Over the course of the year, so many of you have reached out to me and to members of the faculty to express your appreciation, you’ve attended school meetings and events, and you have watched first-hand how your child has experienced schooling. Help us, by taking the school survey. We need your participation. It is quick and important. (You should enter “f” followed by your child’s nine-digit Student Identification (OSIS) Number to access the survey. Note that “f” must be lowercase.) So far only 17% of our families have responded. We can do better — if I called a Town Hall for tomorrow, many more of you would come!
On our Professional Learning Day yesterday, we continued to tackle some of the major decisions we have to make about next year. They include:
1. School-Based Goals and Instructional Goals What will be our priorities for the coming year?
2. The School Day Schedule The UFT has reached an agreement with the DOE and they have given us some new scheduling options. One of these includes lengthening the instructional day.
3. Technology How will we use it? What will we require?
4. Grouping of Students How will we address students’ learning needs?
5. Distribution of Periods What classes will we offer beyond the core subjects? How many periods should each meet? Should we move from a 7 to an 8-period day.
On Thursday morning, we met some of the incoming fifth graders. They came to take a short assessment. Our parent mingle was rained out, but we enjoyed meeting the students.
6th Grade Field Day is Tuesday, June 8th from 10:30am - 1pm. Come celebrate the end of sixth grade with fun, outdoor, masked + socially-distanced activities in Central Park. Please RSVP for the exact location; this is a parent-led (not school) event and NOT a drop-off!
Questions? Email: 6thgraderep@ms54pta.org.
Join the 7th grade end-of-this-crazy-year outing! Date: Saturday, June 19th Time: Start at 1pm Location:Great Hill in Central Park Activities: Every family going should bring: food & drink to share, picnic blankets & stuff to play with (balls, frisbees, kites, etc.)
Please SIGN UP so that we can have a sense of who's coming.
For the students attending the upcoming "Talent Sing" on June 7, 9 or 10, please go to this link for the sheet music and vocal track!
Please reach out to Anne Pejovich with any questions.
Food Drive Ends June 25! Our food drive will come to an abrupt end when our school closes for necessary repairs this summer. Please join our final push to ensure our 40 families have what they need to eat this summer. Use our MS54 Amazon Wish List or support your local grocer to shop.
We are deeply grateful to Anne McIntosh Pejovich for recognizing this need in our community last June and working tirelessly to ensure every family had food on their table this year. We love you, Anne!
Thank you to all the family leaders running for next year's PTA Board, SLT + Family Healing Ambassador!
PTA Executive Board candidates have stepped forward for the following roles:
Co-Presidents
Co-VPs of Communications
Co-Treasurers
Co-VPs of Fundraising (1 of 2)
Co-Recording Secretary (1 of 2)
Eighth Grade Rep
Equity Team + Wellness Committee Leads
We're still looking for:
Up to two Assistant Treasurers to help with grants + the Annual Appeal
An additional Co-VP of Fundraising
An additional Co-Recording Secretary
A Seventh Grade Rep
We have SLT nominations for two of the three seats open this spring. Additionally, there is a NEW elected position for Family Healing Ambassador.
There are no contested positions across PTA Executive Board, SLT, or Family Healing Ambassador. Candidate bios for all roles areHERE.
Nominations can be accepted for ANY position from the floor on election night, June 8th at 7:00pm. Please email nominations@ms54pta.org for more information. Any seats that remain open will be available for the fall election in October.
June PTA Elections + Meeting June 8, 2021 @ 7:00pm + 7:30pm
Current MS54 parents are invited to register for the election at 7:00pm.
All members of our community are welcome toregisterfor the last PTA meeting of the school year at 7:30pm. Please note that the PTA meeting will begin after the election is over, so it may start slightly after 7:30pm. Agenda, May Minutes, June Budget Report
Date: Thursday, June 10th Time: 6:00pm Place: Your Living Room! Cost:Pay-As-You-Wish — There are donation options of $50, $20, or $10, per family; contributions of any amount are always welcome!
You'll receive the Zoom link on your donation receipt.
Graduation is happening on June 16th at 4:30pm in the Richard Rogers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park located at 123rd Street and Mount Morris Park West! Due to NYC Parks Department restrictions, the ceremony is currently for students only; families will be able to watch the ceremony via livestream. The event will last approximately 90 minutes.
There are many logistics we're still sorting out, including how parents can drop their grads at the park and get home in time for the livestream, what the livestream link will be, when students will get their gowns, and other important details.
