Child Safety Workshop

Dear WJPS Families,

AIRSS Alerts are sent out when an incident occurs involving a student in our school or a neighboring school.  These notices are also to remind you of the importance of taking steps to keep your child safe when he or she is involved in outdoor activities, including traveling to and from school.

The following are some safety tips we hope you share with your children:

• Students should never go home with strangers.
  
• Students should never talk with strangers.
  
• Students should not take things from strangers.
  
• If students are approached by strangers and are still near the school, they should be encouraged to return to school and immediately inform a staff member.
  
• Young students should be escorted to and from school.
  
• Older children should be encouraged to walk/travel to and from school in groups whenever possible.
  

A flyer was sent home with WJPS students today inviting you and your children to a workshop on child safety that is being held at IS25 on Tuesday, February 5 at 7:00 pm.  The workshop is called "Escape School," and more information is available on their web site, www.escapeschool.com.  A copy of the flyer is shown above, and is available here as a .pdf document to download.

If you need more information or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at school, 718-461-2219, via email at hreed2@schools.nyc.gov, via TeacherEase, or by clicking on the "comments" link at the end of this blog entry.

Regards,

Helen

Valentines for Vets

Dear WJPS Families,

The late columnist Ann Landers started the Valentines for Vets tradition in 1989 when she asked her readers to send Valentine greetings to Veteran Medical Centers across the country.  As a journalism school, it seems quite fitting that the WJPS community answer Ms. Landers' call to take time to remember our country's veterans through letters, notes and yes, good old-fashioned hearts-and-flowers valentines.

Many of us have relatives, neighbors and friends who were, are and will be veterans, and we have first hand knowledge of their compassion, bravery and pride.  Please take the time as a family to create a heartfelt valentine greeting for a veteran.  Their courage and sacrifice touches us all, and your family's remembrance would be appreciated.  You may want to visit the US Department of Veteran Affairs website to learn more about veterans.

Valentines that are returned to school by Monday, February 11, 2008 will be taken to the office of Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza.  She will deliver them to a local Veteran Medical Center on February 14.  Please do not include identifying information such as a child's first and last name, address or phone number.  An appropriate signature would be, "The Jones Family, World Journalism Preparatory School, 34-65 192nd Street, Flushing, NY  11358."

If you have a story to share about a family member who is a veteran or member of the military, please email it to me at hreed2@schools.nyc.gov and I will post it on this blog.

Regards,

Helen

Procedures for Snow Day or Delayed Opening/Early Dismissal

It is very rare for the New York City Department of Education to close schools for a snow day, or to have a delayed opening or early dismissal.  However, a winter storm is supposed to arrive tonight, so it is a good time to review the procedures.

Remember, a change in the school day will be announced by 6:00 am.  You can log onto the DOE website at www.nyc.gov/schools or call 311 and listen to the radio to find out.

If you have any questions, or need more information, please email me at hreed2@schools.nyc.gov or call during school hours.

Regards,

Helen

Sports Night Ticket Orders & Health Form

PTA Sports Night is Friday, January 18 at 7:00 pm in the school gym. The main event is a basketball game between students and teachers. Students must sign up with Mr. Maroney in order to play, and there needs to be a completed, doctor signed health form on file for each student player. Health forms have been sent home, but you can download and print a copy by clicking this link: Health Form.

Tickets to Sports Night are just $2.00 in advance, and $4.00 at the door on the night of the event. Ticket order forms have been sent home, but you can click on the image of it as shown here and print it out to send to school with your payment.

Sports Night is an inclusive event, with many opportunities for student participation: playing in the game, marching in the banner parade, cheering in the spirit squad, decorating the gym and selling refreshments.

Parents have a role on Sports Night, too!  We need volunteers to help with coaching the student team, keeping score, time keeping, DJ and supervising the hallways and doors.  Please call the PTA at school, 718-461-2219 or email at wjpspta@gmail.com.

Please come and support WJPS and your child on Sports Night!

Regards,

Helen