The spirit of our community
Dear Families,
In the brief time since we pressed ‘send’ on our most recent letter from leadership, two deeply disturbing national tragedies have made their way across our collective news feeds. We learned of the horrific mass shooting at a Lunar New Year celebration on the west coast which left 11 people murdered, and the brutal police beating of Tyre Nichols in Texas. As these tragedies continue to crash over us like waves, taking even more of an emotional toll, we acknowledge the levels of retraumatization that is happening for us, our children and the world at large. We recommit and resolve our community to be a place that works tirelessly to teach respect for the lives of all while cultivating change agents who will fight injustice and disrupt the status quo.
This community is made up of so many amazing people who work to provide specialized services to our students. Each professional focuses on an aspect of development that supports their educational and socio-emotional experiences. We uplift our related service providers here at BNS: Our occupational therapists are Bonnie, Katherine A. & Fiona. Our Speech and Language Therapists are Rolande, Kristel & Dania. Our Physical Therapist is Jenny C. Did you know that this week is “National Guidance Counselors Appreciation Week”? Our guidance counselors are Carrie H. & Dalisa. Our School Based Support Team (SBST) Team is comprised of our School Social Worker, Joseph, and School Psychologists, Ita, Karla and Gio. They share their expertise with staff and collaborate to provide their clinical lens essential for looking at children and their growth holistically. We are beyond fortunate to have this phenomenal collective of individuals.
On February 1, the BNS DAC (Disabilities Awareness Club) had their monthly meeting in our Speech and Language Therapy room. A room where typically 4-8 kids work in small groups on expressive and receptive language, the space was filled to the edges with children sitting criss-cross applesauce, in grades 3 through 5. At the front of the room was Kristel, BNS Speech Therapist and DAC leader. Along with Kristen, fourth grade teacher, Kristel opens her room to children who would like to discuss what it’s like to be a person with a disability, and how we can all advocate to make the world more accessible. DAC was started by a BNS student, Ameiko (who is now a BCS student!) along with Kristel, four years ago. Last school year, DAC wrote a letter advocating for elevator accessibility for our building, which we invite you to read:
We shared this letter beyond our walls in hopes of support and next steps. This year, we’ve received responses from some members of the DOE School Facilities office, who explained some of the difficulties with our specific building, which was built in 3 parts spanning 5 decades of building codes and inaccessible policies. The DAC invited our head custodian, Eddie Briar, to their January meeting and followed up by inviting a representative of the DOE’s Office of Accessibility to the meeting on February 1. We have been told that making our building accessible is incredibly challenging and expensive, and have been replied to with varying degrees of both hopeful and disappointing answers, though to date there has been no action.
Our children and our community are not ready to accept this, and the advocacy continues, with an invitation extended to local political offices for the next DAC meeting. We will keep everyone up to date as this student-led charge continues forward.
Another opportunity for us to listen carefully to our young people is on the horizon, when we return from mid-winter break. Our Performance Based Assessment (PBA) panels will begin Monday 2/27, and we need family and community volunteers to sit on panels to support the process. We will send out much more information as well as sign-up invitations in the coming days. Soon after third grade panels conclude, fifth grade panels will begin. Fourth grade panels come later in June, so there’s one more opportunity to join in. We encourage families to join panels for the grades your children will enter if you can, to get a preview of what’s to come!
These busy days keep us all moving quickly from one big event to another - progress reports, the fourth grade musical, the third and fifth grade museums, field trips, class shares and more - all speeding towards our mid-winter break, a bit of respite and a moment for rest. We look forward to all that’s to come!
Check Konstella for zoom links and the website calendar for updates:
Diane & Malika
