This Week @ PS 88Q

We are well into the rhythm of the school year, and it has been wonderful to see our students engaged, learning, and thriving each day. At this time, almost all of our students have completed their initial academic screeners. For Math, students take an assessment called MAP (NWEA), and for ELA, they take MCLASS. These diagnostics give us valuable insight into where each child is academically at the start of the year.

Over the next few weeks, you will receive your child’s Parent Report from these screeners. This information helps us plan instruction tailored to each student — whether they need additional support or enrichment opportunities to extend their learning.

Many families have asked about online learning programs to use at home. This year, we have shifted from i-Ready to Edmentum, a new platform that provides each student with an individualized learning path aligned to their diagnostic results. While Edmentum offers powerful real-time digital instruction, we continue to prioritize explicit, teacher-led instruction as the foundation for student understanding. I’ll be hosting a family workshop on Edmentum within the next two weeks to help you explore the platform and learn how you can support your child’s progress at home.

I also want to take a moment to thank our families for their incredible partnership in supporting punctuality. Our new morning arrival protocol has already made a significant impact — lateness has decreased by more than 50%! Arriving on time ensures students don’t miss those critical morning minutes that set the tone for a successful day of learning.

• Middle School Workshop: October 15th: 9am
• Breast Cancer Workshop: October 15th: 3pm

P.S. 88Q is proud to be a Title I school, which means we receive additional federal funding to help ensure that all students have access to a high-quality education. Title I funds allow us to provide extra resources, academic support, and enrichment programs—including many of our afterschool opportunities—that directly benefit our students and families.

Our school’s Title I status is reviewed each year based on lunch form submissions. Even if your family does not qualify for free or reduced lunch, completing the lunch form helps us maintain our Title I designation and the important funding it brings.

Please take a moment to complete the form today:
👉 https://www.myschoolapps.com/

Your participation makes a big difference for our entire school community!

P.S. 88Q is seeking a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Chairperson for the 2025–2026 school year!

As a Title I school, we receive additional federal funding to support student learning. The PAC Chairperson plays an important role in representing the voices of our Title I families. This parent leader works closely with the principal and school leadership team to:

• Share input on how Title I funds are used to support students and families

• Help plan family engagement activities and workshops

• Communicate important information about Title I programs and rights to parents

If you are passionate about family involvement and want to make a difference in our school community, please consider joining us as our next PAC Chairperson!

Interested? Contact Mrs. O’Shaughnessy @ loshaughnessy@schools.nyc.gov or our Parent Coordinator, iperezlopez@schools.nyc.gov for more information.

Elections will be held at our Title I Meeting, on October 16th. Please see attached information.

This past week, Ms. Meditz and Ms. Moore joined the ranks of the retired! We are so happy for them, and know that there are hundreds of students who are better for having them as their teacher! Good luck, and come visit us!

Knowledge around protecting ourselves online has come a long way, but cyber criminals have become more savvy, as well. It is important that we all do our best to stay up to date with ways we can continue to protect ourselves and our personal information online.

Please see the attached documents below for keeping your child safe online.

In honor of Latino/Hispanic Heritage Month, the Social Justice Committee is proud to invite our families to a special event to celebrate the rich culture, history, and contributions of the Latino and Hispanic community. We are interested in all of our families bringing food from their country to share with families in our school community.

This event will be held in the cafeteria on Thursday, October 9th, 2025, from 5:15pm-6:30pm. The families can enjoy "Pequeño Bocados/Little Bites" and enjoy creating a poster with their child/children about their culture, food, and music.

Join us for an evening of cultural appreciation, music, and community dialogue. This is a wonderful opportunity to honor heritage, learn from one another, and uplift voices that have shaped our shared history.

We hope to see our family's there and celebrate together!

Have a great day.

Best,

Social Justice Committee

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We’re excited to invite you to a free Cancer Education Workshop hosted at PS 88 The Seneca School in partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine’s Meyer Cancer Center.

📅 Date: Wednesday, October 15
🕒 Time: 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
📍 Location: PS 88 The Seneca School, 60-85 Catalpa Ave., Ridgewood NY 11385

🔗 Register here: https://forms.gle/GJkkxyZiP4gs5DJS9

This workshop is designed to help families learn about:

• Preventing breast, ovarian, cervical, and uterine cancer
• Recognizing symptoms and understanding screening options
• The role of genetic testing and clinical trials

🎁 Bonus: Parents who attend and complete both short surveys will receive a $20 gift card.

and there will be a kids activity during the workshop. Please click this link if you are bringing your children, so that we can plan a fun activity:

We hope you’ll join us for this important and empowering event!

