The Beacon School Principal Update

Thursday, September 4th: First Day of School for All Students, first class is Advisory; Add-Drop Request Period Begins (Add/Drop Request Form coming on 9/03)

Wednesday, September 10th: A special in person Meet & Greet Event for 9th and 10th Grade Parents from 5:30 pm- 7:30 pm at Beacon

Monday, September 15th: Our First PTA Meeting of the year is in person at Beacon from 6:00pm- 7:30 pm. All are welcome!

Tuesday, September 23rd and Wednesday, September 24th: Schools closed for the Rosh Hashanah Holiday

Thursday, September 25th: Beacon Curriculum Night (Remote on Zoom) 5:30 pm- 8:00 pm

Tuesday, September 30th: Special Education (called Student Support Services at Beacon) Parent Night in person from 5:30- 7:30 pm @ Beacon

Hi Beacon Families and Students!

I hope you each had a restful and happy summer. I am excited to see students in our hallways, and also to orient our new 9th graders to Beacon. Here is some information about student schedules to help you plan:

• All Beacon student schedules will be ready for Day 1 on Thursday, September 4th. That day will start with an advisory period students have time to review their schedules and compete our add/drop form as needed.
• The Add/Drop form will be distributed to students and families on Wednesday, September 3rd. I will send it out via our DOE Messenger System, and also through my newsletter. Given that we have nearly 1500 students this year, the form helps us track and make changes on a large scale.
• On the first 2 days of school on Thursday and Friday the 4th and 5th, classes will not be content heavy and will not include homework. This is so students do not feel overwhelmed changing classes. For example, if a student changes math classes in the first few days of school, we do not want them to feel behind when they start.
• We will do our best to honor all reasonable requests. We cannot honor requests for students to be in the same classes as their friend group or significant others.
• Our new Assistant Principal of Special Education (Student Support Services), Dan Milbrand, will be working with parents and students to ensure that schedules align with each students IEP. For concerns about this, you can email DMilbrand3@schools.nyc.gov, along with our Assistant Principal of Operations, Nathan Affield, NAffield@schools.nyc.gov and your child's guidance counselor. If your child is a 9th grader, their guidance counselor is Shimona Shriki, SShriki@schools.nyc.gov. If your child is a 10th grader, their counselor is Sunita Budhiraja, SBudhiraja@schools.nyc.gov until November 25th, when Nevena Zanki returns from Maternity leave.

A Special shout out to parent Melissa Cohen for designing our fabulous new website. Please check it out at: https://www.beaconschool.org/

Our website is a great place to learn about events, sports tryouts, and meetings. It's also a hub where you can access detailed information about our school and it's policies and programs.

What will be our school's cell phone policy?

Our goal with the new cell phone policy is to comply with the State's order while ensuring that any implementation is sane and logistically sound. With that in mind, our policy will evolve over the course of the Fall as we create systems to ensure efficient parent communication and work with families and students to address unintended consequences.

Therefore, a bell to bell phone ban will not happen on the first few weeks of school.

Here is the content of our new policy:

"Electronic devices (including cell phones, headphones, earbuds, i-pads and apple watches) should not be seen or heard during school hours. Beacon is in the process of transitioning to a Yondr pouch magnetic phone system, but we first need time to build the communication systems that ensure student and parent comfort. When we first start school in September, students will again be asked to place their phones in a numbered pouch located over the door in each classroom when they enter the room (as they have been doing previously).

Students should also refrain from phone use in our hallways, bathrooms, cafeteria and other spaces as much as possible. Any adult can ask a student to put their phone away, and the student must comply.

Additionally, any adult may ask for a student to hand them their phone, and also notify a dean or administrator to collect the phone and keep it locked in an office until the end of the school day. Confiscated phones will be returned to students when they leave school for the day. However, any parent can request that an administrator keep their child's phone locked up for longer than 1 day.

Starting later this Fall of 2025 (late October, early November), we will transition to a system where students carry their own magnetic pouch to and from school(Yondr Pouches). They will snap their their phone shut in their magnetic pouch each morning when they enter the building, and it will be unlocked by Beacon staff before they leave for the day (whenever that is). Students carry their magnetic pouches with them all day, and take their pouch home with them each night. This phone policy is bell to bell, meaning that students will not have phone access at lunch, even if they leave the building.

When this occurs, students who need to contact an adult outside of the building will be able to have their phone unlocked in the main office, and/or be taught to use a landline phone. As students have laptop access at school, they will still be able to email. Beacon staff will work ensure that this process is efficient.

Starting in mid September, parents will be able to use the Kinvo text communication system to reach out to administrators, advisors, teachers and guidance staff with important communications during the school day (in addition to email and the main office land line). The Kinvo communication system does not require parents to sign up. They will be greeted via text on the Kinvo app by Beacon faculty members so they know the phone numbers to text in an emergency.

Exceptions to the phone ban are very rare- but do include students who use Diabetes management systems to track blood glucose level via cell phone. In some cases, students with heart conditions also use their phones as a monitoring device, and these exceptions are also made.

I look forward to meeting with students, parents and staff to address any unintended consequences and ensure that students and families have the resources they need during this transition.

As most of you know, Beacon had only two administrators during the months of February-April, 2025, including myself and our now retired AP of Mathematics, Ann Lennon. We were thrilled to add Erin Flaherty in April of 2025.

