New Maker Space
We have a brand new Maker Space complete with a 3D printer, computers, sewing machines, robots, silk screening materials, and all types of manipulatives that students can use to discover and create. A Maker Space provides opportunities for students to bring their imagination to life through exploration and creativity. For example, students can use Maker materials along with coding software to make potatoes play music, build their own simple machines, and design objects that solve real world problems. This creates inquisitive learners who are prepared for college and many different career options. Our new Maker Space has been generously funded by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and a competitive grant through Lowe's Home Improvement.
Dental Services
We are very excited to announce that we have expanded our partnership with NYU Dental to include full dental services for all of our students right here at PS 15. With your permission, NYU Dental will provide oral exams, x-rays, cleanings, cavity fillings, and more. Parents are welcome to join their child to observe and provide support during appointments. This partnership will ensure that students receive quality dental care while minimizing absences from school. Please keep an eye out for a permission slip and more information.
Book Trust Partnership
PS 15 has partnered with Book Trust to provide students with FREE Scholastic books for their home libraries. Every month, students select books from Scholastic to grow their home libraries! We want all of our students to develop a love of reading and have every opportunity to learn about the world around them and get lost in the imagination and creativity found in books.
PS 15 will continue to offer playdates to families this year. Just recently, we had our first playdate to the Children’s Museum of Art on a Saturday morning. Currently, we are offering tickets to Carnegie Hall for various cultural events. The last event was a blast! Parents shared their interest in having a playdate for the adults as an opportunity to get away for a little while and relax. We will see what we can organize to meet this need.
We had a rich discussion about all the ways we could involve our parents. There were many fabulous ideas, such as:
Parents were interested in finding appropriate ways to come together to express their appreciation to teachers for all their hard work.
Lunch is a fun time for students, but it can tend to get too loud. We talked about finding ways to reduce the noise in the cafeteria. We will continue to problem solve around this topic.
What a lovely turn out for our first Coffee and Conversation. Here are the main discussion points from today:
Our Maker Space is open and students are enjoying creating and imagining in this amazing place. Parents took a tour of the Maker Space. We are looking forward to planning a Maker Space event for parents.
Our focus this year is on making sure that students are owners of their learning. Rather than pull them along, we want students to take control of their learning, make decisions, and develop the skills necessary for becoming lifelong learners. To achieve this goal, we will be working to co-craft personal goals with students, gather feedback from students, and shift our language so that students are motivated to learn, are persistent in their efforts, and are engaged in thinking and inquiry.
We spent time talking about the diversity efforts underway. A new Family Resource Center (FRC) has opened in PS 15 for all parents in the district. The FRC will serve to ensure families have information about all of the wonderful schools in District 1 in order to help help them make informed school choice decisions. In addition to the FRC, the district is piloting an admissions proposal that will give priority to families that qualify for free and reduced lunch, are English language learners, and/ or live in temporary housing. For more information on this initiative, please visit the FRC website.
