Week of October 30, 2017 Announcements

Picture Day---November 7, 2017 

Picture money envelopes are due to the tuition office bu November 2, 2017 if parents wish to have their               child's picture taken.

No child's picture will be taken unless the picture package is paid up beforehand.

 Halloween 2017 

There will be a Halloween parade for students in PreK and Kindergarten-- beginning at 8:30 AM to which parents are invited to join.

Please check with your child's teacher regarding festivities that will be occurring in each classroom.

Report Card Day has been moved.

Report Cards will distributed on       Monday November 20th

Parent Teacher Conferences

Tuesday November 21st

2:00 PM - 8:00 PM 

Saturday November 4, 2017 

Parenting is really hard.
Having a growth mindset helps.

Research shows that parents can have a powerful impact on their childrens’ mindsets. The language you use and the actions you take show your children what you expect. Giving process praise, talking about the brain, accepting mistakes as learning opportunities, and understanding the role of emotions in learning are all practices you can begin today.

Say This, Not That

The way we praise our children can have a profound impact on their mindset. Research on praise and mindsets shows that when we praise children for being smart, it promotes a fixed mindset. It sends a message that their accomplishments are trait-based, and tied to something innate. In contrast, praising kids for working hard promotes a growth mindset. It sends a message that the child’s effort is what led them to success. Want more tips on what to say, and what not to say, when praising your kids? Say This, Not That!
Click on this link:

https://www.mindsetworks.com/parents/growth-mindset-parenting       

Talk About the Brain

The brain is far more malleable than we once thought. Teaching our kids that they actually have control over growing their brains through the actions they take is empowering! Tell your children that when they work hard, that’s the feeling of their neurons connecting. The dendrites are reaching out to other dendrites, trying to connect to make a stronger brain. What strengthens those connections is practice, asking questions, and actively participating in learning. When children learn that their brains physically change with effort, it leads to increased motivation and achievement. Show your kids this Brain Animation video to explain! 

Accept Mistakes as Learning Opportunities

One of the best ways you can model a growth mindset is to speak candidly about the mistakes you’ve made, and what you’ve learned from them. Speak positively about your mistakes and struggles, and this will show your children that taking risks and making mistakes are a natural part of the learning process. Explain to your children that trying hard things is what helps us grow, and you can’t be perfect when you try something hard!

Understand the Role of Emotions in Learning

When we get angry, scared, or feel threatened, our fight or flight response is activated. This can happen anytime, whether we’re scared of a spider or scared of math! Our brains are wired to protect us when we feel threatened, and stress symptoms such as sweating, stomach cramps, and your mind going blank are completely normal. There are strategies we can use when the fight or flight response tries to take over, to help us learn. One of those strategies is called Square Breathing and it helps to break down the adrenaline that is flooding the bloodstream and preventing learning from occurring.

Monday October 30, 2017

Please check with your child's teacher regarding Halloween 

November calendars will be sent home with your child today. 

Tuesday October 31, 2017 Halloween 

Halloween Parade - 8:30 AM PreK and Kindergarten classes 

Costume Contest 1:00 PM - Grades PreK, K and 1

                             2:00 PM - Grades 2-8 

Wednesday November 1, 2017 Feast of All Saints 

Mass at 9:00 AM led by the students of the 4th grade 

Thursday November 2, 2017 - Feast of All Souls 

Picture Money envelope due to Mrs. Resto in the tuition office.

Friday November 3, 2017 Feast of St. Martin de Porres 

TACHS exam for students in 8th grade 

Students not taking the exam are required to be in school.

PreK For All Coach will work with students. 

Saturday - November 4, 2017                                                Feast of St. Charles Borromeo 

Daylight Savings Time ends - turn clocks back one hour

Sunday - November 5, 2017

Mass at 1:00 PM for all students in the sacramental program

Living Environment Class 

Picture Gallery

To view pictures of activities that your child has participated in go to school website of 

www.olqmnyc.org

Go to tab - student life

click media gallery 

click photo gallery

link will be for Flickr (pictures)

MAP Parent Information

Parents and MAP Growth – 7 Things to Know

As MAP® Growth™ reports get sent home and parent-teacher conference season approaches,  parents might be looking for information to share about MAP Growth. Terms like “adaptive” and “norms” – while known to educators – can be foreign to parents. Here are eight things for parents to know about MAP Growth.

