Principal's Letter

August 1, 2022

Dear PS 398Q Staff and Families, 

Welcome back to the 2022-2023 school year! We are all looking forward to seeing each other in-person, coming out of the two-year pandemic. We are committed to creating an environment that is welcoming and open to communication and collaboration. We look forward to supporting every student academically, as well as their social and emotional growth. The most important thing is getting to know our children and creating an environment that is safe and supportive. We ask that families send their child to school wearing their name tags, uniform, and their “back to school” backpacks (notebooks and pencil box in the backpack). No other supplies are necessary the first two days of school. Teachers will provide a schedule to send in supplies. We want to get to know each other and learn together.  Teachers will focus on building a class community by helping students feel engaged and comfortable. In addition, we will continue our instructional focus (literacy, reading and writing) across the curriculums by using claims, evidence, and reasoning as strategies, along with a variety of reading platforms to support all students. All PS 398Q students will show measurable growth in their ability to think critically and express their ideas both orally and in writing by stating their claim/opinion and using appropriate details to support their reasoning. We are focused on building a strong literacy foundation. We believe that the focus on literacy is the gateway to life-long learning. We are so happy to welcome Ms. Josey, our new librarian. She will be working closely with teachers and students to support Project-Based Learning. We are honored to welcome Ms. Ramos, under her new role as our bilingual guidance counselor. Here at PS398Q, we begin everyday with a positive mindset, an enthusiasm to excellence in education, and look forward to working with your children.  Everyday is a LEARNing day because we are all lifelong learners! In preparation for the first day of school Thursday, September 8, 2022, we hope you will join us on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 for Meet the Teacher for a collaborative conversation with families to ensure we are meeting the needs of our school community here at PS398Q. I encourage all families to calendar this event, we welcome your voice!  The goal of this conversation is to gather your input and to discuss our collective path as we continue forward into the 2022-2023 school year!

Please note: ALL families including 3K& PRE-K Families are welcome to join me in our Collaborative Conversation, “Meeting the Needs of our School Community” at 12:00PM. 3K & Pre-K Families will be receiving a separate letter with guidance for the first two days of school, which will be half days. Half day on Thursday, September 8th and Friday, September 9th, dismissal at 12PM is ONLY for 3K and Pre-K students. 

Respectfully,

Mrs. Ureña-Thus

Founding Principal