School Welcome
From the Desk of Principal Robert L. Burnside
Dear Families,
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. All of us at the Department of Education have been so proud to witness the joy of students and educators reuniting and learning together this year. We have been the only major school district in the nation to reopen our buildings. The benefit to hundreds of thousands of students is incredible, as school communities have reconnected in person for learning, growing, and supporting one another.
All along, we have kept health and safety at the forefront of everything we do. That includes carefully monitoring COVID-19 transmission rates across the city and, when necessary in response to infections, temporarily closing our school buildings and transitioning students to fully remote learning.
Given recent increases in transmission, we have reached a point in our City’s infection rate that requires all students to transition to remote learning. Beginning Thursday, November 19, all school buildings will be closed, and all learning will proceed remotely for all students, until further notice. You will hear from your principal shortly about next steps for you and your student. Please note that this is a temporary closure, and school buildings will reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.
I am sure you have many questions, and below you can find some important guidance to provide some answers. As always, we are committed to academic excellence, community-building, and social-emotional support for your child—no matter where they are learning.
Devices for Remote Learning
Do you need a device, need technical support or to fix a broken device, or are dealing with a lost or stolen device? Call DOE’s IT Help desk at 718-935-5100 and press 5 to get assistance.
You can also get quick help online:
Browse tech support topics: schools.nyc.gov/technicaltools
File a tech support ticket: schools.nyc.gov/techsupport
Request a device: schools.nyc.gov/devices
Get support with a DOE-issued iPad: schools.nyc.gov/ipadfixes
Issues with your Internet connection: schools.nyc.gov/internet
We are committed to ensuring every student is learning 5 days a week. Your child’s school will support you in remote learning if you currently don’t have a device by providing paper-based work. Contact your school for more info.
Free Meals for Students and Families All families and students can continue to go to any school building between 9:00 a.m. and noon on weekdays to pick up three free grab-and-go meals. No identification or registration is necessary. Halal and kosher meals are available at some sites, which are listed at schools.nyc.gov/freemeals. From 3-5 p.m., New Yorkers of all ages can pick up free meals at 260 Community Meals sites across the city. For a list of sites, please visit schools.nyc.gov/freemeals.
Learning Bridges
Learning Bridges, the City’s free childcare program for children in 3-K through 8th grade, will continue to serve families enrolled in blended learning. We will continue to give priority to children of essential workers, as well as students in temporary housing or residing in NYCHA developments, children in foster care or receiving child welfare services, and students with disabilities. Families can learn more and apply at schools.nyc.gov/learningbridges, and new offers will be made to families weekly as seats are available.
Although we are temporarily shifting to fully remote teaching and learning for all students, if you have recently elected to enroll your child in blended learning, your child will be able to begin in-person learning after we reopen. I know that for many of you, this decision to temporarily close school buildings that we recently opened up will be disappointing, and I understand. But by confronting these challenges together, we can continue to fight back against COVID-19. And I am confident that before long, we will be able to safely reopen our school buildings again.
Please remember the “Core Four”: wash your hands, wear a face covering, keep six feet of distance from others, and stay home if you’re feeling sick. These are critically important steps that all of us can take every day.
We will continue to provide updates, supporting you and everyone in the DOE family as this public health crisis continues to evolve. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s school with any questions or concerns. We are grateful for your partnership and all you do for our city.
Sincerely,
Richard A. Carranza
Chancellor New York City Department of Education
Dear scholars, parents, and families,
November is the month of perseverance. According to Webster’s dictionary, Perseverance is a continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to a course of action with a steady persistence to succeed. Here at SOFBK, this is exactly what we are doing every day: Persevering through Covid-19, Persevering through Remote Learning and three days of In-Person learning. If we stay the course, with steady, everyday effort in attending classes, on time, actively engaging in classes, completing assignments on time and looking challenges in the face, and walking through them, I believe, we can make it. It is going to take perseverance to achieve it….. and we are on our way.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, we had to delay our nominations and elections for the Parent Association and School Leadership Team members. However, last Wednesday night, we concluded the elections with a new team that is ready, willing, and able to push SOFBK to a new level of success. Let me welcome Ms. Cousar (President), Ms. Gurley (Recording Secretary), and Ms. Rodriguez (Treasurer) to the team. With their efforts, commitment to SOFBK, and courageous ideas, I am certain we are headed in the right direction.
Lastly, I want to highlight two items this month; 1. Communication and 2. Instruction. 1. We are strategically working to over-communicate during Covid-19. As a result, I was able to purchase a SOFBK app to download and be up to date with all school information. You can download the app by opening the App Store and selecting SOFBK. I believe you find the app very informative. We have everything on the app: your children’s classes, their Google Meets links, IXL, and other very important apps. Also, on the app is our website, Facebook page, and my principal’s Twitter page, where I tweet everything about your incredibly talented children. As a result, communication is very important to us. Let’s stay informed and well-connected.
2. Our instructional focus: School of the Future students will demonstrate their learning by the utilization of academic vocabulary, citing textual evidence from a variety of genres, engage in academic discourse, and written expression across all content area classrooms. I know that is a lot of educational jargon, but essentially, we are building your children’s academic vocabulary, teaching them how to cite the right information from what they are reading, discuss what they are learning (explain how you arrived at that answer?) and having them write in all their classes. Here is what I need from you, a commitment to ensuring you discuss what your children are learning at school and remotely. Furthermore, ensure they log onto IXL and spend at least three hours per week practicing. Research has proven, if students use IXL for more than 3-5 hours per week, they will increase their learning by more than a year. So, with that in mind, I ask, will you commit to ensuring these two things this year? I need your help. We need your help. Covid-19 has turned our kids’ world upside down. Let’s turn it right-side up.
Please feel free to contact me at (914) 874-4506 or rburnside@schools.nyc.gov if you have any questions.
Have an awesome month
Principal Robert L. Burnside
Scholars’ Creed
We are School of the Future Brooklyn
We are the leaders that the world has been waiting to see!
We stand tall and take pride in fulfilling our dreams.
Being diligent is in our DNA, we will not allow obstacles to stand in our way.
Our resilience will be the reason we win.
We will strive to be the best at the very end.
We are focused, this not a game.
We are serious and determined for the world to know our name.
The community in which we learn is keeping us on track.
We are discipline; we will not react.
School of the Future teaches us that we are the best.
There’s nothing that can stop us from being a success!
We are School of The Future Brooklyn
Website:Milkuniforms.com
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