PTA Newsletter No. 3 - 10/15/23
Dear BNS Families
The third week of October is bringing us gorgeous fall weather and another PTA meeting. Plus, the BNS community just celebrated at Unity Fest this weekend!
Read on to learn more about what our BNS community has been up to and what we have to look forward to in the week and month to come.
Sincerely,
Your BNS PTA
PTA Meeting Highlights ⭐
Thanks to everyone who joined our first PTA meeting in September! Here's a quick rundown of what went down:
Cooling the Auditorium: We're investing $2500 to install two donated AC units in our auditorium. BCS is splitting the cost since we share the space. No more sweaty events!
Bike Program Boost: We're setting aside $1500 annually to keep our Learn to Bike program rolling. Every BNS student gets a chance to pedal their way to success!
Help Wanted!
Co-Treasurer: Our lead treasurer Krystina wants to get a head start on training her replacement!
Social Media Co-Chair: Fancy handling our Facebook? We are looking for someone who loves sharing about our school!
Special Request: Our maintenance team dreams of a snow plow for the yard, but the $15K price tag is a bit steep. Got grant ideas or donation leads? Let's chat!
Save the Date: Next meeting is 7:30PM, Tuesday, October 17th via Zoom. We will gather (virtually) to review and approve our budget for the school year, vote-in our new Fundraising co-chair, and discuss creative new ideas to build community. See you there!
Middle School Admissions Information
Middle school applications opened this Wednesday, October 11th.
Thanks to those who came to the informational meeting and to those who tuned in on zoom. Here is the recording and the agenda with all the links.
Family Events
- The Office of Student Enrollment will be hosting a webinar for families on the Fall 2024 Middle School Admissions process. The first event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 17. All events are in English, with interpretation services available in several languages.
- Many schools will list their open houses and tours in the centralized MySchools events calendar. Schools may provide information on their own websites for prospective families, such as a schedule and links to any live or recorded events, other media, and contact information for families who want to speak with or write to school staff.
BNS Farm Stand
Stop by the Farm Stand Wednesday October 18 between 2-4pm for fresh local produce at low cost at the corner of Rapelye and Henry. Please bring your own bag!
Community Arts Workshop
Hand Sewing - BNS Garlands
Join us on Thursday October 26 in Room 102 from 8:20-9:30am for a morning of collaborative creation with local material artist and BNS parent Taryn Urushido who will teach or guide you through basic hand-sewing skills. We're working on a series of letter garlands to be hung around the school. Come learn (or practice!) how to hand-sew, and contribute to this lovely community art project, plus take home skills that you can practice with your kids!
Absolutely NO art experience is necessary, just a desire to create and collaborate. Everyone is welcome!
About the BNS Arts Committee:
If you're interested in creating or participating in arts-related programming, please join other passionate families who want to bring more arts enrichment to the school through the PTA.
Created by celebrated crochet artist Taryn (Organ) Urushido (parent of Azusa, 1st grade), and co-led by Mahshad Vakili Hall (parent of Ruby, 2nd grade), the Arts Committee hopes to create events and opportunities for parents and families to participate in the enriching and inspiring art of handmade craft, and bring these life skills back into the home to build meaningful memories and mementos with our children.
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Join the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee
BNS is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee supports the needs of students, parents, educators, teachers, and administrators to foster a school community where diversity is uniquely acknowledged and celebrated each and every day—in how our students learn and interact with one another and how our teachers engage with parents and teachers who are black/brown and marginalized.
All families are encouraged to join the committee. Express your interest here to get involved
15th Annual PTA Fun Run
Councilmember Shahana Hanif is hosting the 15th Annual PTA Fun Run this year on Sat., October 28th at 10am in Prospect Park (race bib pickup and pre-race fun starts at 9am). The PTA Fun Run is a 3.3 mile run/walk/scoot around the Prospect Park loop in Brooklyn, and is an energizing community-building event with live music, prizes, opportunities to connect with other schools and PTAs, and fundraise for our schools! Please register here. We need a parent to start us off by registering a BNS team. Let amysumner@bns146.org know if you can do this.