First, what is MAP Growth? Unlike the paper-and-pencil tests of days gone by, where all students were asked the same questions and spent a fixed amount of time taking the test, MAP Growth is a computer adaptive test—which means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on their responses to previous questions. The purpose of MAP Growth is to determine what the student knows and is ready to learn next.

MAP Growth tracks student growth over time – wherever they are starting from and regardless of the grade they are in. For instance, if a third grader is actually reading like a fifth grader, MAP Growth will be able to identify that. Or, if a fifth grader is doing math like a third grader, MAP Growth will identify that, too. Both things are incredibly important for teachers to know so that they can plan instruction efficiently.

Did you know?

1. Archdiocesesan schools administer MAP Growth three times per year – in fall, winter, and spring.
2. As the student answers correctly, questions get harder. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions get easier. By the end of the test, students will have answered enough questions to inform a teacher about what they know and what they’re ready to learn.
3. MAP Growth is grade independent, which means teachers and parents can see where a child is performing relative to grade level – not merely if they are at grade level or not.
4. MAP Growth assesses math, reading, language usage, and science.
5. MAP Growth takes less than an hour to complete – but is not timed. Students can take as much time as needed.
6. The score your child receives is called a RIT score. You’ll be able to see your child’s RIT score progress from test to test, and year to year.
7. The RIT score can be connected to online resources, such as Khan Academy for math exercises and com to determine what books might be at the appropriate reading level. You can even plug their RIT score into our College Explorer tool to see what colleges your child is on track to attend.

Parents who have  further questions should click the links in the paragraphs above for more information and feel free to speak to your child's teacher during Parent Teacher Conferences on November 17, 2017.
Parents should also feel free to see Mr. Woods on Sundays from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM when he is in the office - no appointment needed.

Week of October 23, 2017 Announcements

Progress Reports 

Progress Reports were sent home with all students on Friday,

October 20th in Grades K-8.

Please sign the Progress Report and return to the classroom teacher so that we can check that a parent has received it.

A reminder Report Cards will be distributed November 16th and there will be Parent Teacher Conferences on                Friday---- November 17th from 2:00 PM - 8:00 PM.

Report cards will not be distributed to any child where there is an outstanding balance on tuition. 

Please call Smart Tuition if you have questions about your tuition.

Should parents wish to see their child's teacher(s) regarding the Progress Report please call Alba on Tuesday and request a meeting with the teacher(s).

Concert for Puerto Rico & Mexico

The concert with Bobby Sanabria on Thursday raised $740.00 towards assisting the victims of Hurricane Maria and the earthquake in Mexico.  We are grateful to Ms. Alma for arranging the concert.

Next week I will list the organization(s) where the money will be donated.

Mr. Woods wants to apologize for the delay in parents receiving passwords.  Last Thursday October 12th the Internet Provider was changed by the regional office and like anything that is changed the system went down in the school.                 Mr. Marcial was in this last Saturday entering new IP addresses into all the computers and chrome books in the school --so hopefully everything is back up and running.  The address for Educate is https://adny.tads.com

Halloween 2017 

Please check with your child classroom teacher regarding the planned activities for Halloween.

There will be a Halloween parade at 8:30 AM for students in all PreK classes and Kindergarten and parents are welcome to join in the festivities.

Please remember there are a number of children with peanut allergies so please do not send in any candy items that have peanuts in them.

A good article for Parents to Read 

What Smartphones Are Doing to Our Minds

             “The smartphone is unique in the annals of personal technology,” says Nicholas Carr in this Wall Street Journal article. “We keep the gadget within reach more or less around the clock, and we use it in countless ways, consulting its apps and checking its messages and heeding its alerts scores of times a day.” What makes the smartphone so captivating? “Imagine combining a mailbox, a newspaper, a TV, a radio, a photo album, a public library, and a boisterous party attended by everyone you know, and then compressing them all into a single small, radiant object. That is what a smartphone represents to us. No wonder we can’t take our minds off it.”

          But smartphones can also foster anxiety and undermine performance. “[E]ven hearing one ring or vibrate, produces a welter of distractions that makes it harder to concentrate on a difficult problem or job,” says Carr. “The division of attention impedes reasoning and performance.” One study found that when a person isn’t able to answer a ring or vibration, blood pressure spikes, the pulse quickens, and problem-solving skills decline.

