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April 14: PUR Principal's Message

 

Dear Purchase School Families,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well and that you had a happy Passover and Easter.  We are currently in our fifth week of Learning From Home. Thank you for your continued support of our work. We are impressed with the student commitment and interactions in the online environment. 

Despite the physical distance between us, there is strong evidence of the connection within our community and between teachers and students. Every member of the Purchase School community is invested in staying connected to your students. One example of this commitment is various members of the staff were mystery readers for our kindergarten students. Students were excited to see who would appear on their screens each day. I had the pleasure of reading a Mo WIllems book as the mystery reader on Friday, and the opportunity to connect with our kindergarteners was the highlight of my week. You can find a screenshot of our Science aide, Ms. Carosi reading a story here. 

Learning From Home:
Teachers in all areas have been working in collaboration with the school and district leadership teams to plan for the delivery of this content. We will monitor the implementation of new material to ensure that students find the information accessible, engaging, and supportive.  It is our goal that students are progressing with their grade level’s content and skills. Your child will engage in some or all of the following:

Daily instruction that is aligned to the District’s core curriculum in English Language Arts and mathematics emphasizing essential content and skills supplemented by self-directed online learning opportunities. 

  • Lessons will include morning messages and/or meetings, read-alouds, using mentor texts, mini-lessons in reading, writing, and math as well as instruction in foundational skills. 

  • Teachers will utilize a range of remote learning tools and resources to maximize academic engagement and interactivity including pre-recorded video, written assignments, simulations, virtual field trips and video conferencing. 

  • Other instructional support will be provided to students by classroom teachers, special educators, English as a New Language and academic interventionists on a scheduled basis.

  • Encore subjects (e.g. music, art, physical education) will be delivered on a rotating 6-day schedule. 

Some items to note:
The Governor has directed schools to remain closed until April 29, 2020.  

The District provides free breakfast and lunch for eligible students. If you are currently eligible but have not yet applied, please complete the request form.  If your circumstances have changed and you are in need of food assistance contact your principal. All inquiries are confidential.

If your child needs a device, if there is a problem with your equipment, or if your family does not have internet access, the District will provide a device and/or a mobile hotspot to deliver internet access. If you require technology support please complete this form. If you have questions contact Brian Seligman (914-630-3389) or (seligmanb@harrisoncsd.org).   

The students are constantly on the minds of the faculty and staff. Last week I mentioned that teacher teams are meeting regularly and in these meetings, we discussed how it would be nice to say hello to our students virtually and let them know we are thinking of them. In order to make that happen, the faculty and staff created a video for students that you can find here. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it and that we get to see you all at Purchase School soon. 

Sincerely,

Adam Gutterman
Purchase School Principal