The funds raised from participation fees and donations go to participating Title I schools (including schools that had Title I status in the past 3 years). We will also be allocating a basket of prizes for the participating elementary, middle and high school with the most participation (regardless of their Title I status). Prizes include a Tacombi burrito party, Mayor’s Office and City Agency water bottles, totes, coloring books, Museum tickets and more!
We want to ensure the Fun Run is accessible to those who may not be able to cover registration fees, so please encourage families in need to reach out to mperez@council.nyc.gov for free or reduced price tickets or reach out if you are distributing discounted tickets to your school community.
Box Tops for Education
Scan your grocery & shopping receipts to earn money for BNS!
BoxTops for Education donates to BNS when you buy eligible products, which includes Annie's products, Airborne, Cheerios, Háagen-Dazs, Lysol, and Yoplait. Grandparents, aunts & uncles, friends, etc. are also welcome to scan their receipts for BNS!
To participate:
- Download the app
- Search for Brooklyn New School (It's under the name "Public School 146 Brooklyn New Sc")
- Scan your physical receipts or upload digital ones within 2 weeks of purchase
Contact Amy Osekowsky Davis (aosekowsky@) if you have any questions.
Author Visit with Chris Harris
On November 9th, BNS/BCS library will be hosting an author visit with Chris Harris.
Books are Magic is helping us organize. We would like to encourage families to support our author and our local bookstore by purchasing any of Chris Harris's books. Families can purchase with this link, pick up their book from Books Are Magic ahead of time and bring it in to get signed by our author on November 9th. Our authors do not receive an honorarium for their visits, instead we rely on book sales to support an author's work and make their visit possible.
BNS Fundraiser for Unicef
BNS is resuming participation in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF this year, and it is the first year our school will be resuming this drive, since 2019. To kick off this campaign, a musical puppet show performance will be presented to the students in the cafeteria this coming week to educate them about UNICEF and to encourage the students to collect funds for the children of the world when they go trick or treating this Halloween. Please be on the lookout for the take home flyers that will provide more details along with the BNS QR code that your child may share during Trick-or-Treating this year to collect donations in support of this campaign.
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF is a Kids Helping Kids campaign that started back in 1948 in Philadelphia when a minister and school teacher sought to encourage children in their hometown to collect coins during trick-or-treating to be donated to UNICEF in order to help children around the world. The campaign spread nationwide by 1950, and part of the campaign's goal is to let children know they can be a power for good in the world. BNS has been a participant in this campaign ever since 2011, but took a pause for the past few years as a result of the pandemic. We are looking forward to resuming this year and hope your family will participate by sharing the donation link and/or QR code with friends/family/neighbors to collect some donations.
P.S. In prior years when BNS participated in this effort, the students collected coin donations in little orange containers when they went trick-or-treating on Halloween. In line with the many things that have gone electronic these days, the donations have also switched to an online platform to replace the coins and collection cartons. In the event your child(ren) receives donations in coin/cash, we ask that the family kindly make a donation online for the same amount in exchange for keeping the coin/cash.
Bake Sale
New Families Partnership
New to BNS and looking for someone more experienced to talk to? New Families Partnership is a buddy system that provides a supportive network where new BNS parents are matched with returning BNS parents. This ensures that parents new to our school have the option to buddy up with a parent they can go to for questions and support. If you'd like to sign up, as either a new parent or a returning parent who is willing to help a new family navigate the BNS world, go to tinyurl.com/BNSnewfamilies and fill out the short form. You'll be matched with another BNS parent via email and you both take it from there!
Social Media
BNS is on Social Media! Follow us and stay informed on all BNS happenings. Find us on Instagram (@thebrooklynnewschool) and Facebook (TheBrooklynNewSchool). We are always looking to source and post great photos of your kids involved with BNS activities, so feel free to email them anytime to the Social Media Team: Photos@bns146.org.