Researchers have found negative effects in five areas:

          • Test performance – In a 2015 experiment at the University of California/San Diego, 520 undergraduates took tests of fluid intelligence and available cognitive capacity. Subjects were divided into three groups:

-   The first placed their cell phones in front of them on the desk.

-   The second stowed their phones in pockets or handbags.

-   The third left their phones in another room.

Students whose phones were in view got the lowest scores; those whose phones were in another room did best; and students whose phones were in their pockets or handbags scored in the middle. Interviewed afterward, almost all students said they hadn’t been distracted by or even thought about their phones while taking the tests – but that obviously wasn’t true for two-thirds of them. A similar study found that students with phones in sight made more errors on a test.

          • College lectures – A study at the University of Arkansas found that students who brought cell phones with them to classes and exams scored a full letter grade lower (whether or not they checked their phones during classes) than those who left phones back in their dorms. Another study came up with similar results, and revealed that the more heavily students relied on their phones in their everyday lives, the greater the cognitive penalty when they tackled mentally challenging tasks. A researcher said the areas most affected were learning, logical reasoning, abstract thought, problem solving, and creativity.

“The evidence that our phones can get inside our heads so forcefully is unsettling,” says Carr, “Smartphones have become so entangled with our existence that, even when we’re not peering or pawing at them, they tug at our attention, diverting precious cognitive resources. Just suppressing the desire to check our phone, which we do routinely and subconsciously throughout the day, can debilitate our thinking…”

          • Personal connection – A study at the University of Essex in the U.K. asked 142 participants to have private one-on-one chats for ten minutes. Half of the subjects had a phone in the room, half did not. Subjects were then given an assessment measuring affinity, trust, and empathy. “The mere presence of mobile phones,” said the researchers, “inhibited the development of interpersonal closeness and trust” and diminished “the extent to which individuals felt empathy and understanding for their partners.” The effect was most striking when a personally meaningful topic was discussed.
          • Memory – Studies have found that ready access to information via Google and other search engines, plus how easy it is to jot ideas into our devices, leads us to make less of an effort to remember information because we can always look it up. But the fact that we are storing less information in long-term memory is a problem. In an 1892 lecture, William James said that “the art of remembering is the art of thinking.” Carr agrees: “Only by encoding information in our biological memory can we weave the rich intellectual associations that form the essence of personal knowledge and give rise to critical and conceptual thinking. No matter how much information swirls around us, the less well-stocked our memory, the less we have to think with.”

          • Gullibility – In a 2013 Scientific American article, Daniel Wegner and Adrian Ward said we may be suffering from delusions of intelligence, confident that we know stuff because we can access it so quickly. When we can quickly find information, we feel as though we ourselves generated the information. “The advent of the ‘information age’ seems to have created a generation of people who feel they know more than ever before,” said Wegner and Ward, even though “they may know ever less about the world around them.” This may be why so many Americans believe lies and half-truths spread through social media by foreign agents and other bad actors. “If your phone has sapped your powers of discernment,” said Ward, “you’ll believe anything it tells you.”

“When we constrict our capacity for reasoning and recall or transfer those skills to a gadget,” concludes Ward, “we sacrifice our ability to turn information into knowledge. We get the data but lose the meaning. Upgrading our gadgets won’t solve the problem.

We need to give our minds more room to think. And that means putting some distance between ourselves and our phones.”

“How Smartphones Hijack Our Minds” by Nicholas Carr in The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2017, available to subscribers at http://bit.ly/2ylEZsP

Monday- October 23, 2017

Data Day - School is closed 

PreK For All Program 

(Mrs. Gonzalez, Ms. McGarry, Mrs. Serbones)  is OPEN - After School Program will also be in session for students in the    PreK For All Program.

Tuesday October 24, 2017 - Feast of St. Anthony Claret
Please call Alba if you wish to schedule an appointment with your child's teacher regarding the Progress Report  

Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center Neighborhood Award to students of the                    Greenhouse 4:00 PM with Mrs. Ramsey. 

Wednesday October 25, 2017 
Anti-bullying curriculum will be covered 

Thursday October 26, 2017 
Please check with your child's teacher about Halloween 

Friday October 27, 2017 
Reminder to check with Smart Tuition regarding your tuition before Report Cards in November. If there are further questions please direct them to Mr. Guzman.

