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School Reopening 

What PS116 has done

School Leadership Team Re-Opening Subcomittee

  1. Met regularly in December 2020 and continues to meet to collapse cohorts using creative thinking and all resources available.

  2. Subcomittee members toured classrooms and measured using 6' rule (UFT requirement) for maximum students in space

  3. Microphones were ordered to allow for better communication with more students in classrooms

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School Survey to Reflect on Blended and All Remote Learning sent in November 2020 and continues to remain open.  SURVEY HERE.  Town Hall Meetings by Grade and New Survey is being planned.

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Results:

  • Prek and Kindergarten students went to 2 cohorts in February 

  • ICT, IEP, ENL and Temporary Housing students were invited to join 2nd cohort in upper grades where possible.

  • Subcomitee continues to meet to attempt to collapse cohorts given space constraints, number of teachers, and blended students while maintaining remote experience for all learners.

Resources and Support

PS116 and Partner Resources:  

  • Academic Support: Your Teachers are the best resource for academic support or questions. Please contact your teachers via email/class dojo.  You do not need to wait until parent teacher confernces or report cards to request a call with teachers.

  • Social Emotional Support: Reach out to the School Assessment Team via team116@ps116.org  Kerry Kamrudin (Psychologist), Melody Pierre (Guidance), John Villone (Social Worker)

  • The Jewish Board for Family and Children's Services: Family and individual student counseling services are provided by an on-site licensed social worker from The Jewish Board for Family and Children's Services at P.S. 116. If you are interested in finding out more about this program, please contact social worker Alyssa Berger at aberger@jbfcs.org

  • Teachers College Reading & Writing Project: you can find parent videos here to support reading and writing at home. 

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Outside Resources:

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What you can do:

The best way to advocate for opening schools is to participate in local Keep Schools Open groups, contact officials with your concerns through email and twitter, and vote for candidates that support opening schools during the CEC elections, Primary elections in June, and regular Fall elections.

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Changing 3' to 6' distance in Schools:

The NYC DOE and teachers union (UFT) agreement through June is for 6' distance.  Changes to the CDC guidelines will not change the agreement with the Union. The Mayor, DOE, and Chancellor will need to re-negotiate distance with the teachers union to make changes. 

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NYS Assemblyman DiPietro (R) held a press conference on March 5th to introduce a new bill to change 6' rule to 3' in schools. Once the bill has been introduced to the Assembly and Senate the information will be updated here.  If this law passes, this will override the union agreement of 6'.

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Teacher Vaccinations and All Remote Teachers: Teachers who are currently all remote were granted accommodations through June 2021 and are not required to return to the classroom in person earlier.  The school cannot ask teachers to return and does not condone pressuring teachers to return regardless of if they received the vaccine. Many of the in-person teachers and staff at PS116 have received the vaccine, but this does not change safety guidelines for distance. 

Keep NYC Schools Open

This is the largest active local organization to open schools. You can find more information on articles that support opening schools on their website and Facebook feed. You can follow the group to learn more about rallies and activist campaigns. 

Website: https://www.keepnycschoolsopen.org

Twitter: @KeepNYCschools1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kidsbelonginclassny/files

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Complete list of Officials to email/tweet/call - click here

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