Dear BCS Students and Families, we hope you are well and staying safe!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Spirit Monday 2/14 – Valentine’s Day – Wear Red, Pink, White
- Tomorrow Mon 2/14 – wear red, pink and/or white!
- Please take a photo of your advisees and share with photos@bcs448.org
Afterschool snacks – please donate to our Donors Choose $$
- We have many students staying afterschool for academic support with teachers, on Tuesday Mastery Support and Wed SERS every week
- We provide a snack to all students and we need more snacks please! It’s a long day for students and we want them to have the energy to stay focused as they’re working with teachers
- Please donate here on Donors Choose – we have a match grant that is doubling right now
Half Days all March (3/4, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25 are half days – dismissal at 11am for all students)
- As part of our work as a DOE PROSE school, we were able to apply for additional staff PD Half Days. The DOE has approved PD days for our staff so students will have a half day on March 4, 11, and 25 (dismissal at 11am for students).
- Additionally, Student-Led Conferences will be Wed March 16 evening and Fri March 18 afternoon, so Fri March 18 is also a half day. Crew leaders will reach out shortly.
- Therefore, ALL FRIDAYS IN MARCH WILL BE HALF DAYS FOR STUDENTS AT BCS
All students and staff will receive a COVID at-home test on Fri 2/18
- We will distribute at-home COVID tests to all students and staff on Fri 2/18 last period
- They should be used on Sun 2/27 before returning to school on Mon 2/28
- If you will be absent Fri 2/18, please pick up a test in 416 this week before you go home
School Food Updates – Hot Breakfast available every day
- Hot breakfast is available daily in the cafeteria 8:15am-8:45am
- Cold breakfast will still be available at entry for all students to grab & go
- For lunch, the menu will start Vegan Fridays – all food offerings on Fridays will be vegan
- Lunch and breakfast are available daily and free to all students
This Tuesday 2/15 – Mastery Support
- We have Tuesday Mastery Support on Tues 2:20pm-3:15pm – check in with your teachers, revise assessments, get help, increase your mastery. Please stay afterschool on Tuesdays with your teachers!
- All students who received a 65, 55, or NC are required to attend Tues Mastery Support – parents will be notified. All students are welcome.
Indoor lunch (below 40 degrees or precipitation)
- Based on the weather forecast, we make announcements about indoor lunch daily around 11am (students stay indoors if the weather is below 40 degrees or if it’s raining/snowing)
PTA General Meeting: Tues February 15th @ 6:00pm
- We hope to see you to discuss all matters related to this new semester for our students, finance updates and any general business.
- Time: Feb 15, 2022 @ 6:00 PM
- Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86898515012
Upcoming Dates
- Mon 2/21 – Fri 2/25 – no school, mid-winter recess
- Updated Expeditionary Thursday (ETs) Dates – permission slip sent home this week:
- Lower Grades ETs: 3/10, 3/24, 4/7, 4/5
- Upper Grades ETs: 3/30 (Math), 4/26 (ELA), 4/27 (SS), 5/19 (Science)
- Upper Grades Crew Trips: 3/23 (only 9/12, 10/11 have PSAT/SAT), 3/29 (all 9-12)
Free COVID testing every Monday – get a QR code for your child
- We have arranged for a mobile van to conduct free PCR testing at the school every Monday.
- You can use the same QR code each week to get PCR COVID tested here at school at the mobile van so you only need to pre-register once. Just keep your QR code handy (printed or on your phone) and have it ready to show each week to the van. It’s the same code every week. Students go on their own to the van, they don’t need their parent.
- The van will be here weekly on Mondays 12pm-4pm except holidays for staff and students
- The test is FREE every week. If you have insurance, your insurance will cover it for free. If you are uninsured, the state will cover it for free. Results will be emailed to the email that you register with in 2-3 days. As always, if you are positive, please send results to Scill
- Students with QR codes will be permitted to go to the van on their own (without their parent, they must have the QR code). We will make a PA announcement so students know when to go outside – we will have staff posted to guide them. They get swabbed for about 5-10 min outside with the van and then return inside the building to class.
- If families would like to utilize the van, please come after 2:30pm with your own QR code
Parent/Community Volunteers Needed
- We welcome parents and community members to our annual Grade 11 US History Town Hall! (As per DOE policy, all guests to DOE buildings must be fully vaccinated and wear masks.)
- We need you to act as Board Members (who have voting power). Our meetings will take place Wed 2/16 and Thurs 2/17 – If you can be at the Town Hall, please sign up here!
- Students will be writing speeches and letters, and some will be completing monument draft proposals. Your job will be listening, asking probing questions, giving constructive feedback and shout-outs, and ultimately voting on who the community board should choose to make the monument for.
- Some of the important issues the students have been grappling with are:
- Who do we memorialize? Why do we memorialize them?
- Do monuments reflect the person/people themselves, or the monument builders?
- How do we confront difficult knowledge from our past? What do we choose to honor?
- Location: BCS Rm 526
- Contact: Thomas@bcs448.org and Chrissy@bcs448.org
Lost and Found in 410
- Please come to 410 to look through the Lost and Found. There are lots of coats, jackets, lunch bags and other items there.
Check your attendance and current grades in Pupilpath
- Please check for your attendance and grades in Pupilpath
- If you need login help, please email password@bcs448.org
OPPORTUNITIES
- High School – 2022 Youth Ambassador Application – NYC Votes – We are looking for New Yorkers ages 14-18 who are passionate about civic engagement, voting, and democracy to join our 2022 NYC Votes Youth Ambassador team! This paid opportunity will run from May – August, with an option to stay on through November 2022. Ambassadors will earn up to $175 per month for 10-15 hours of work. For the time being, this opportunity will be entirely remote, with a possibility for 2 days/week in person programming during the summer months.
High School – Teens of Color Study Abroad – TOCA is currently recruiting high school students of color to study languages in our spring TOCA Online program! This spring, students will choose to study Arabic, Spanish, or French, with our Conversation Partners based throughout the world in Brazil 
