Dear PS 107 Families,
We are so excited to welcome your children back to school tomorrow morning at 8:20 am! As a reminder, drop-off locations are as follows:
PreK: In the “Little Yard,” the second gate on 13th Street as you walk towards Prospect Park West. Parents will be able to accompany their children to the classroom on the first three days of school, 9/5, 9/6, 9/9. After that, Ms Cruz and Ms Tamanna will greet your children daily in the Little Yard and bring them up to the classroom.
Kindergarten: In the Sunshine Garden, the first gate on 13th Street as you walk towards Prospect Park West. Parents will be able to accompany their children to the classroom on the first three days of school, 9/5, 9/6, 9/9. After that, teachers will meet their students in the Garden on 9/10 and 9/11. On 9/12, Kindergarteners will start walking up to their classrooms on their own, with the assistance of PS 107 staff members.
1st Grade: At the main entrance to PS 107, on 8th Avenue between 13th and 14th streets. Teachers will meet their students in front of the school building on 9/5, 9/6, and 9/9. On 9/10, students will start walking into the building on their own.
2nd-5th grades: In the Big Yard, entering either at the gate on 8th Avenue closer to 14th Street or at the gate on 14th Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West. Teachers will meet students in the Big Yard on 9/5 and 9/6. Starting on Monday, 9/9, 2nd-5th graders will walk to their classrooms on their own.
On these first days of school in particular, please make sure to leave younger siblings (where possible), dogs, and other family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc) at home because it will be very crowded by PS 107 and very difficult to navigate. We ask for your patience during this time as we will be getting 540+ students into the building. After the first few days, drop off will go much more smoothly.
BREAKFAST AT PS 107
As a reminder, PS 107 will no longer be offering bagged breakfast in the classroom. If your child needs to eat breakfast at school, you may drop them off at the front entrance with Agent Sharon at 8 am, Monday through Friday, beginning on Monday, September 9th. Children will be served a hot breakfast and supervised in our Cafeteria.(Please see the PreK-8 Breakfast Menu here.) At 8:20 am, children will be dismissed from the Cafeteria to their classrooms. If your child arrives at school after 8:20 am and needs breakfast, we will have a limited supply of bagged breakfasts that they will eat in the classroom. While we know that it is sometimes difficult, we ask that you make every effort to get your child to school on time, by 8:20 am, as the morning transitional time is necessary to help children to get settled in their classrooms and ready to learn.
LUNCH AT PS 107
Lunch is also served daily at PS 107 and is free for all students. Please note that there can occasionally be last-minute changes to the School Food menus because of supply chain issues. Please prepare your child for this possibility. You can find the PreK-8 Lunch Menu here.
SAFER ACCESS VIDEO INTERCOM SYSTEM
PS 107 now has “Safer Access” – a video intercom system that allows us to keep our doors locked during the school day! Our Safer Access system will be turned on daily right after morning drop-off. If you are picking up your child early, you will need to press the buzzer at the main entrance. If Agent Sharon recognizes you as a PS 107 parent, you will be buzzed in. You will then sign in at the security desk as usual and you’ll be directed to the Main Office. If Agent Sharon does not recognize you, she will ask you to show your identification and may ask some additional questions about your visit to the school. Please be patient with Agent Sharon as she works to remember more than a thousand faces so that our school community can be as safe as possible. Whenever you visit the PS 107 building, please have identification with you, as you cannot be admitted to the building without it, whether Agent Sharon knows you or not. This is a rule that we must adhere to for everyone’s safety.
BEAUTIFYING OUR BUILDING
You will also notice the beautiful mural that greets students and families as they enter the building – along with a welcoming message in our main office. Parent Kate Wilkes Polevoy spent countless hours this summer turning our main entrance and first floor into a wonderland, featuring the remarkable diversity of planet Earth. The more you look at it, the more details you will see! We are incredibly grateful to Kate for continuing to beautify our school with her incredible artistry.
WELCOME NEW SCHOOLWIDE STAFF!
We are thrilled to welcome to PS 107 two new Physical Education teachers! Ali Annunziato will be our full-time PE teacher, working with grades PreK through 5th, Monday through Friday.
Ali comes to PS 107 after teaching Physical Education in the South Bronx and East Flatbush for the past fifteen years. Ali was a Big Apple Awards nominee in 2013 and 2014, and is the recipient of the 2013 Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture Favorite Teacher Award. Ali played collegiate ice hockey and helped lead the Minnesota Blue J’s to a national championship in 2007. Welcome to PS 107, Ali!
Joining Ali will be Mark Sacoto, who will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, also working with all grades. Mark is a recent graduate of the Brooklyn College School of Education, with a major in Physical Education. Mark was a member of the Dean’s List and an NYC Men Teach fellow. Mark also speaks Spanish fluently. We’re so excited to have Mark as part of our PE team!
WELCOME BACK POTLUCK
PS 107 will be hosting our first ever Welcome Back Potluck on Saturday, September 14th from 12-2pm in the big yard. Meet new friends, catch up with old ones, and welcome new families to our PS 107 Community. Sponsored by the DEI Committee, there will be music, activities for the kids, and food for all. Please contribute what you can; sign-up to bring food or volunteer for set-up, clean up, or food service here.
PTA GENERAL MEETING
Please join us on Thursday, September 19th from 8:45 to 9:45am for our first PTA General Meeting of the 2024-2025 school year. This first meeting of the year will be held in-person at PS107. (Subsequent meetings will generally take place on Zoom.) The agenda will be shared prior to the meeting. We hope to see you there!
CHIPOTLE FUNDRAISER
On Saturday, September 21st from 4pm to 8pm, order online and pick-up Chipotle using the digital code 6TTFLRL or show the cashier the digital flyer here and 25% of event sales will be donated to the PS 107 PTA!
MOVIE NIGHT
Come one, come all: On Friday, September 27th, from 7-9pm we will hold an outdoor movie screening in the PS 107 Big Yard! This ticketed event is sure to be fun for the whole family. Please stay tuned for more details including our featured film, volunteer opportunities, and the link to purchase tickets.
FALL FESTIVAL
This year’s Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, October 19th. The Fall Festival is our largest event of the term: a fun-filled block party that allows our community to celebrate the new school year together and doubles as a fundraiser for the PTA. We have a few positions still open for this year’s planning team, and we would love for you to join in the fun. Please reach out to event chair Lisa Esterhuizen at lisa.k.esterhuizen@gmail.com for more information.
2024-2025 VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
PS 107 is a school like no other thanks in large part to the generous efforts of our school community. There are numerous opportunities for parents and family members to contribute in the upcoming school year - our goal is for 100% of caregivers to volunteer at least once! Please see the Konstella announcement here for some ways you can contribute.