PS/IS 686 | Brooklyn, NY

BSI Newsletter Month of October

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BSI Newsletter

BSI Newsletter

Good Afternoon Families,

We hope you have had a smooth transition to the new school year.

It was great to see so many of you at BSI for Curriculum Night! The process of crafting a community is well underway, both school-wide and within each classroom.

We are looking forward to seeing you at our first Family Friday of the year on October 25th.

Communication (blog digest, class emails, school loop)

All forms of communication are up and running as of September 20th. If you find yourself not receiving class emails or blog updates please email jpolanco@bsi686.org 

Students in grades 4-8  are responsible for checking school loop daily. It is used to communicate homework, important due dates around assignments, social-emotional and behavioral reminders.

 
 
Picture Day 
Picture day is October 29th! The background for school portraits will be light blue (see below). The background for individual portraits will be yellow/orange (see below). 
 
Makeups, retakes and sibling pictures will be taken on December 12th. 
 
For more information check out BSI’s Picture Day Page 
 

We Love Volunteers on Picture Day!

We appreciate the time and effort of volunteers helping with Picture Day.  The process works best when volunteers provide us with a little assistance. We have created a video outlining what we need help with to make Picture Day a success. Click here to view the Volunteer Video 

If you would like to volunteer please click here. 

 

Individual portrait background color.

 

Class portrait background color.

 
Lunch Clubs (Gr5-8)
 
Lunch clubs have launched. However, students can continue to sign up. If the lunch club of their choice is full they will be put on the waitlist. If there is room then they will be added to the lunch club roster.

Please see the selection overview below.

In order to sign up for a club, an online form needs to be filled out: CLICK HERE.  

BSI Afterschool Clubs 

This year we are able to offer the following: 

  • Tuesday: Debate (Gr5-8)
  • Wednesday: Debate  (Gr5-8) & Fine Arts Portfolio (Gr8)
  • Thursday: Math Team (Gr6-8) and Band (Gr4-8)
  • Friday: Musical (Gr6-8)

Please note that in order to sign up for more than one afterschool option, you would need to submit a separate application.

Click here to submit an application. 

Arrival:

BSI opens its doors at 8am and students should be at school no later than 8:25 am in order to make it upstairs by 8:30 am. All students enter the school building through the main entrance. Once in the building, students proceed to their designated areas. 

If you are driving your child to school in the morning we are asking that you not park in front of the school. If you pull in front of the school, you are stopping school buses from arriving. If you double park you are endangering other students. This is a safety concern and we ask families to be vigilant.

 
 
Dismissal:
 
If there are any changes to be made for the day please submit the digital form before 1:50 pm. We’ve had more than usual amount of late departures this year because we are not notified of dismissal changes on time. If you are planning on picking up your child or enrolling in afterschool please update the dismissal form accordingly. (no emails or handwritten notes please)
 
All daily dismissal changes need to be made online using Provisional Dismissal Form (Daily Changes) prior to 1:50 pm.
 
If there is a change in your permanent dismissal plan please resubmit your plan using the online form. Permanent Dismissal Form (Long Term)
 
 
 
Bus Safety

For families of bus students: Your child should have a colored bus tag on his/her backpack if s/he uses the bus in the afternoons. The color of the tag corresponds to his or her bus route. Please check the tag and email our parent coordinator if the bus tag has been lost or there are any discrepancies. Also, please consider taking a sharpie and writing some emergency contact phone numbers on the back of the tag. Bus drivers will use these tags if there is nobody at a stop to meet your child; it speeds things up if the driver has a way of contacting you directly rather than having to call the school and wait while we try to close the loop.

We will continue to have meetings with all bus groups to teach into essential learning concepts/safe riding practices. Our goal is to reinforce safe behaviors for riding on the bus. If your child rides one of the OPT buses, please reinforce safe bus behavior at home and make sure to discuss bus contracts that also need to be signed and returned to school.

 
School Breakfast & Lunch

Breakfast and lunch are at no charge to ALL students.

However, the state requires a Family Income Inquiry Form from every family. Paper copies were sent home with students on the first day of school, and you can also fill it out online at https://www.myschoolapps.com. Your answers are private and the DOE is prohibited by federal law from sharing them.

Lost & Found 

Jackets and layered shirts have started to come to school. When a student gets active and warm in the sunshine at recess, he or she often takes that jacket or a layer off.
 
Every day, clothing without name labels is being brought to the office after recess. Every day, unlabeled items left unclaimed after dismissal are taken to the Lost & Found. A mountain of jackets, hoodies and lunch boxes is growing in that little room. Do YOU know where your name labels are?
 

High School Process (Gr8 only)

Our amazing Guidance Counselor, Valerie Durandise, has been sharing a lot of HS open house information through email and will continue to do so throughout the year. Ms. Valerie is also underway with 1:1 HS meetings to continue to prepare families for the high school admissions process.  If you would like to meet with Ms. Valerie please click HERE to schedule a meeting.

Upcoming Events:

For details go to the main calendar and click on the event details.