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4/11 – BCS Student/Family Update

Dear BCS Students and Families, we hope you had a restful weekend.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Spirit Monday 4/11 – Match with your Crew Day

  • Coordinate with your crew to wear matching clothing – this is a Crewlympics challenge – email/text your crew to confirm the plan!
  • Please take a photo of your advisees and share with photos@bcs448.org
  • The crew with the most points after all the crewlympics challenges goes to the citywide Outward Bound crewlympics to bring the trophy home for BCS!

This Tuesday 4/12 – Tuesday Mastery Support

  • We have Tuesday afterschool on 2:20pm-3:15pm – check in with your teachers
  • All students welcome, students with 55/65/NC are required to stay
  • The next grades download that will be mailed home will be 5/9

Complete the DOE Family Survey by Friday 4/15

  • Families, please complete the DOE survey online by going to the NYC School Survey site, enter the letter “f” (lowercase) followed by their student’s nine-digit OSIS number, and complete the survey (e.g f123456789). 
  • If you don’t know your child’s OSIS, you can look at their schedule or report card or in Pupilpath or email Tracey@bcs448.org
  • BCS is rated on the percentage of surveys we return, and so far, parents have only returned 23% of their surveys.  Let’s get that number up! 
  • Students, you will fill out the survey in crew – your access code is just your OSIS number

4/13 and 4/14 – Middle School Cheer Team (Grades 6-8) Interest Meeting 

  • Meet Coach Tiffany and let her know your interest
  • Wed 4/13 and Thurs 4/14 at 2:30pm in the Gym
  • All students welcome

Tues 4/12 – Join us for our April PTA Meeting in Zoom 

Spring Break is coming up 4/15-4/22 – All students will receive 4 test kits to test before returning back to school

  • No school Fri 4/15 to Fri 4/22
  • School resumes Mon 4/24
  • All students and staff will receive 2 COVID testing kits to take home this week.  They should use one kit on Sat 4/22 and one kit on Sun 4/23 before returning to school on Mon 4/24 (you will receive an extra 2 kits to give to family members if necessary).  See DOE family letter
  • Note that students who have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days do not need a home test kit.    
  • Please note that while use of the test kit is strongly encouraged, participation is voluntary and staff and students are not required to show proof of a negative test result before being allowed to return to work and school.    

DOE Summer Rising for Grades 6-8 – we have free summer programming in our building

  • The DOE is hosting a Summer Rising Town Hall for Families in Brooklyn on Mon 4/11 from 6-7:30p
  • Please join BKN and central Summer Rising team members to learn about Summer Rising programming, the application process, and have your questions answered! Interpretation will be provided. