April 3rd, 2020

Message from the Co-presidents

Dear P.S. 101Q Families,

Welcome back from the winter break! We are halfway through the school year and are excited to see how the spring semester unfolds. We are the Parents Association (PA) – a volunteer organization made up of parents whose children attend P.S. 101Q. As a 101Q parent, you are automatically part of the PA! Our mission is to support the wellbeing of all in the P.S.101Q Community.

Each Spring, the PA plans events and raises funds to support our school, students, teachers and our families. We had a wonderfully eventful Fall semester. We hosted another successful Monster Mash, were able to enjoy the return of the beloved annual winter concerts and had an incredible time at our first PA Gala. We are looking forward to bringing back the Spring events our children look forward to - the Talent Show, Fun Run, Summer Book Fair, Spring Festival, International Dinner, and more! We are going to host new events like Valentine Candy Grams, Radio Bingo and Karaoke Night. Of course, we will follow the lead of the school and make adjustments as needed to keep our families healthy and safe.

Our Annual Giving Campaign will launch on February 1st. With this campaign and other fundraising initiatives, the school has been able to enrich our children's learning experiences through residency programs for each grade, provide rugs for each classroom, enhance the Science and Math curriculums and support the school in any way needed. With your support this year, we can continue to help the school fund improvements and seize new opportunities that help drive the quality education provided at P.S. 101Q!

We’d love to hear from you with your suggestions, new ideas or questions. You can reach us by email at [email protected]. Also, watch your inbox each week for a PA email communication to share updates, upcoming volunteer opportunities and important dates and links.

The PA relies on the help of the entire community to support and strengthen our school! We encourage you to get involved and volunteer however you can, whether it's your time, talent or a financial donation, we appreciate it all. All of it goes back to the school and benefits our children. We are a strong community because we recognize and respect each other's various backgrounds. When we join together and collaborate with our children's thriving as our primary goal, we are even stronger. We look forward to continuing to work with you this year!

Sincerely, Tamara Siddiqi & Melissa Cruz

Diversity Statement

At PS101 we celebrate and are grateful for our rich diversity. This diversity includes race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, religion, socioeconomic status, language and abilities. Diversity of all types benefits everyone in our community and is especially essential to a productive and inclusive educational environment.

In our school community, we strive for a culture where the administration, faculty, staff, students and parents/families share in the collective responsibility to address, prevent and eliminate actions, decisions and outcomes that result from, and perpetuate, racism and bias.

COVID Resources

Supporting Children’s Emotional Well-being During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Child Trends

How to Talk to Your Child about the Coronavirus, Kids Health

Multilingual Coronavirus Resources, Colorín Colorado

Talking to Children About COVID-19 (Coronavirus): A Parent Resource, National Association of School Psychologists

Promoting Positive Mental Health for Teens Feeling Isolated, Erika’s Lighthouse

Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Racism and Activism

CNN/Sesame Street town hall to learn about racism. (best for lower grades)

embracerace.org lists 31 children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance.

Bounceback parenting blog has a curated list of resources including books, activities, and media for talking to kids of all ages about race and racism.

The Brown Bookshelf promotes awareness of children’s books (picture, middle grade, and young adult) written and illustrated by people of color.

New York Family recently compiled a list called Resources and Books to Help Parents Educate Themselves on Racism.

A free e-book from Teaching Tolerance, Beyond the Golden Rule: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice has stories and conversation starters for ages 2-5, 6-12, and 13 and up.

A New Jersey teacher started this viral list of children's books about race on the popular website ScaryMommy.com.

Articles or blog posts

Commonsense Media’s “Explaining the News to Our Kids” breaks down how to have difficult conversations with kids of different ages.

The American Academy of Pediatrics shares advice for families on how to talk to their children about racism.

embracerace.org has articles, topic pages, and webinars to help parents talk about race with young children (best for elementary).

The Anti-Defamation League has tips for a table talk about racism for kids 11 and older (best for middle or high school).

Healthychildren.org offers advice for parents talking to children about racial bias.

“Talking to Kids About George Floyd” from Child Mind Institute takes a commonsense approach to a difficult topic.

The American Psychological Association initiative on Defining Race and Ethnic Socialization has parent resources on having discussions about race with children of all ages.