With all that is going on around us, children have a lot of questions. Ms. Mac has shared resources to help teachers in the classroom but also has gathered the ones below, that parents may find useful.

Resources on Ukraine

How to Talk to Kids About Ukraine (New York Times) 
Resources for Educators, Families to Discuss the Events in Ukraine with Students 

Resources to Support Students Considering the Recent Subway Tragedy 
Ways to talk about subway shootings: 

1. I wonder if anyone saw anything on the news that they are worried about, 

 2. Listen to what children say and know, confirm what is true and reframe what is not true or needs clarification. Write down questions they may have.  

3. Say what the city is doing to help the people who got hurt.  

4. Say what the city is doing to make the subway safer.  

5. Invite children to write in their journals at intervals throughout the day if they think of other things they want to say .  

6. Invite children to do something proactive, like make cards to comfort children who attend nearby Sunset Park Schools and might have happened to be riding that train and might still be scared. 

Additional Articles: 

How to talk to children about difficult news (APA) 

How to Talk to Children About Tragedies (NCFR) 

Terrorism and War: How to Talk to Children (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) 

Responding to Tragedy: Resources for Educators and Parents (Edutopia) 

Beginning June 28, anyone age 18 and under can receive free breakfast and lunch at locations across New York City through this year’s Summer Meals program. Designated public schools, community pool centers, parks, and food trucks will be open for service. No registration, documentation, or ID will be necessary for children to receive these free meals.

Service Dates and Times

The free meals will be available daily, including weekends, from Tuesday, June 28 through Friday, September 2, except for Monday, July 4. Designated public schools will provide breakfast from 8:00 to 9:15 in the morning, and lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Menus

All meals maintain the highest standard of nutrition, meeting or exceeding U.S. Department of Agriculture standards. The meals do not use food additives such as artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. We offer a variety of fresh fruit, whole grains, vegetables, and salads for children to enjoy.

Finding Locations

You can find free summer meals sites at schools.nyc.gov/summermeals. Or you can text “NYC Food” to 304-304 (standard text messaging rates may apply), or call 311 to ask about summer meal locations.

The DOE School Calendar has been released!

Remember - report cards are only available in your NYCSA account. The school does not have hard copies at this time. 

New York City Schools Accounts (NYCSA)
NYC Schools Account (NYCSA) is a DOE application that lets you access important information about your child on any device.
What is it used for? It allows you to view your child’s grades, report cards, attendance history, test scores, transportation information, IEP information, submit COVID consent forms and more. Every student should have at least one parent with a NYCSA account.
How do I activate my child’s account? You need an activation code that must be provided by the school. The DOE keeps track of students whose parents have not set up accounts and we regularly backpack home the activation code letters to those parents. 

Questions about your account? email dmarkewich@schools.nyc.gov

As more and more of our students receive the Covid vaccine, families can now access the new NYC Schools Account (NYCSA) Portal and provide student proof of vaccination at the DOE's Vaccine Portal, vaccines.schools.nyc.

Get an admissions overview. Learn how to find out more and stay engaged throughout the process.

The book covers all DOE admissions, from 3-K to High School. For parents waiting for middle school information, jump to page 45. There is not a lot of new information about the criteria this year or screened vs unscreened but it's a place to start. Once more specific information is shared with us we will have a meeting for 5th-grade parents. 

Families can now access the new NYC Schools Account (NYCSA) portal, which consolidates several important parent-facing applications in one place. In addition to seeing information for MyStudent, such as grades, attendance, and transportation, families will also be able to access Parent University and the Bullying Reporting online form. 

Parents can reset the passwords to their student’s DOE email accounts through the Manage Account page; please note the change in URL from http://mystudent.nyc to http://schoolsaccount.nyc. Families who currently have a NYCSA account will automatically have access to new features in the portal.
 
Parents who have not set up a NYCSA account have all received a backpack creation code letter this week. If you don't know your child's OSIS ID, which is necessary to set up the account, you can find it on your Operoo account.  If  you did not receive a letter, you already have an account in the system. 

The chess program at PS 166 is a crown jewel at our school and one of the premier elementary school chess programs in the United States? Now in its 22nd year, the Manhattan Knights Chess Team boasts consistent top honors in all levels of tournament play. If your child is interested in participating in tournaments as a member of the chess team, please contact us to learn more.

If you have a general question, issue, or concern please email the administration, your teacher, or email us directly. You can also add your question anonymously to our google sheet. If you have a question or concern, others may too, and we can all work together to resolve it!

Show your pride with our exclusive selection of uniquely branded products. 100% of the profit goes towards the PS 166 PTA to help sustain the resources and programs that benefit every student at PS 166.

Items may be shipped or picked up locally at Big Frog Custom T-shirts on the Upper West Side (80th/Broadway).

SHOP NOW

Our school community relies on parents like you!  Please sign up here to learn more about volunteer opportunities, and to let us know what skills and services you may be able to share!

Find out more about the fun events we have planned for this year here, and learn about volunteer opportunities. Email our VP of Volunteers, Tiffany Boyer, with questions or ideas, or to volunteer for an event!

We'd love to hear! We really do want to take questions from our parent community and get answers for you. We will be meeting with the administration several times in the coming days, so let us know!

Questions for the school? Submit Questions here

Pick a topic for our parent workshop Hosted by CMI: Vote here

Minutes for the June PTA meeting can be found here and we will vote on their approval at our next PTA meeting on October 21st at 9:30 am.

Please also consider supporting our very own PS166 parent-owned businesses!  If you’d like to add your own business to the list, please email us.

If you’re shopping on Amazon, please be sure to activate Amazon Smile by going to smile.amazon.com and selecting Friends of PS 166 Inc as the charity recipient. A percentage of each purchase will go support our school!