PS 111 Principal's Corner

Remember that schools are closed December 24 - January 4. We return on Monday, January 5th. Children need to be in school every day. Please do not schedule vacation days for December 22nd or 23rd. We are aiming for 90%, or better, attendance on those days!

We ask that you ensure your child reads for at least 30 minutes every day and answers some generic recall questions (who were the characters?, what information did you learn?, what was the setting?, etc...)

Students should also practice their mental math fluency. They need to know their math facts fluently and without thinking (automaticity).

Kindergarten: mentally add two numbers equal to five (1+4, 2+3, etc...)

1st Grade: mentally add two numbers equal to ten (1+9, 3+7, etc...)

2nd Grade: mentally add two numbers equal to twenty (3+17, 11+9, 14+6, etc...)

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grades: mentally students MUST know all of their multiplication tables 1-12 without hesitation! If your upper grade student is struggling with multiplication facts, focus on the 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10 tables as these have the most recognizable patterns.

All schools in NYC are required to hold twelve (12) emergency drills each year. These consist of soft lockdown drills where we remain in the building and evacuation drills where we exit the building. Eight drills need to be completed prior to December 23rd. We completed our fifth drill today (soft lockdown). The remaining three drills are required to be evacuation drills. We will do our best to ensure these occur when the temperature is above freezing.

We will always provide advance notice. This notice will be between one day and one week prior to the drills. Teachers also spend time talking to their students about what to expect in a drill.

In these colder months, students should keep a sweater or sweatshirt in the classroom. We do NOT get jackets on our way out of the classrooms. In an actual emergency, every second counts! However, if a student is wearing a sweater/sweatshirt, or has one hanging on their chair, then they will have it for the evacuation drill.

Thank you to our PTA volunteers and guidance counselors for making Kindness Day so wonderful. A special "thank you" to parents Sarah, Erin, Sally, and Rose for the amazing t-shirts!

All families are invited to our annual Winter Wonderland. Games, activities, decorating stations, and food along with fun times. Come, relax for one or two hours, and meet some new people. Plus, Ms. Ventura just convinced me to bake sugar cookies again for the cookie decorating table. You won't want to miss that :)

The winter concert will take place on December 19th at 9:00. We hope to see ALL PreK, Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade families.

We do ask that audience members stay for the entire concert :)

Arrival will take place outside on any 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 always outside regardless of the weather.

Thank you to our PTA volunteers who organized and staffed the most recent movie night. They showed K-Pop Demon Hunters!

Check the PTA website calendar for the next movie night date (click the picture to take you to the site).

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.

Chandani Suri: 1st Grade ICT General Education Teacher: Chandani Suri has been a member of the PS 111 community for the past 13 years. She lives in Long Island and love spending time with her family. In the summer, she loves to travel to different countries and try out new foods wherever she goes. During her free time, she also enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes.

Marissa Buchbinder: 1st Grade ICT Special Education Teacher: Marissa Buchbinder is a 1st Grade ICT teacher at PS111. This is her 9th year teaching, and all have been at this school. She grew up in Long Island and now lives on the Upper East Side with her 7-pound dog, Bella. She went to college at the University of Florida (Go Gators!) She graduated with her Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Elementary Special Education. Marissa enjoys watching TV and spending time with her family, especially her nephews who are 3 years old and 2 months old.

Veronica Espinal: 1st Grade General Education/G&T Teacher: Mrs. Espinal has been a proud member of the P.S. 111 community for 17 years. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband, kids, and friends. Much of her time is spent cheering on her children at their sports games and driving them to practices. She’s an avid reader, a lifelong learner, and believes almost any day is made better with a good cup of coffee in hand.

Cynthia Hernandez: 1st Grade General Education Teacher: Ms. Hernandez is currently in her 21st year teaching at PS 111. For over two decades, she has brought her passion for education to a variety of grade levels, including Pre-K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. Ms. Hernandez is a proud mom to three children, including a set of twins. When she's not teaching or driving her kids to activities, Ms. Hernandez enjoys listening to music and audiobooks.

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 be a Zoom meeting on December 17th.

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. The next SLT meting is December 17th.

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.