MS 50 Weekly News: 4/20/26

The ELA State Exams will be held this week Wednesday and Thursday! We are so proud of the hard work that our students have been putting in all year to strengthen their reading and writing skills, and this assessment is an opportunity for them to show what they know and can do. ELTs are cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday this week to accommodate students taking the test.

In this Issue:

• Champions Dinner
• Last Day of ELT: May 1st
• Classroom Spotlight: ELA State Exam Strategies
  
• No Beacon Programming April 24th
• MS 50 Theatre Presents: Footloose: Youth Edition
  
• We are Hiring!
  
• Magnet School Survey
• Saturday School
  
• PTA Updates
  
• El Puente Beacon Saturday Arts Program
• Senior Dues
• Upcoming Events
  
• From District 14 & NYCPS
• Spanish Office Hours
• Free Internet Hotspot

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Champions Dinner is coming up in two weeks on May 6th! This event is a chance for our school community to gather and break bread together while discussing what we can do to ensure our school community is thriving now and in the future. The event will kick off with a community resource fair at 3PM before moving indoors for at 4PM performances in the auditorium, breakout discussions in our classrooms, and finally a meal in the cafeteria to close out the night. Stay tuned to next week's newsletter for more information and a link to register!

The last day for most ELTs will be next week Friday, May 1st. ELTs that are performance or project-based will continue until their programs are complete, they are all listed below.

Athletics (will continue until their seasons complete):

• Soccer
• Baseball
• Softball
• Volleyball

Performance and Project-Based

• Varsity Singers - Until May 8th
• Jazz Band, Rock Band & 6th grade Beginner Band - Until May 28th
• Dance- Until May 30th
• Theatre and Theatre Tech - Until May 18th
• Yearbook - through the May 26th

The New York State ELA test for grades 6–8 will take place next week on Wednesday, April 22nd, and Thursday, April 23rd. Our students have been working hard all year to strengthen their reading and writing skills, and this assessment is an opportunity for them to show what they know and can do.

The exam includes a mix of fiction and nonfiction reading passages, followed by multiple-choice, short-response, and extended-response questions. Students will be asked to demonstrate key skills such as identifying central ideas, analyzing themes, selecting strong textual evidence, and making inferences. In the writing sections, they will organize their ideas clearly and support their thinking with evidence from the text. The results from these tests help teachers and schools understand student progress and how to best support each student.

To help your child feel confident and prepared, here are strategies for success on test day:

• Read every question carefully and make notes and annotations as needed to support their understanding of the text

• Use text evidence by going back into the passage to cite specific details that support their answers.

• Take their time with multiple-choice questions, eliminating answers that don’t make sense before choosing the best one.

• Plan short and extended responses by jotting quick notes or outlining ideas before writing.

• Reread written responses to check for clarity, complete sentences, and evidence that directly supports their thinking.

• Stay calm and focused, using strategies practiced in class such as annotating, chunking the text and using the CPEPEC evidence based writing strategy to develop short written responses.

You can help your child do their best by ensuring they get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive on time each day. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Beacon Families, please note that there will be no Beacon programming this week Friday, April 24th due to a professional development day for Beacon staff. Students will be dismissed after their ELTs.

MS 50's Theatre Department is excited to invite you to "Footloose: Youth Edition" on Friday, May 15th at 5PM and Saturday, May 16th at 1PM! Come see the hard work put in by our students on the cast and crew in a show that is fun for the whole family! Admission is free and no tickets are required. We hope to see you there!

Did you miss our Fall Play, "Tough City, Prone to Rain" or want to relive this fun mystery? Check out the recording of our performance, on our YouTube page now!

As MS 50 continues to grow, we are looking to hire more passionate educators to be a part of the MS 50 family! Know someone who you think would be a great fit? Encourage them to register for our Teaching Candidate Open House tomorrow, Tuesday, April 21st, from 5:00-6:00PM. Find more information and register at ms50.org/hiring

MS 50's ELA/Math/ENL Saturday School continues this week! We have prepared small group, intensive ELA, Math and ENL practice in preparation for the New York State Math and NYESLAT exams. Saturday School will be held from 9:00AM – 12:30PM on the following Saturdays:

April 25 and May 2 (Math only)

Your child will work with MS 50 teachers who will supplement our current Math curriculum with targeted skill practice. All students will receive pizza and snacks. Permission slips were sent out on Operoo and additional paper copies can be picked up from the main office.