Sunday October 29, 2017
Mass at 1:00 PM 
Biology Class 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM  

Week of October 16, 2017 Announcements

Bobby Sanabria  & Quarteto Ache

Hurricane/Earthquake Relief Concert for Puerto Rico/Mexico

Thursday October 19, 2017 

6:00 PM 

School Auditorium

Tickets available in school office 

$10.00 adults

$5.00 children 

.

Progress Reports 

Distributed  October 20, 2017

Progress Reports will be distributed to all students on 

Friday October 20, 2017.

The Progress Report will reflect student progress from the beginning of the school until now. 

The Progress Report may be a wake up call for some students. 

Report Cards will be distributed Friday November 17th and the Progress Report enables parents to see areas of strengths or weakness.

Should parents have concerns about the Progress Report they should call the school office and meet with the teacher(s) concerning their child's progress.

Should parents have concerns about the Progress Report AFTER meeting with their child's teacher they should feel free to see Mr. Woods on Sundays from 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM. No appointment is necessary .

MAP (NWEA) Data Day 

Monday--- October 23rd

School is closed

PreK For All Program is OPEN  

A MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) action plan for your child will be sent home following Data Day. It should be signed and returned to the homeroom teacher and should be a point of discussion during Parent Teacher Conferences on Report Card Day in November. 

Monday October 16th - Early Dismissal Day 12:00 noon 

Faculty Meeting 

PreK For All Program Dismissal - 3:15 PM 

Building Blocks Coach will be here to work with students in the PreK For All Program.

After School Program will be in session.

Tuesday October 17th - 

8:30 AM - PreK For All Parent Workshop in library 

Safe Environment Curriculum will be covered this week. 

   

    Safe Environment Curriculum

Dear Parents,

Our Catholic tradition has always affirmed the dignity of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God. Every person with whom we come in contact deserves to be seen by us with the eyes of God. We know that ministry with children and youth, in particular, is a sacred trust. 

We, at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs School are committed to preserve, at all times and in all places, this sacred trust which is rooted in our faith in Jesus Christ.

In 2002, the United States Bishops approved The Charter for the Protection of Children and  Young People in an effort to protect children
and youth from sexual abuse at ;all levels of church life and to restore trust in a Church scarred by the scandal of clergy and sexual abuse. 

Article 12 of the charter directs all dioceses to create programs and processes to teach children and youth about sexual abuse and prevention. 

In the Archdiocese of New York, this training will be integrated this week.
October 17th- October 20th  during the religion classes in our school.

We thank you for your support and interest as we partner to give our children the safest possible environment to grow in faith, in our parish, school and in our homes.

Wednesday October 18th

Feast of St. Luke 

Tickets on sale in tuition office for Thursday's Concert

Thursday October 19th 

Feast of St. Paul of the Cross

PreK For All Instructional Specialist will be in classrooms to work with teachers & students 

Jazz Relief Concert for 

Puerto Rico & Mexico ---6:00 PM 

Friday October 20th - 

Progress Reports sent home

Sunday October 22nd

9:00 AM - Biology Class

1:00 PM - Mass for all students in  sacramental program 

Monday - October 23rd - 

Data Day School Closed

PreK For All Program OPEN  

Week of October 10, 2017 Announcements

Bobby Sanabria  & Quarteto Ache

Hurricane/Earthquake Relief Concert for Puerto Rico/Mexico

Thursday October 19, 2017 

6:00 PM 

School Auditorium

Ms. Alma has arranged a relief concert for the victims of the recent tragedies in Puerto Rico & Mexico.

Tickets will be $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.

All proceeds will be donated to assist in the relief efforts to assist the people of these two countries.

Tickets will be available in the school office beginning 

Thursday, October 12th.

Hispanic Heritage Month Music Presentation 

Thursday October 12, 2017

9:00 AM - All PreK classes

10:00 AM - K & 1

Parents are welcome to attend.

The presentation will be approximately 1/2 hour so that parents may get to work after the assembly.

Chocolate Bars 

Chocolate Bars are available in the office to assist parents in their fund raising requirements. Each box contains 60 bars and the money for each box (money order/check preferred) should be returned to Mrs. Resto in the tuition office. Parents who do not wish to sell candy bars may pay Smart Tuition directly through their account. 

