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Answers to many of your questions can probably be found in the
PS40 Family Handbook. It is an invaluable resource and we encourage
you to read and download it here.
Below you will find answers to some of the more commonly asked questions.
 What is PS40's Emergency Plan?
Any advice on Birthday Party etiquette in school?
What is Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT)?
What's involved in being a "class parent"?
Who can I speak with if I have a question or problem?
In what grades will my child take standardized tests?
What is the Executive Board?
What is the School Leadership Team?
What is PS40's Emergency Plan?
Call 212-475-5500 and listen to the principal's message for information of how to proceed in the event of an emergency.
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Birthday Party Etiquette 101
By Linda Henley Goldman
Have you ever had to console a crying child who felt left out of a party of a school friend? Have you ever personally anguished over the challenge of hosting 20 children for your child's party, and that's after you cut the guest list in half due to space limitations in your apartment? We've all been there, either on the "overlooked" or "over-booked" side. So what do we do to maximize good feelings and insure a successful celebration for all? As one mom recently told me, it will help if we all come together and create standards of etiquette as a community so that no child is unintentionally hurt in the process.
Here are some essentials to keep in mind:
1. Do not distribute invitations in school unless the entire class is invited. Mailing invitations to children's homes is best. Please note this is the official policy at P.S. 40, and our principal, Susan Felder wants to remind everyone of this!
2. When planning the party, discuss the parameters of the celebration with your child. It is not always possible to invite everyone in the class but being sensitive to other children's feelings is always essential. As parents, we must insure that nobody gets hurt. After all, it might be our child feeling left out of the next celebration.
3. Shelley Hoberman, our school social worker, suggested that parents have a frank discussion with their children about how every family celebrates special occasions, holidays and birthdays differently. Some have small gatherings, while others host elaborate bashes. "It is important that children build an understanding and caring response towards others. At some point, each of us can feel left out of something and helping children to see the reason may be beyond our control and have nothing to do with us," she says. In the younger grades an in-school celebration encompasses the entire class and can be distinguished from a family or at-home event. In this manner, most friends can be accommodated at one of the events or the other.
4. Hoberman suggests that consideration be given to age-appropriate themes and limiting the number of guests (one friend for each birthday year). Just as not every child is ready for sleepover parties, not every invitee will enjoy the movie, sporting activity or other event being planned. Throwing a party thrusts the birthday child into the delicate role of "host" and children need to be cued into what this responsibility might entail.
5. Plan to have sufficient adult supervision at the party for the number of children invited. Remember there will be a lot of things to do and there might not be enough "yous" to go around with 10 to 20 youngsters clamoring for cake all at once!
By planning carefully and being thoughtful, we'll teach our children a valuable lesson about friendship and life. Please, do your child and his/her classmates a favor and find a party plan that conveys the caring and respect for feelings that our P.S. 40 community deserves.
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P.S. 40 Introduces Three Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) Classes
By Celia Vimont
This year, P.S. 40 has three Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) classes, each co-taught by two full-time teachers. The classes-one in kindergarten, one in second grade and one in fourth grade-are regular education classes composed of children with a range of academic abilities, some of whom are receiving special education services.
"We are always looking at the needs of the children in our community and designing programs that will best fulfill their potential as learners. We thought these classes fit nicely into P.S. 40's overall philosophy of differentiated instruction, heterogeneous grouping and had the ability to enhance educational objectives for all students," says P.S.40 social worker Shelley Hoberman. "Children in CTT classes learn the same curriculum, at the same pace as other classes. Except for the addition of a second teacher certified in teaching special education, each class is balanced so it looks and feels like a typical P.S. 40 class." In choosing which children will be in each class, the goal is to have "a spectrum of learners, personalities and abilities," Hoberman says.
The classes benefit all the children, she says. "With two teachers, it is a win-win situation, as all the learners in a classroom are able to receive extra attention. CTT classes allow children to stay in their classroom instead of having to leave when extra instruction is needed." It is hoped that children who have not participated in a CTT class this year will get an opportunity sometime in their future at P.S. 40.
The CTT model ties into the concept of differentiated learning, an approach to teaching that all P.S. 40 teachers are studying this year. Differentiated learning is aimed at meeting the specific needs of each child through instructional strategies that match personal interests, strengths and areas of growth.
A key to the success of a CTT class is the close collaboration between the two teachers, Hoberman says. "It's like a marriage-the cooperation and desire to work together has to be there." This is the second year that Melissa Getzels and Stacy Bartlett have co-taught a CTT class. Two years ago, they taught fifth grade together, and this year they are teaching fourth grade.