Our April PTA Meeting was last week Thursday! We had a great meeting discussing the many upcoming events at MS 50, information around state testing, and organizing our families for advocacy around our school's classroom space.

As we are approaching the end of this school year, we are looking for leaders to be a part of the PTA Executive Board next year! Stay tuned for a nomination form. Interested in becoming part of the PTA leadership team? Reach out to Ms. Edda for more information.

Parents demand safer streets for our kids

Many of our students walk independently from the train or bus, but crossing the entrance of the Williamsburg bridge means navigating through dangerous traffic. School parents and El Puente are working together to demand that the city.make things safe for our kids. Please sign our petition here! Any parents interested in volunteering at school events should fill out this interest form.

We’re inviting students in 3rd-5th Grade who are interested in fashion design, poetry, or breakdancing to join the Saturday Arts Program program! There are 4 weeks remaining, leading up to our performance on May 23.

June 3, 2026 - PROM

Princess Manor

5PM to 9PM

$80.00

June 12, 2026 - SENIOR TRIP

Great Adventure/Six Flags

Need to be in school by 7:30AM

(lunch is included)

$80.00

June 25, 2026 - GRADUATION (includes Cap n Gown, Yearbook, T-shirt)

Grand Street Campus

9:00AM to 10:30AM (Doors open at 8:00AM for scanning)

$50.00

TOTAL: $210.00

You can pay in cash, money order or check payable to MS 50. You can also make payment Installments and you will get a receipt. June 1, 2026 (Monday) is the last day to pay Senior Dues. Please see Ms. Sostre in room 217. If you have any questions you can call Ms. Sostre at 917-202-6257.

Baseball

• Thursday, April 23: vs. Vista Academy at McCarren Park (Field 3) - 4PM
• Thursday, April 30: vs. IS 318 at McCarren Park (Field 3) - 4PM

Softball

• Wednesday, April 29: vs. Liberty Ave. at Roberto Clemente Ballpark - 4PM
• Friday, May 1: vs. IS 71 at Roberto Clemente Ballpark - 4PM

Volleyball

• Friday, April 24: Home vs. CPCS - 4PM

Soccer

• Friday, April 24: vs. 582 at McCarren Park - 4PM
• Wednesday, April 29: vs. 582 at Bushwick Inlet Park - 4PM
• Thursday, April 30: vs. BEES at McCarren Park - 4PM

• ELA State Exam: April 22-23 - Date Change
• Math State Exam: May 5-6
• Algebra Regents Exam: June 17, 9:15AM
• Biology Regents Exam: June 18, 9:15AM
• Spanish Proficiency Exam: June 22

Evacuation Drills:

• Tuesday, May 19 - 2:00PM
  

Lockdown Drill:

• Tuesday, May 26 - 10:15AM

Add the MS 50 Calendar directly to your device! Simply click here to add to your Google Calendar or click here to add it to your Apple device.

Family Institute for Sustainable Change

🗓 Monthly Workshops: Oct 15, Nov 19, Dec 17, Jan 21, Feb 25, Mar 18, Apr 15, May 20

🕘 9:00–11:00 AM

📍 P.S. 147, 325 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY

A series of 8 interactive workshops for families of students in Grades K–2 (Grades 3–5 welcome!) focused on literacy, multilingual learners, special education, STEM, math support, and more.

RSVP Link: https://forms.gle/3kPrDFtxQppRDCAh8

We’d love for you to join our bilingual team’s weekly open space with Ms. B and parent coordinator Edda and Parent Organizer Teresa—a time to connect, ask any questions, request resources, and build community together. This weekly Zoom meeting will take place every Tuesday at 7PM. Join at ms50.org/martes.

All MS 50 students are eligible for a FREE internet hotspot through T-Mobile's Project 10Million. This provides 100GB of yearly data for 5 years in addition to low-cost laptops and tablets for your student. When you apply online, use "NYC Chancellor's Office" for the school district and "Jhs 50 John D Wells" for school name.