I am very pleased to announce that we now have a full administrative team. Thank you so much for your patience and support through this process! I could not have done it without the incredible support of talented and dedicated parents. I believe that parent communication will greatly increase this school year, and response/resolution times will improve. Below you will find our team members, including their roles and contact information.

Jeannie Ferrari, Principal

Contact: jferrari3@schools.nyc.gov (Rm. 105, ext. 1051)

Duties:

• Overall school leader

• Supervises History, Foreign Language, Visual Arts, Drama/Theater and the College Office

• Supervises Office Staff and School Aides

• Budget, procurement and hiring lead

• Oversees staff Professional Development

• Schoolwide policies

• Admissions Lead

• PTA and SLT Liaison

• Cafeteria Liaison

• School Safety Agent/NYPD Liaison to school

Ernesto Tabajonda, AP of Mathematics

Contact: ETabajonda@schools.nyc.gov

(Rm. 524, ext. 5242)

Duties:

• Supervises Math Department and Film/Photography Program

• Provides new math teacher onboarding and mentoring

• Professional Development in Mathematics

• Jump Rope Coordinator

• School Nurse Liaison

Erin Flaherty, AP of Climate, Culture and English

Contact: EFlaherty2@schools.nyc.gov

(Room 327, Ext 3271)

• Supervises English Department, Grade Level Guidance Counselors (Social/Emotional and Mental Health), Librarians and Dance

• Supports Student Clubs

• ENL and Language Access Coordinator

• Supports Restorative Justice and Wellness Programs

• Supports Respect For All

• Oversees student culture and climate

Daniel Milbrand, AP of Special Education (Student Support Services)

Contact: DMilbrand3@schools.nyc.gov

(Rm. 402, ext. 4023)

Duties:

• Supervises Special Education and Physical Education Departments

• Oversees IEP services and compliance

• Collaborates on 504 plans with Guidance Counselor Sunita Budhiraja: SBudhiraja@schools.nyc.gov

• Plans and facilitate Special Education Professional Development

• Coordinator College Board Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) related to testing (SAT/ACT/AP) with Guidance Counselor Sunita Budhiraja: SBudhiraja@schools.nyc.gov

• SIT Team Coordinator

• Point person for Special Education parent support

Nathan Affield AP of Operations

Contact: NAffiled@schools.nyc.gov (Rm. 107)

Duties:

• Supervises Science Department and Music Program

• Guidance Counselor support for programming and student scheduling

• Transcript Update support

• Programming and Student Scheduling

• Room Assignments

• Testing Coordinator (AP, SAT/PSAT, PBA, MAP, ELA)

• Coordinator/Seal of Biliteracy

• Trip coordination (students and staff)

• Classroom Technology oversight

• Reso-A grant coordinator

1. What school supplies does my new student need?

Generally, they need a backpack or large bookbag, pens and pencils, a notebook, and a binder with folders for each class so students can organize their papers by class. Our school provides laptop access, calculators, art supplies, books and any other items. Students are permitted to bring their own laptops to school, but not I-pads (due to the i-pads easy social media and texting access). However, if your child has assistive technology due to an IEP/504 an exception can be made in some circumstances.

2. How does my child sign up for after school programs or sports?

I recommend checking the website for information about sports tryouts, and you can also email our athletic director, Ninji Simmons: NSimmons2@schools.nyc.gov

For clubs, our amazing student leaders are planning a club fair in late September. This will happen during the school day on a Friday afternoon, and students will be able to visit club stations set up around our building and in classrooms to see what most resonates with them.

3. What about changes to our grading policy? Is it the same?

There will be some modifications to our grading policy this Fall, to be released shortly.

4. When will Community Service Honors appear on transcripts?

By September 26th, 2025.

5. Are you accepting Waitlisted students?

Despite losing enrollment for the past 5 years, Beacon is now over-enrolled. I did not anticipate the patterns of the previous several years to reverse themselves in one admissions cycle. While this is generally a good problem to have, it does mean that we do not have space at all for students on our waitlist. If we have enough students who do not show up in September, or transfer out, then we will open waitlist seats as needed.

It’s that time of year again—Beacon PTA’s essential annual appeal (aka Family Giving), begins! Your contributions, through Family Giving, ensure students have access to clubs, athletics, theater and arts, specialized materials and equipment, and a dedicated College Office with advanced tools — resources not funded by the NYC DOE.

• PTA Fundraising in Focus: Through community efforts—Family Giving, auctions, benefits, bake sales, merchandise sales, $5 Fridays, workshops and events—we aim to raise $250K to support our students.

• How We Fund What Matters: Members of our family community give what they can, when they can (whether $1000, $500, $50 or $5, one-time or recurring). Suggested Amount: $700 https://e.givesmart.com/events/ygy/ —or check payable to Beacon PTA, or Zelle to beacontreasurer@gmail.com

• 
  

I was able to take a group of Beacon teachers to University of Southern California in Los Angeles to visit the Center for Affective Neuroscience, a research labaratory led by the renowned neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. I am excited to report this group of teachers and I are now part of a collaborative laboratory (co-lab) of schools across the country that are working to use cutting edge research on the science of motivation, learning and brain development to engage our students in deep learning. I will link some work by Ms. Immordino Yang in case you are interested.