Dear EVCS students,

Thanks to everyone who came to FleaVCS on Saturday!  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time rummaging through the clothes and finding treasures, enjoying treats from the bake sale, fixing up our bicycles, listening to the EVCS drum line and a special performance by the giant puppet making team.  This event, which we hope to make an annual tradition, was organized in the spirit of taking care of our environment and upcycling – which is a word that means repurposing or reusing old things instead of throwing them out.

And this morning many of us met up at the North or South ends of our district to ride our bicycles to school together in a show of support for a dedicated bike lane on Avenue B. Our core value is social action and this is what it looks like!

Who else thought that today’s sing along song choices were especially good?  Well, they were chosen by a very important person – our Principal for the Day, 1st Grader Kairos Yoon!  Principal for the Day will actually take place next week on Tuesday – but I wanted to introduce you to Kairos today and let him to tell you all about his special rules for the day next Tuesday.
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Dear EVCS students,

First, let’s all officially welcome Terry back to school!    

What a great time we had at the Multicultural Share on Friday night!   The delicious food representing so many of our families’ cultures and traditions shared with our whole community, and the excellent performances make it one of my favorite EVCS events year after year.  Thanks again to everyone who brought food to share, to the brave kids who shared their talents, and to all of you who were such an encouraging and supportive audience. I thought this year’s was one of the best one we have had in a long time.

This Friday is the Notes in Motion Poetry Carnival!  At 5pm families can sign in and grab some dinner in the cafeteria.  Then from 5:30 until 7:00 the fun begins. We’ll be dancing and moving along with the Amanda Selwyn Dance Company, to the poetry of well-known poets as well as our EVCS Poetry contest winners!  So many of our classes have been reading and writing poetry over the last month, and this Friday we’ll be celebrating poetry together through dance. I hope you can join us!

One final announcement. We have been noticing that the newly plants bushes and shrubs in the schoolyard along the fence have been getting really damaged, with lots of broken branches.  PLEASE be careful not step on those bushes or break the branches off. Let’s take care of our school environment!

Thanks as always to the SWMM House Band, and thanks to everyone who sang loud and proud this morning.   

Have a great day and a great week.

Love,

Bradley  

Dear EVCS students,

Our core value is Joy of Learning – and one of the places that we see this core value on display regularly is in chess class with Stephanie and Yuri.  

We love chess because it’s not only fun, but it helps us exercise our brains in really important ways.  When we play chess we have to start with a plan for how we are going to move the pieces, but then depending on how our opponent moves we need to update our plan throughout the game.  This is complex problem solving, because the information is constantly changing.

Chess is also really great practice with persistence, because we need to stay focused throughout the game, sometimes for a long time.  And it’s a great way to practice good sportsmanship. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you don’t! As long as you tried your best and had fun you can feel proud.  

We just finished our second ever EVCS chess tournament, and I am happy to say that almost twice as many kids participated this year than last year!  We were so impressed with the intelligence, sportsmanship, and heart our kids demonstrated throughout the tournament.  And now to tell us more about the tournament and officially announce the results is our PE teacher and chess tournament organizer, Coach Eric.

Congratulations again to all the chess tournament participants.  Thanks to the 3rd grade for hosting SWMM today, thanks as always to the SWMM House Band, and thanks to everyone who sang loud and proud this morning.   

Have a great day and a great week.

Love,

Bradley  

Dear EVCS students,

Let’s put our hands together for everyone who participated in the jump rope demonstration this morning!  Jumping rope is a great way to exercise and take care of your body. It’s also very important that we eat healthy food and start the day with a good breakfast.  We always have breakfast available for all of our students in the cafeteria in the morning. If you do want to have breakfast at school we ask that you try to arrive early enough that you can finish before 8:30 when our classes go upstairs.  We have noticed that a lot of our students have been bringing breakfast trays up with them in the morning, which can be distracting and also messy in the classrooms. Let’s try to do better at finishing breakfast before 8:30 in the cafeteria.  

I’m happy to announce that we will be holding a raffle again this year to become Principal for the Day!  Whoever wins the raffle will have special privileges and responsibilities on one day, including sitting in with the SWMM House Band and reading the morning message, creating one special rule for the day, and going out to a special lunch with me.  The Principal for the Day and l will also visit every classroom and read your favorite book to the Pre-K and Kindergarten classes. Tickets are $5 and will be on sale in the schoolyard every day this week at arrival and dismissal. The raffle drawing will be at the spring gala on Saturday night.  

Finally, the Multicultural Share will be on Friday, May 3.  If you want to sign up to perform you must submit a request online before next Friday, April 12.

Big thanks to all of our students and staff who jumped rope this morning!  Thanks as always to the SWMM house band, and thanks to everyone who came this morning and sang loud and proud!

