Holding space for feeling safe
Dear Families,
The narrative and perception of safety is an important one for all of us, as we reflect with a bit of space and time having passed since last week. It can be the difference between a positive or negative shift in the way we interact with our community. As a New York City public school, we recognize the reality of living in an urban environment and everything that brings with it. We also know that the BNS/BCS community has worked tirelessly above all else to make sure students feel safe when they arrive at our campus. However, when we experience something traumatic and jarring such as a lock down, the trust that has been carefully cultivated is tested.
But we remember who we are and how we hold each other. We remember our building is safe. Your child’s safety and our staff’s safety is our number one priority. We follow our protocols that we know work and we hold space for everyone to process what they’ve experienced. We turn our attention to the things that bring us together each day - the joy of learning.
Kindergarteners have begun to take on their study of the shore. They met with park rangers to learn a bit more about how to protect and care for this natural space.
While back at school, Kindergarteners have been working with our art specialists to explore color and make paintings using red, blue, and yellow. You can check out this rich display in the kindergarten hallway, near room 203.
Our special classes taught by our cluster teachers are well underway. Know that lots of adults in our building are guiding students through their school year and towards being well-rounded learners. We’ve attached their specialty programming document to learn more about their curriculum this Fall.
The Ecorama blog is back in business! Check out the kinds of work our young scientists are doing across the grades, in partnership with Barbara, Johanna and many experts in the field who join us for special activities. We’ll give you a hint about one thing you’ll see - seining for microplastics! The future is truly in good hands. Take a closer look at the Ecorama blog site for further details.
Second graders have been working with Nancye Good to think about the building of shelters. Out in the natural space, what does it look like to use what is around us to help us have what we need to survive and thrive?
As part of the social action work with Penina, students have been reading about the earth and how beautiful it is and how we have to protect it. These pictures show children painting paper for a giant collage of the earth that we are working on (collaborative effort between Bill's class and Jess and Carrie's); collaging half of the earth; and coloring pictures of what each of us thinks is beautiful about Earth.
If you joined our community in the last year, you may not have yet encountered our strong and mighty retiree chapter here at BNS. Check out this letter from last year to learn more about the ways that the folks who paved the way still do this important work with us. One such example is our 5th grade Mediation program, led by retired fourth and fifth grade teacher Cora. The mediators meet weekly and support younger children at recess with conflict resolution, with bi-weekly check-ins with Cora to discuss how it’s going. At the PTA meeting this month, some mediators presented a design for updated mediator T-shirts, to bring their work into the current century - as the teal blue mediator shirts from the 90s are ready for retirement - fully!
As Parent-Teacher Conference season is well underway, we hope that you are able to connect with teachers about your child. These meetings should be framed around what teachers are observing about your children and setting goals for them as learners together. We hope that you have been able to schedule yours as this is such an important point of contact. This will give you further insight into the many experiences your child is having as well as preparing for what is on the horizon. We hope these conversations are fruitful and collaborative.
Until next time,
Diane and Malika
Check the website calendar and Konstella calendar for updates and zoom links.