• Wednesday, October 15, 2025: Middle School Application Opens
• Monday, November 3, 2025: Deadline to register to test for Mark Twain I.S. 239 (21K239) and District 21 Talent Tests
• Friday, December 12, 2025: Middle School Application Closes
• Wednesday, April 15, 2026: Middle School Offer Release

At PS 88Q, your voice matters! 💬 As we begin another exciting school year, I encourage all families to share your ideas, feedback, and hopes for what you’d like to see in our school community. Your partnership helps us grow stronger together, and every suggestion—big or small—makes a difference for our students. Let’s keep the conversation going!

https://forms.office.com/r/v5hTtXLwcm

PS88 PTA: First Meeting Highlights & What’s Next!

🤗 Thank you to everyone who joined our first PTA meeting of the year. More than 40 families attended between the auditorium and Zoom!

Here’s what we accomplished together:

• Introduced our new, expanded PTA Executive Board

• Shared our vision for the year: connection, community, and collaboration

• Approved key fall fundraisers and community events (including Caring Closet, Book Fair, and more)

• Collected valuable parent feedback through our Annual Parent Survey

🧣 Caring Closet Returns – Saturday, Oct 25 (10a - 1p)

Our biannual Caring Closet is coming up! It’s a free ‘shopping day’ open to the PS88 and Ridgewood communities, offering gently used fall/winter clothing and accessories for all ages—and this year we’re including Halloween costumes! No donation required to participate.

Donations accepted Oct 21–24 (bins at the front of the school).

📷 Fall School Pictures – Wednesday, Oct 22 & Thursday, Oct 23 (Retakes: Nov 25)

📌 Call for Volunteers! (Needed for both events)

Each year, the PTA invites certain grade parents to help with specific events. It’s a fun, low-commitment way to meet other families and support our school.

Caring Closet Volunteers: 3K and PreK parents, we need you! Please volunteer here: https://bit.ly/FWCaringCloset2025

Fall School Pictures Volunteers: 5th Grade parents, please volunteer here: https://bit.ly/SchoolPictures2025

Volunteer sign-up opens schoolwide on October 12.

📝 Parent Survey Results

Congratulations to Ms. Vasquez’s K-127 class, winners of the $50 classroom gift card for the most responses! Your feedback is already shaping our priorities, and new meeting dates and programming announcements are included in our first newsletter! (See below.)

📅 Next PTA Meeting

Thursday, Oct 30 | 6–7 PM

We’ll hold SLT and PAC Elections and continue building the year’s events based on what you said matters most.

• School Leadership Team (SLT) Elections: Learn more

• PAC Elections: Learn more

🚨 Don’t miss out on what’s next for PS88 families

We’re already shaping what this year will look like—and we want to keep you in the loop.

Dear Families and Colleagues,

On Monday, for our third annual State of Our Schools, we did things a little bit differently.

First, we hosted an onstage panel discussion, so we could hear directly from our students, staff, and families. Chief of Staff Kenita Lloyd moderated the conversation, which covered topics ranging from NYC Solves to family empowerment. As I listened to the panelists’ reflections, I felt so grateful to be in a room of New Yorkers—students, families, staff, community members, and more—whose dedication drives our work every day.

Then I shared my remarks, which centered on a single image: a spark. I spoke about the ways we are sparking intellectual curiosity in our students, focusing on academic rigor and deep learning through NYC Reads, NYC Solves, and Student Pathways. I shared how NYCPS Cares, our newest priority initiative, is lighting a spark through the power of connection and care.

I was also thrilled to make multiple announcements, including an 80-school pilot to support English Language Learners with new NYC Reads curricula; a four-part framework that will guide our efforts on AI; and the expansion of trauma-informed care training to 119 schools in our inaugural NYCPS Cares cohort.

And finally, in another first, we published our NYC Public Schools Accountability Tool—an important step in ensuring transparency and communicating clearly about our progress. I encourage you to explore this tool and check back regularly, as we will update the data throughout the school year.

Monday's event was unique and exciting. I’m immensely proud of how far we’ve come, but I fully appreciate that there is so much work ahead. As I stated at the end of my speech, a spark represents a beginning—and at NYCPS, we are just getting started.

In partnership,

Melissa Aviles-Ramos

Chancellor