"It's great that there are two of us in the classroom because we get to bounce ideas off each other, and learn from each other," Getzels says. "We are also able to offer the students two perspectives on the things we're teaching, and they see that it's OK to see things differently." Getzels and Bartlett let the students know they're equal teachers in the classroom, and they are both available to all the students. "We trade off in teaching the whole class and in working with small groups," Getzels says.
Bartlett points out that every child in the class receives extra help. "We can provide extra support, or take children to the next level, pushing them to their full potential," she says.
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What's involved in being a "class parent"?
By Ann Shields
Clarification: Volunteering to be a class parent does not mean packing daily lunch for the class or making sure each child really gets out of bed in the morning or hosting whole-class slumber parties. No nose-wiping other than those noses you choose to wipe, no extra laundry. Compared with real parenting, it's a cakewalk.
There's not a lot of mystery to the job, really: class parents help the teachers by getting other parents to volunteer for field trips, by organizing publishing parties and pulling together class projects for the school auction. Class parents also help the PTA by getting the word out about school happenings and soliciting volunteers from the class for bake sales and concerts. Email has made the job even easier—no worrying about calling at mealtime or bedtime or making small talk.
Class parents get a lot of glory. Teachers heartily appreciate any help they can get and kids, no matter how blase they act, feel grateful to have parents who get involved. From personal knowledge, I can add that volunteering to be class parent really satisfies the control freak within—you get to know your child's teacher a little better, and to hear what's going on in the classroom without the often psychedelic filter of your child's musings on the walk home.
Just check the "I want to be a class parent" box on the family information sheets your child's teacher will be sending home. There are no elections or interviews or initiation rites. The more the merrier, too—if every parent in a class wanted to serve as a class parent, think how blessedly stunted a class phone tree would be.
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Who can I speak with if I have a question or problem?
The Parent Coordinator is a staff position created by the Department of Education to help parents and their children. The Parent Coordinator should be the first stop for a parent or guardian who needs information about our school or the public school system. Strengthening and improving communication and outreach to P.S. 40 families are the primary goals of this position.
Juliette Knight is the Parent Coordinator for P.S. 40. She will serve as a liaison among the District Parent Support Center, the principal, and the parent groups in the school. Feel free to stop by her desk in the Main Office. Her cell phone number is 347-563-5132. Juliette can also be reached by
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In what grades will my child take standardized tests?
All New York City public school students must take a variety of standardized tests during the school year to assess their progress and guide future instruction. For detailed information about these tests, see the Department of Education's web site, http://schools.nyc.gov/daa. The Test Information tab identifies each test and explains who is required to take it, why each test is administered, how it is formatted, and how the results are reported and used.
ECLAS-2 This diagnostic assessment for children in grades K-3 provides teachers with useful information regarding students' progress in literacy, including listening, reading, and writing.
Standardized testing Third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students take standardized tests each year. P.S. 40 students are well prepared to take the city and state standardized tests, and our school's scores are among the highest in District 2.
At P.S. 40, we believe that it is important for students to learn test-taking skills. We also believe that the rich curriculum in all grades provides the best foundation for taking these tests.
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What is the Executive Board?
The Executive Board, elected each spring by the PTA membership, is composed of two
Co-Presidents, between 8-12 Vice Presidents, the Treasurer, the
Recording Secretary, the Financial Secretary, and the Corresponding
Secretary. This group of P.S. 40 parents constitutes the governing body
of the PTA and is charged with the day to day tasks of overseeing the
fundraising and community building initiatives of the PTA. Parents who
serve on the Executive Board take on significant roles in the year's
events and attend all monthly executive board meetings where much of the
planning for these events goes on. Executive Board members help to get
the word out about the goals, activities and needs of the PTA, and also
bring back ideas from other parents in the school to be discussed at
Executive Board meetings.
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What is the School Leadership Team?
The School Leadership Teams (SLT) is a school-based organiz- ation composed of an equal number of parents and staff. It meets at least once a month, and determines the structure for school- based planning and shared decision-making.
The core responsibility of an SLT is to develop the school's
Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) that is aligned with the
school-based budget. For the 2010-11 school year, PS. 40's SLT will
focus on the following goals:
- To improve students' ability to spell conventionally as developmentally appropriate
- To increase the amount of differentiated instruction students experience in the classroom.
- To increase the frequency and quality of parent-school interactions.
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Augustus Saint-Gaudens Elementary School | PS 40
320 East 20th Street, New York, NY 10003
Main: 212-475-5500, PTA: 212-420-0170
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