account for all of our Lower School students, and continue to engage in the benefit of coming together as a community at the start of our day, arrival for the 20222023 school year will continue to be organized as a five minute staggered entrance as children arrive at the start of their day. The details of arrival times are listed below as well as in the Student and Family Handbook. When facing the front of the Pearl Street building, we ask families to escort their students to the positions listed below, and then part once your child is in line with their teachers. We will continue to consider the information and safety needs before us throughout the school year, and update these routines as circumstances allow or change. We also want to have families in the building with us this school year, and we will release more information about visit opportunities once students are settled and have mastered their routines.
We do ask that you make every effort to arrive on time for the start of the day. Any child arriving at school after 9:00 am will be marked as tardy. When arriving to Pearl Street, we ask students to arrive and be ready to enter the building during the following times:
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Left Side (facing the doors) Right Side (facing the doors) 8:15 am 3rd Grade Classes 4th Grade Classes 8:20 am 2nd Grade Classes 1st Grade Classes 8:25 am Kindergarten
Please note that excessive tardiness may warrant action by the division head, including, but not limited to, a decision by the school not to renew the student’s contract or a decision that the student is not eligible to be promoted to the next grade.
Afternoon Dismissal
Dismissal for the 2022-2023 school year will also be staggered using the layout included below. We will dismiss at the same times Monday through Friday. When facing the front of Pearl Street, we ask families to meet their students for pick up at the times listed below. Teachers will escort students out of the building at the dismissal times listed below.
Left Side (facing the doors) Right Side (facing the doors) 2:50 pm 3rd Grade Classes 4th Grade Classes 2:55 pm 2nd Grade Classes 1st Grade Classes 3:00 pm Kindergarten
Students who are not picked up on time at the end of day dismissal will be escorted to our BFX Extended Day program.
All School Student and Family Handbook, 2022-2023
Please be sure to review all of the details included in the Lower School section of the All School Student and Family Handbook. Any details pertaining to specific classroom information will be shared by your child’s classroom teachers. The Student and Family Handbook will continue to be updated throughout the school year as necessary.
Upcoming Communications, Events, and Connect and Talks
In the weeks and months ahead, you will continue to receive messages in regard to many points of communication as we come together in community. We will also continue to offer Lower School Connect and Talk events to keep everyone informed and engaged connected to various updates coming to our Lower School division. Please note the following that will be coming forward:
l Virtual Kindergarten Family Welcome event to be held from 10:00 - 11:00 am on Friday, September 2, 2022 (adult event via Zoom) l Tuesday, September 6, 2022 - Family Visit Day from 9:00 - 11:00 am l Wednesday, September 7, 2022 - First Day of School (Kindergarten and First grade will have a half day dismissal at 12 pm)
Lower School Curriculum Night Events
l Kindergarten and First Grade will occur on Thursday, September 29 from 6 to 7:30 pm l 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Grade Curriculum Night will occur on Thursday, October 6 from 6 to 7:30 pm
Lower School Connect and Talk Events
More details will follow with the Zoom link as well as the specific topics being discussed including the formal adoption of our new math curriculum.
We look forward to welcoming you to the start of the school year and to our Lower School Family Visit on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 beginning at 9:00 am.
