PS 111 Principal's Corner

Happy Spring! Spring officially arrived at 10:46 AM on March 20th 😊

March 30th and 31st and April 1st (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) are regular schools days. Please ensure your child is in school all three days.

Spring Break begins on Thursday, April 2nd and ends on Sunday, April 12th. We will see everyone on Monday, April 13th.

We wish everyone who celebrates a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover!

Join us on Friday, March 27 for our 2nd annual reading night in the school from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Empanadas, pizza, and drinks from 5:00 - 6:00 (or until food runs out) 🙂

Thank you to our PTA volunteers for arranging and organizing this event!

Thank you for supporting the 2026 Read-a-Thon that started on Friday, March 13 and ends tomorrow, Friday, March 27.

Read-a-Thon participation and donations support our classrooms, our newly-reopened school library, and family-friendly programming at PS 111.

Thank you!

Our students had a special treat listening to author Robert O'Neill read his book Sammy The Flying Purple Baby Elephant.

It is a children's book about a purple baby elephant who tries to get his parents to stop using their smartphones and reconnect with traditional elephant activities, teaching a lesson relevant to both kids and adults about balancing technology with real-world experiences.

The students had A LOT to say about adults and their devices!

• Abby Cadabby visited our Kindergarten classes this month. Thank you to Hope (K012 parent) for arranging to have Abby and Leslie visit us!

Our 4th and 5th grade students got to play some rugby with professional players including Todd Clever, Naya Tapper, and Connor Wallace Sims. Coaches Chris and Hubert also joined in the fun!

We are looking forward to another unit of rugby next school year.

Report Cards will be released electronically on March 30th. Note: we no longer send home paper copies of report cards.

The next Kindergarten report card is at the end of June (along with the 3rd/final report card for grades 1-5).

If you need assistance with you NYCSA account to access the report card, please see Ms. Jean-Bernal.

Our career week took place March 16, 17, 18, & 19. We had some great presenters including representatives from the District Attorney's office

If you would like to present during next year's career week, please see Ms. Harvey

All students in grades 3, 4, & 5 sit for state assessments in reading/writing and math. Students in 5th grade also sit for a science assessment.

It is important for the school to have as many students as possible take these exams. The results help us analyze strengths and gaps in our curriculum. They also help us determine intervention and enrichment groups for the following school year.

If you have a concern about your child taking one, or all, of these exams, please see our assistant principal, Clara Harvey.

Parent/Guardian volunteers are needed for both of these events. Please be on the look out for notifications to sign-up to volunteer. PS 111 needs YOU!

The annual carnival absolutely cannot happen without adult volunteers, so please plan to set aside a few hours to help staff a ride or game 🤗

We anticipate being back outside for arrival and recess beginning the week of March 9th! It can't come soon enough 🙂

Arrival will take place outside on any (dry) day when the temperature or wind-chill is above 25 degrees. Since students are standing still during the time, we use more discretion to bring them inside. We will send a notice on Operoo by 7:45 AM each morning to let you know if it is indoor arrival.

Note: PreK and Kindergarten arrival is always through the small yard even when it is indoor arrival.

Recess is outside as long as there is no ice, snow, or water on the ground and the temperature or wind-chill is above zero (0). Students should be dressed for the weather! On days when we do have indoor recess, half the students will go to the gym, and half will go to the auditorium. This will alternate each time we are inside.

Dismissal is outside regardless of the weather.

Esther Romero

Esther is one of the two co-teachers in class 201. Esther has been teaching 2nd grade for three years but has been working at PS 111 since 2013…and will never ever leave. Ms. Romero is originally from Chelsea, NYC but now lives in the suburbs of Jersey. A city girl at heart, Ms. Romero enjoys eating out at nice restaurants with family and friends, entertaining at home, and cuddling her dog May. She loves her students and her friends at PS 111. It has become her home away from home. You can find Ms. Romero following Mr. Mahon to Sacco’s Pizzeria for a good ole plain slice.

Brian Mahon

Brian is one of the two co-teachers in class 201. He has been teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades at P.S.111 since 2011-- but 2nd grade is his favorite! He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Claire, and two children, Louie and Della, who are in 5th and 2nd grade. He enjoys playing & watching sports with his son and making arts and crafts with his daughter. He loves the Hell's Kitchen community and considers it his home away from home. You might find him ordering the chicken roll at Sacco's Pizzeria on 9th Ave.

Chelsea Raffellini

Chelsea is the teacher in class 202. Chelsea has been teaching in NYC since 2011, primarily in third grade, but she is enjoying second grade just as much! She loves to travel and try new foods- the spicier the better! Chelsea been to 23 countries so far. She grew up in Philadelphia and went to Barnard College here in NYC. She speaks Italian and some Spanish. Outside of her life as a teacher, she loves dogs, gardening, home improvement projects, hiking in the mountains, and spending time on the water with family and friends.

Alina Kim

Alina is the teacher for class 203. This year is her fifth-year teaching and her third year here at PS111. She loves being part of the PS111 community and teaching second grade. Outside the classroom, Ms. Kim enjoys traveling with friends, baking, reading biographies, and trying new restaurants with her husband, David.

All of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students are in tiered support for literacy. This takes place every day from 1:05 to 1:50. These groups range from Sound Sensible and SPIRE for foundational reading skills to Phonics for Reading to close any gaps in phonics skills to advanced reading and writing groups for students who are reading at, or above, grade level.

A small group 4th and 5th graders are also participating in Math Olympiad during this time.

It is imperative that students are in school every day to receive this targeted support especially if they are working on lagging skills to get to grade level performance.

All parents & guardians are automatically members of the PTA. If you would like to volunteer to serve on the Executive Board, please see a PTA EB member. The next PTA meeting will take place on April 15th.

The School Leadership Team (SLT) is an opportunity to support the operation of the school to support all students and families. All PTA members are welcome to join SLT meetings as an observer.

PS 111 partners with several after-school groups for programming. Please reach out to each group individually for more information.

Kids in the Game (KING): every day with in-school pickup and activities

Orchestra of St. Luke's: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Chess (Impact Coaching Network): Thursdays

Table Tennis: Fridays

Girls' Leadership: Tuesdays and Thursdays

We also partner with P.A.L. for an off-site program. They pick-up the students in the school and bring them to their location on 52nd Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

We are very well aware that some students are not a big fan of structured recess. Three days a week, Kids in the Game (KING) coaches create play "zones". There is almost always a soccer zone because we are afraid of mutiny. Then there is a coach run game. For example, I just learned about Museum Night Janitor where students pretended to be statues and had to hide their movements from the janitor! "Free Play" zones include the jungle gym, the basketball courts, and sometimes a gymnastics area. Students are also welcome to sit and relax during recess or just to hang out with friends (unless a specific skill or strategy is being covered that day). Having trained coaches at recess frees our staff to monitor students to help maintain a calm recess period.