Have a great day and a great week.

Love,

Bradley  

Dear EVCS students,

Welcome back!  

March is Women’s History Month – and this year has been a very important year in women’s history in America.  Did you know that more women than ever before were elected to serve in the United States Congress this year? This is a huge accomplishment and a reason to celebrate – but it’s also important to note that women still only represent ¼ of all the seats in Congress.  There is still more work to be done for women to have equal power and representation in our government, but it’s a good start.

It’s also exciting to note that more women than ever before are running for President of the United States!  Six women have already announced their candidacy for the Democratic nomination.  We have never had a woman as the President of the United States before. Who thinks it’s about time we did?  The future is definitely female!

We have more things planned for Women’s History Month, including some special read alouds in classrooms later this month, so you can look forward to that.

Big thanks to the Pre-K for sharing and hosting this morning!  Thanks as always to the SWMM house band, and thanks to everyone who came this morning and sang loud and proud!

Have a great day and a great week.

Love,

Bradley

February 11, 2019

Dear EVCS students,

Welcome back to the last week before our mid-winter break.  It’s going to be an exciting week. This Thursday is not only Valentine’s Day – it is also the 100th day of school this year!  We always like to take some time on the 100th day of school to not only give ourselves a pat on the back for making it to this important benchmark and reflect on how much we have grown and learned, but also to think about the number 100 – a very important number in our base-ten system.     

Speaking of 100 – Did you know that our school building is over 100 years old?  Like all old things, it needs to be taken care of and treated gently and with respect.  We’ve been noticing that some areas of our school – in particular the student bathrooms on the 4th floor – have not been treated so well by our students recently.  I am asking you to please try and do a better job of helping us to be the care takers of this old building so it can be around in another 100 years. Thanks!

Big thanks to the 4th grade for sharing and hosting this morning!  Thanks as always to the SWMM house band, and thanks to everyone who came this morning and sang loud and proud!

Have a great day and a great week.

Love,

Bradley  

January 28, 2019

Dear EVCS Students,

Welcome back!  The next few weeks are super busy, with lots of events coming up.  Some are just for kids, some are for the whole family and some are just for the grown ups.  

First, this Friday is Movie Night at EVCS!  We have four movies for your to choose from – Big Hero 6, Kubo and the 2 Strings, Hotel Transylvania 3 and My Neighbor Totoro.  If you want to come you need to RSVP on the school website. The money that is raised will go to help our 5rth graders go on their camping trip this spring.  

Next week is Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.  You will be hearing more about this in your classrooms, and we will also have a special SWMM on Wednesday, followed by a march around the block led by our marching band drumline!  

Next Tuesday February 5 school will be closed for the Lunar New Year.  2019 is the year of the pig in the Chinese calendar. Happy new year to all who celebrate.

Parents – we have two great workshops coming up very soon, and more to come later this winter.  First, this Thursday morning we are having a workshop on Seesaw, assessment and feedback, at 8:30 in the art room.  Then on Tuesday February 12 at 5:30 we are having a workshop where you will learn about our school’s approach to teaching and learning math.  You are encouraged to bring your kids, as there will be an interactive element.

And please mark your calendars for two very fun events coming up for adults.  On March 3rd we will have the 2nd annual District 1 Battle of the Family Bands at the Bowery Ballroom!  And our annual spring gala is happening earlier this year, on April 6th at Performance Space New York. Both will be great events – I hope to see you all there.  

Thanks to the fifth graders for sharing and hosting today and thanks, as always, to  the amazing EVCS SWMM House Band! And thanks to everyone who joined us today and sang loud and proud.  Have a great day.

Love,

Bradley

January 7, 2019

Dear EVCS Students,

Welcome to the first School-Wide Morning Meeting of 2019!  In two weeks we will have a day off from school to observe Martin Luther King Day.  Every year at this time I like to remember who Martin Luther King was, what he accomplished and why he was so important.  Martin Luther King Jr. was a true hero of our country and someone who embodied all of our core values at EVCS.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement if the 1950’s and 1960’s.  He fought to bring racial justice and equity to this country.

Martin Luther King Jr. lived during a time in America when people were treated very differently according to their skin color. Martin believed that all people should be treated kindly, fairly and equally, no matter what color skin they have.  He fought very hard for civil rights in America, and he was a great leader who used non-violence to bring about change, social justice and racial equity. He was a great role model!

In two weeks when we have the day off from school, let’s all try to honor Martin Luther King Jr. in some way.  I’d love to hear about how you choose to do it!

Thanks, as always, to  the amazing EVCS SWMM House Band!  And thanks to everyone who joined us today and sang loud and proud.  Have a great day.

Love,

Bradley