Parents need to remember that this is an either/or decision. 

Either parents sell candy bars OR they pay Smart Tuition the fund raising fee. 

The programming of Smart Tuition this year 

does not permit a split decision as was done in year's past.

The last day to pick up candy bars 

will be 

November 1, 2017

2 liter Bottles Needed- empty 

Students in the Biology class are in need of 2 liter bottles for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) project they are working on.  If you have empty 2 liter soda bottles and are willing to give them to the class you may drop them off in the science room on the first floor.

Tuesday October 10, 2017

PreK for All ESI-R screening will begin.

Wednesday October 11, 2017

Hispanic Heritage Classroom Presentations Grades 2-8

Grade 2 - 9:00 AM  - Mrs. Bagley

Grade 3 - 12:30 PM- Mrs. Ramsey

Grade 4- 9:30 AM - Mrs. Ramsey

Grade 5 - 2:15 PM - Mrs. Ramsey

Grades 6 & 7 - 8:15 AM - Mrs. Ramsey

Grade 8 - 2:15 PM - Mrs. Larios 

Parents Welcome

Thursday October 12, 2017 - Columbus Day

Hispanic Heritage Music Presentations  Grades PreK, K and 1

9:00 AM - PreK

10:00 AM - Grades K & 1 

Friday October 13, 2017

Fire Prevention Week Presentation

9:00 AM - PreK & K

9:45 AM Grades 1-4

10:30 AM - Grades 5-8

Sunday October 15, 2017

Biology Class 9:00 AM

Mass for all students in sacramental program 1:00 PM 

Week of October 2, 2017

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi 

Blessing of Animals 

Wednesday October 4th 

9:00 AM 

The annual blessing of domestic animals will occur on Wednesday during the 9:00 AM Mass.  Students may bring animals from home for this blessing.

If dogs or cats are being brought to school they must return home with a parent after Mass.

EDUCATE - Student Information System

https://adny.tads.com

Parent access for the Educate Student information System is open.   

Parents may request access for the system by emailing Mr. Woods at olqm1@aol.com.

Parents may also come in on Sundays and see Brianna and she will give them their login and password information.  

No passwords etc. will be given out during the week only via e-mail or on Sundays.

Students in grades 4-8 will also be given their own login and password during this week.

It is important that parents keep abreast of their child's progress on a weekly basis regarding completion of homework/projects and test scores. Should parents see a problem then an appointment should be made with the teacher of that subject.

Parents should not wait until Report Card Night to say 

"Wow...I didn't know my child was failing?"

Chocolate Bars 

Chocolate Bars are available in the office to assist parents in their fund raising requirements. Each box contains 60 bars and the money for each box (money order/check preferred) should be returned to Mrs. Resto in the tuition office. Parents who do not wish to sell candy bars may pay Smart Tuition directly through their account. 

Parents need to remember that this is an either/or decision. 

Either parents sell candy bars OR they pay Smart Tuition the fund raising fee. 

The programming of Smart Tuition this year 

does not permit a split decision as was done in year's past.

The last day to pick up candy bars 

will be 

November 1, 2017

Hispanic Heritage Month Music Presentation 

Thursday October 12, 2017

9:00 AM - All PreK classes

10:00 AM - K & 1

Parents are welcome to attend.

The presentation will be approximately 1/2 hour so that parents may get to work after the assembly.

2 liter Bottles Needed- empty 

Students in the Biology class are in need of 2 liter bottles for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) project they are working on.  If you have empty 2 liter soda bottles and are willing to give them to the class you may drop them off in the science room on the first floor.

Monday October 2, 2017- Feast of Guardian Angels 

October Calendars will be sent home with students today.

Parents of PreK and Kindergarten may be called as we review files regarding immunizations before the NYC Department of Health inspection this mnonth.

Tuesday October 3, 2017

MAP testing Kindergarten 

Wednesday October 4, 2017 Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

9:00 AM Mass led by the students of grades 6 & 7

Annual blessing of animals will take place at this Mass.

Parents Welcome 

MAP testing - Kindergarten 

Thursday October 5, 2017 - Smart Tuition Payment Due 

Friday October 6, 2017- Feast of St. Bruno

MAP testing Grade 2 Mathematics 

Sunday October 9, 2017 - Holiday Weekend

School office closed

Students are to attend Mass with their parents.