Rest assured we're working on all of this and will have answers to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience as we organize this year's event under unusual circumstances and a very compressed timeframe. For questions, please reach out to co-presidents@ms54pta.org.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month (LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning and others)! The timing of Pride Month honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which began on June 28, 1969. After police raided the Stonewall Inn — a club serving transgender and gay patrons in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan — patrons and neighborhood residents fought back in a protest that fueled the emerging gay rights movement nationwide.
Studies suggest that approximately 8% of adolescents identify as LGBTQ+. Research by the National Center for Sexuality demonstrates that people first begin to recognize their gender and sexual identity around age ten. Throughout the month of June, we will be highlighting resources to celebrate Pride Month. Please feel free to email equity@ms54pta.org if you are aware of relevant resources or events that may be of interest to the school community. As a starting point, we recommend this Guide to Gender Identity Terms from NPR.
Other Equity Updates: At a special meeting last week, the PTA voted to approve the addition of both Equity and Wellness Parent Lead/Co-Leads to the PTA Executive Board. These two new positions will be elected along with other PTA roles at the PTA meeting on June 8th.
To avoid conflicting with 8th grade graduation, we are moving our final Equity Meeting of the year to Tuesday, June 15th at 7pm. Register in advance for this meeting.
Read more about the goals of the Equity Team and summaries of past meetings.
Elective Assemblies Wednesday, June 9, 2021 @ 2:40pm: 7th Grade Teachers will describe the elective courses being offered for the coming year.
7th Grade Humanities Celebration June 7 and 9, 2021: during in-school day.
8th Grade Science Exam June 7 and 9, 2021: during in-school day
Clerical Day Tuesday, June 8, 2021 NO SCHOOL
Sixth Grade Field Day! Tuesday, June 8, 2021 from 10:30am - 1:00pm Come celebrate the end of the year with fun, outdoor, masked + socially-distanced activities in Central Park. Please RSVP for the exact location; this is a parent-led (not school) event and NOT a drop-off! Questions? Email: 6thgraderep@ms54pta.org.
June PTA Elections + Meeting Tuesday, June 8, 2021 @ 7:00pm + 7:30pm
Current MS54 parents are invited to register for the election at 7:00pm.
All members of our community are welcome toregisterfor the last PTA meeting of the school year at 7:30pm.
New Parent Welcome Event Wednesday, June 9, 2021 @ 6:30pm
All new families are invited to a welcome event hosted by Dr. Elster. Please register to join. After registering, you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the meeting.
Student Talent Night Thursday, June 10, 2021 @ 6:00pm Pay-As-You-Wish — There are donation options of $50, $20, or $10, per family; contributions of any amount are always welcome! You'll receive the Zoom link on your donation receipt.
MS54 SLT Meeting Friday, June 11, 2021, 7:20 – 8:20am
Any member of the MS54 community who wishes to observe the meeting may email slt-cochairs@ms54pta.org in advance for the Zoom link.
Math Final June 14 and June 16, 2021: 7th Grade Math Final during in-school day June 15 and 17, 2021: 6th Grade Math Final during in-school day
Equity Team Meeting Tuesday, June 15, 2021 @ 7:00pm Register in advance for this meeting. Read more about the goals of the Equity Team and summaries of past meetings. For more info, contactequity@ms54pta.org.
Graduation Wednesday, June 16, 2021 @ 4:30pm
Graduation is currently for STUDENTS ONLY in the Marcus Garvey Park amphitheater. Many details are still being sorted out, so please stay tuned!
Wellness Meeting Friday, June 18, 2021 @ 7:30am Come share your ideas for MS54 Wellness over the summer and next year! Join Zoom Meeting. Contact wellness@ms54pta.org for more info.
7th Grade End-of-Year Outing Saturday, June 19, 2021 @1pm
Location: Great Hill in Central Park
Activities: Every family going should bring: food & drink to share, picnic blankets & stuff to play with (balls, frisbees, kites, etc.) Please SIGN UP so that we can have a sense of who's coming.
Joyful June Calendar
This month's Action for Happiness is all about finding the joy in life, even when things are difficult. Research has shown that experiencing positive emotions in a 3-to-1 ratio with negative ones leads to a tipping point beyond which we naturally become more resilient to adversity. Action for Happiness’ Joyful June calendar is full of actions to help you find more joy, even though life isn't perfect. Please share with others!
UFT Manhattan Parent Summer Conference Registration is now open for the UFT Manhattan Parent Summer Conference taking place on Saturday, June 12, 2021, 10am – 2pm. This half day event features a special address by President Michael Mulgrew, a message from UFT Secretary and Director of Staff Leroy Barr Jr. Following that will be two sessions of relevant workshops to choose from. The day concludes with some swag and raffles.
