September 7, 2017
Dear PS 321 Families,
We’re off to a great start! Thanks so much for following our routines for the beginning of the day, which meant that we really minimized chaos. And, it’s quite amazing to go into classrooms and see that already our children—including in Kindergarten classes, are so engaged.
One very important announcement that you may have read about in the newspaper: Beginning today, school breakfast AND lunch is free to all students, regardless of income level. All a student has to do is to get on line in the lunch room, and she/he will be served. Parents will no longer be charged for lunch. However, the DOE asks that parents do complete the school lunch forms—either online at www.myschoolapps.com or the hard copy that will be sent home next week. It is important for New York City to know the number of children who are eligible for Title I funding. If you have money in your myschoolbucks account, it will be refunded, and you will get information on the details of this in the coming weeks.
As I am sure you have noticed we are in the midst of a major construction project. Our school was selected by the DOE to become a fully accessible school building that can accommodate students in wheel chairs. This project is being funded by the city and coordinated by the School Construction Authority. I meet every other week with a team from SCA and the contractors to make sure that we address any issues that impact the school. We will have an elevator installed, and all the public areas as well as two classrooms per grade will be made accessible. This construction will last all year. During this time, the back school yard will be closed at 4:20 pm. Please do not count on your children staying in the yard beyond that time as trucks will need to get into the yard. As of now, we have been told that the yard will be open on weekends for play. No construction takes place during school hours. Because the backyard is now smaller, and we have a different exit on 1st Street and a small metal stairway to the yard, we are opening a gate at the end of the minischool. Parents coming into the yard at dismissal time should use that gate. In both the morning and at dismissal, children who line up in the yard will be behind the white line. Parents should pick up children from the end, not the beginning of the class line.
Thank you for all the ways you support us! I will be in touch next week with more information about a variety of things.
Fondly,
Liz Phillips, Principal
