PTA Newsletter No. 8 - 1/7/2024
Dear BNS Families
Happy New Year! We hope everyone enjoyed the break, reconnecting with family, resting and thinking about what is to come in the New Year.
Big thank you to all teachers, staff and parents who contributed to the wonderful one-of-a-kind BNS Community in 2023! Thanks in particular for the holiday donations, and thanks to the Class Parents for coordinating such nice things for our teachers.
Sincerely,
Your BNS PTA
❄️No School January 15, 2024
No School in observance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Legislative Breakfast
Our PTA Co-Presidents Christian Leue and Elena Tate, as well as BNS parent and CEC15 member Hans Arrieta, attended the District 15 Legislative Breakfast.
Many elected officials were in attendance, including State Senators John Liu and Gournardes, State Assembly Members Jo Anne Simon and Robert Carroll, a rep for Congressman Dan Goldman, and City Council Members Rita Joseph, Alexa Avilés and Shanaha Hanif, who spoke about her inspiring experience meeting with the Brooklyn New School Disability Awareness Club.
Elena spoke about the beautiful diversity of the Brooklyn New School and its importance on the 70th anniversary of Brown v Board of Education which ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional.
She implored our leaders in City Hall, Albany and Washington to think of ALL of our children with every law they write and every budget they pass. She invited them all to come to our school, go on a field trip, or sit on a project assessment panel - to see our project-based learning for themselves!
⭐PTA Meeting January 16!⭐
General PTA Meeting, Tuesday January 16 7:30pm - 8:30pm (zoom)
Next Tuesday we'll have our first PTA meeting for 2024, and at our last board meeting, we realized that there are still a lot of areas where we could really use a hand. There are tons of impactful ways to contribute, even if you have a 9-5 or are far away. Our goal is 100% participation.
We have a few admin requests for parent time at BNS, specifically anyone who would be willing to provide a presence in our 3rd floor hallways during the afternoon, partners to lead reading intervention, and handy folks to help spruce up our bathrooms (this one can happen during off-hours). Our meeting will be a great place to find out more, and to meet other people who'd like to participate with you.
Our fundraising team will have an update on where we stand, and is looking for people with ideas to attend their monthly meetings. These also generally happen off-hours and via Zoom, so are a perfect way to participate if you are busy during the daytime. Come meet our team on Tuesday!
And if you can't make it, please at least take some time to fill out this form. It's the best way to let us know if you have a skill, space, or resource you'd be willing to share with our community!
Pre-K & Kindergarten Admissions
Consider PS 456
PS 456, our sister school, will now have once class of pre-K and three classes of kindergarten. Come to an open house to learn more about the building of this new school. Visit the PS 456 website for open house registration information.
The Kindergarten Application will Close on January 19
If your child was born in 2019, they are eligible for kindergarten. All eligible children must apply through Myschools (even current BNS pre-K students).
If you have a child in BNS pre-K, you will need to apply to kindergarten in Myschools.
- If you want to stay at BNS for kindergarten, you only have to put BNS (PS 146) on your application. Current pre-K students have priority.
- If you want to attend another school, add that school to your application.
If you have a child born in 2019 who does not attend BNS pre-K and is a sibling of an older BNS child, apply on Myschools and indicate that your child is a sibling. Siblings have priority.
Questions? Email amysumner@bns146.org.
The Pre-K Application will Be Open January 10-March 1
Apply to pre-K through Myschools.
BNS recognizes two priorities which can be indicated on your application:
- Siblings
- Low income families
Questions? Email amysumner@bns146.org.
Community Arts Workshop
Learn How to Hand Sew Mittens
Join us on this Thursday January 11 in Room 102 from 8:20-9:30am to learn how to hand sew mittens with local material artist and BNS parent Taryn Urushido. All materials will be provided.
Can’t make it in person? A pre-recorded video will be shared so you and your family can learn at home with simple step-by-step instructions.
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 (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.
Buy See's Chocolate for Valentine's Day & support BNS!
Back by popular demand, See's Chocolates are doing a Valentine's Day themed fundraiser. BNS will receive 20% of the proceeds. Order here by January 26th for delivery by Valentine's Day.
Picture Day is a Wrap!
Thank you to Amelia and Stomping Ground and all the parent volunteers who got over 700 kids and teachers photographed in 2 days! All the kids looked super cute! Please consider purchasing prints of these precious memories - or photo mugs, keychains, etc - our school receives a percentage of sales!
Retakes will be held on the morning of January 17 in the gym.
Parents can go here for all things picture day:
BNS Merch!
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The Merch shop is now live on the BNS website. Shop for bundles, new hoodies, water bottles, and totes. Delivery is made to your child’s classroom or arrange for pickup.
Can you help us with Great Leaps Literacy Program?
We are looking for volunteers to help us with a reading fluency support program - we need a few patient adult volunteers to help implement the Great Leaps Literacy program for grades 2-3.
Great Leaps is a comprehensive intervention program for reading that is designed and proven to generate significant and lasting gains for readers. Great Leaps reading takes less than ten minutes a day per child, and at least 3 times per week for substantive improvement.
Contact Heather Vatury (heather@bns146.org) for more information and to sign up for training.
Do you have a couple of hours a week to help our students build their reading skills?
* In the past volunteers enjoyed seeing how this easy intervention supported our developing readers.
Help BNS Write Grants!
Our expert grant writer, Ani Weinstein, is leaving BNS in June when her youngest graduates. If you are interested in helping out in this important way or need more information contact shelley@bns146.org or barbara@bns146.org
Librarians = Literacy
We are lucky at BNS to not only have a library, but librarians! This is not the case for every NYC school and this organization is a mining to change that. Please check them out!
https://www.
Volunteer for our next Movie Night!
Our first movie night of the year was a great success. We had around 150 very happy kids and their families, who got to meet each other and see our lovely auditorium and cafeteria :) We ate 30 pizzas and seemingly infinite popcorn kernels! There were even very special Elemental face paint designs! Everyone paid what they wished and we raised around $2000 to help pay for special educational programs at BNS like dance and bikes!
But it was a lot of work! We couldn't have done it without our volunteers, big and small :) Please consider volunteering for our next movie night on Friday, January 26. You can sign up here to volunteer!
Please get your tickets EARLY so we can make the proper plans to accommodate you - and pop enough popcorn!!
readers.
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.
LOOKING AHEAD
January 8: Fundraising Meeting (zoom, 7:30pm)
BNS/BCS Parent Action Committee (PAC) Meeting (zoom, 8pm)
January 9: BNS Open Library (library, 2:30pm)
January 10: PTA Executive Board Meeting (zoom, 7:30pm)
Pre-K Applications Open
BNS Green & Food Committee (room 106, 2:45pm)
January 11: Arts Committee (room 102, 8:20am)
January 16: BNS General PTA Meeting (zoom, 7:30pm)
BNS Open Library (library, 2:30pm)
January 17: BNS Farm Stand (Henry & Rapelye, 2-4pm)
January 18: Arts Committee (room 102, 8:20am)
BNS Science Night (5-7pm)
Kindergarten Applications Close
Please see the full January 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 (5th grade & 2nd 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)
NICK THUESEN, Web Master, father to Charlie (Kindergarten)
TRACEY TOOLE, Merchandise Co-Chair, mom to Harper (5th Grade)
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 pta2022@bns146.org
