A highly informative letter arrived home via my 3rd grade daughter’s backpack from PS 321’s Principal Elizabeth Phillips. In it, she discussed a new United Federations of Teachers contract and the ways in which it will change the school schedule and some intervention services. There was also detailed information about the construction projects going on at PS 321, that have caused the building to be completely covered in scaffolding.
Beginning on FEBRUARY 1, 2006, the school day for most NYC public school students will be 6 hours and 20 minutes instead of 6 hours and 30 minutes. At PS 321, for instance, school will begin at 8:40 and end at 3:00 (NOTE THAT UNTIL 2/1, SCHOOL WILL CONTINUE TO BEGIN AT 8:30.
At most schools, teachers and paraprofessionals will then work with small groups of students for 37 1/2 minutes four days a week, Monday – Thursday. Citywide, this time is designated as a time with students who need extra support and the mandate is no more than a 10 to 1 ratio of students to teachers. "We believe that groups should be smaller than that, and they will be at PS 321," writes principal Elizabeth Phillips, in the note she sent home on December 14. "We will identify the children who need extra support, and they will attend either two or four days per week depending on their needs."
The new UFT contract provides for two additional school days, and school will begin next year on the Tuesday after Labor Day.
In the letter, Principal Phillips also explained the construction projects going on at the school, in which all work is done after 4:30 p.m. so that children are not in the building when construction workers are.
The third floor bathrooms have been renovated. And in January, work will move down to the second floor, and then later on, the first floor.
The other main work is repairs on the outside of the building, including pointing of the brick. According to Phillips, the scaffolding will be up the entire year.
The mini-school, the Quonset hut-type building in the backyard, which houses various classrooms, an art studio and offices, is being re-sided, piece by piece. In February, new windows will be installed. In addition, there is work toward the back of the school yard on both the first and Second Street sides.
Apparently, houses that border the school have water seeping in because of drainage and grading problems, and repairs are being done to rectify this problems. Unfortunately, this means that the new playground at the back of the back yard needs to closed for several months.
MORE NEWS: Through a grant from an Department of Education initiative called "Project Connect," our entire main building and mini-school have been wired for wireless Internet access. PS 321 has received a few different Capital Improvement Grants from he City Council and the State Assembly to purchase equipment so that we can take advantage of this new access.