Donate to the Annual Appeal
What Your Donation to the BNS PTA Pays For:
Classroom, Office, and Art Supplies
Technology
Science Teachers (not salaried through the DOE)
Bike and Swim Programs
Outdoor Learning Programs (Nature around us, Shore School, and more)
Brooklyn Arts Exchange (providing performing arts classes from Pre-K-5th grade)
Sustainability Program
Science Field Trips
Professional Development
4th Grade Musical
Sendoff to Summer (our year-end celebration in the yard)
Garden and Farm Curriculum
Math Workshops
Art Field Trips
Faculty Appreciation
Library Books and Technology Updates
3rd Grade Africa Studies
PTA Operations (Konstella, Paypal, Stripe, Web Server Fees, and other things like that)
Camping Trips
Lice Checks
5th Grade Graduation Ceremony
Click on this link if you want to make a financial contribution. Whatever your family is able to contribute, know that you are appreciated at BNS.
Here is a public link for friends and family outside of our BNS community.
If your family can afford to donate time, please contact the PTA co-presidents, Elena and Christian to hear about the wide variety of needs and opportunities to serve in our community.
Whatever your family is able to contribute, know that you are welcome and appreciated at BNS.
LOOKING AHEAD
Bookmark the 2023–2024 DOE school calendar here. BNS events and important dates are also on the Konstella calendar.
October 17: PTA General Meeting (zoom, 7:30-8:30pm)
October 18: BNS Farm Stand (Rapelye and Henry, 2:00-4:00pm)
October 24: Kindergarten Family Meeting (room 126, 8:20am)
October 25: Bake Sale (Rapelye & Henry, 2:30-4:30), Lost & Found Big Yard Shed Clean-up (Big Yard, 5:10pm deadline to retrieve items)
October 26: Community Arts Workshop (room 102, 8:20-9:30am)
October 28: PTA Fun Run (Prospect Park, 10:00am)
Wednesdays: Adult Chorus (auditorium, 4:30-5:15pm weekly)
Please see the full October BNS Calendar here.
BNS PTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 2023–2024
CHRISTIAN LEUE, Co-President, dad to Max (1st grade)
ELENA TATE, Co-President, mom to Hans (2nd grade)
KRYSTINA ATHAS, Co-Treasurer, mom to Alexander & Liam (5th & 3nd grade)
HANNAH LANE, Recording Secretary, mom to Leo (pre-K)
MERVE KAYAN, Social Media Co-Chair, mom to Leyla (2nd grade)
HANNAH NUDELL, Communications Chair, mom to Eliza & Gideon (5th grade & 1st Grade)
AMY OSENKOWSKY DAVIS, Communications Co-Chair & Fundraising Co-Chair, mom to Emily (Pre-K)
SARA KRAVIG GABLE, Fundraising Co-Chair, mom to Captain (2nd grade)
NIKA WHITEHEAD-CLARKE, Fundraising Co-Chair, mom to Nicquel (2nd grade)
ABBY COOVER, Newsletter Chair, mom to Valen, Varro & Vesper (toddler, 5th grade & BNS Grad)
LAURA WOOD, Class Parent Coordinator, mom to Phoebe & Sally (4th grade & 1st grade)
NILI OHAYON, Farm Stand Coordinator, mom to Livia (2nd grade)
CORISSA TRANI, Web Master, mom to Logan (Kindergarten)
PATTY LIN, Web Master, mom to Deren (Kindergarten)
CLARA PLANEL, Web Master, mom to Olivia (Kindergarten)
TARYN ORGAN, Community Engagement Artist, mom to Azusa
CATHERINE HELLEUX, Sustainability Initiatives Co-Coordinator, mom to Bretton
LISA WALSH, Sustainability Initiatives Co-Coordinator, mom to Max
DIANDRA VERWAYNE, Member-at-Large, mom to Ethan (2nd Grade)
MAHSHAD VAKILI HALL, Member-at-Large, mom to Ruby (1st Grade)
ANDREA GRANDE-CAPONE, Face Painting Chairperson
EMILY DEL VALLE, Co-Chair, Events Committee
Contact the 2022–2023 BNS PTA at pta2023@bns146.org
