Summer Letter From the Principal

August 10, 2018

Dear SBES Families,

A very happy August to all! I sincerely hope that your summer has been off to a great start. Here we are again at the crossroads to the start of another school year. This summer has been progressing quickly, and we have been quite busy. So far, this summer, we continued to run a very successful summer program; which consisted of 29 students from Pre-K through Second grade.

I look forward to starting this school year with the excitement of a new beginning. A beginning where we welcome new families to our community, celebrate our continuing families, and strive for ways to continue to propel our school into the future!

Due to the continued growth of our Kindergarten class, we will have two sections of Kindergarten this year! Both Kindergarten classes will be located on the second floor. Pre-K 3 will now return to the main floor next to the office. All other classes will remain in the same location. Class lists, and more specific class information for Kindergarten and Pre-K 4 will be emailed and mailed home on August 22nd.

We know that the only thing that is constant is change, but with change comes new possibilities! Therefore, I wanted to inform you of a few changes to faculty assignments for the 2018 – 2019 school year. Please note that I am currently in the process of looking for a 6th grade homeroom teacher, responsible for 6th -8th grade Math and 7th & 8th grade Religion. In addition, we will have a new faculty member in our Pre-K 4 team. I will be sure to update you as soon as a teacher has been identified. The current faculty teaching assignments are below:

Pre-K 3: Mrs. Dorney       

Pre-K 4: Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Gordan, Ms. Mary Jo, & Ms. King

Kindergarten: Mrs. Donohoe & Mrs. German

First Grade: Ms. Miniter

Second Grade: Ms. Pollick

Third Grade: Ms. Testa

Fourth Grade: Mrs. Summerfield

Fifth Grade: Mrs. Escudero

Seventh Grade: Homeroom, Mrs. Macias (6th - 8th grade ELA)

Eighth Grade: Homeroom, Mr. Saccardo (6th - 8th grade Social Studies and 7th & 8th  grade Science)

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce our new assistant principal, Mr. Stephen Marositz. Ms. Shona will be assuming a new position as the Central Westchester Instructional Specialist. In her new role, Ms. Shona will still continue to give instructional support to our Early Childhood program, so you will still see her around. Mr. Marositz taught Kindergarten and Second Grade and most recently served as the curriculum associate within the Office of Teaching and Learning in the Superintendent of Schools’ office. He will assume the assistant principal position effective September 1st. Over the next few weeks Mr. Marositz will work closely with Ms. Shona as he transitions into out school. Welcome, Mr. Marositz!

Please join me in welcoming Mr. Paul Loman as our new music teacher! We wish Dr. Burns well and thank him for his service to our school.

Thanks to our extremely successful Second Annual Spring Fling (run by the HSA), and in conjunction with our NYC technology money, I have been able to purchase 2 additional Interactive Flat Panels for 2nd and 3rd grade. We will also be adding 30 Chromebooks that will be shared among our 3rd and 4th graders, as well as, additional iPads for use in Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade. Woohoo!

As we continue to implement new technologies, it is important that our students have a thorough understanding of proper use. In place of Spanish class this year, I have asked Mr. Saccardo to teach a new Digital Media (technology) class for students in grades 5 - 8. Mrs. Stotsky will continue to teach art to PK3 and K - 8 students. Spanish will be taught as normal to grades 3 & 4, and introductory Spanish through art will be offered to students in grades 1 & 2. 

I ask that all parents please save the date now for our Back To School Night; which will be held on Thursday, September 13th at 6:15pm in the auditorium.

As a reminder, we will be using Preferred Catering for our lunch program in September. Parents will be receiving an email from Chef Romani with instructions on how to sign up for lunch and other important information on August 15th. Should you need to reach Chef Romani ahead of time, please feel free to contact him by email at chefromani@preferredcatering.me.

Parents in Pre-K4 will not be signing up for lunch. A light breakfast and lunch is already included in your program.

We will once again be offering an Early Morning Program that will begin at 7:20am and an after school program that will run until 5:45pm. Students enrolled in the Early Morning Program should enter through the main entrance. Please see the After School Handbook, which will be sent home in September, for more details. The Early Morning Program will begin on Thursday, September 6th and the After School Program will begin on Monday, September 10th.

Parents with students in our Early Childhood Programs (Pre-K 3, Pre-K 4, and Kindergarten) are asked to bring the students directly to the classroom using the main entrance beginning at 8:00am.  The doors to the auditorium will open for regular arrival at 8:00am, and the school day will begin with prayer at 8:15am for students in 1st to 8th Grade. For those not enrolled in the Early Morning Program, we ask that you do not arrive to school before 8:00am. Please note that the main office will open at 8:00am and will remain open until 4:00pm.

To assure that we are promptly communicating with parents, I will continue to utilize the Weekly News which will be emailed home on Sundays. In addition, please be sure to check the website for the most updated information at www.stbarnabasschool.org. In addition, all teachers will continue to post their homework assignments online under Class Pages which can be found on the top right of the main page. Students in grades 6 - 8 will no longer have planners.

Students in grades 1 - 8 will have their first day of school on Wednesday, September 5th. This will be a full day of school. Thursday and Friday, September 6th and 7th, will also be a full day of school.

All Early Childhood students (PK and K) will also begin school on Wednesday, September 5th at 9:15am with a Meet and Greet in the auditorium. There will be a 10:30am dismissal. This Meet and Greet is for parents and students. On Thursday and Friday, September 6th and 7th, Early Childhood students will have a noon dismissal.

Enclosed with this letter, I am attaching a copy of the September Calendar, a draft copy of the the Year At A Glance and a map with our dismissal procedures. On the first day of school, students will receive an additional copy of both calendars. These papers will accompany the normal “first day forms”. Each month students will receive a monthly calendar via backpack mail and email. In an effort to continue to “go green”, the 2018 - 2019 Parent Student Handbook will be posted to the school website on August 15th, under the Student Life section.  

With this, I wish you all the very best as the last few weeks of summer unfold. If you should need anything, please feel free to reach out!  Please know, my door is always open.

God bless you and thank you for your commitment to Catholic Education and to Saint Barnabas Elementary School!

 
Most Sincerely,
 
Jonathan Morano
Principal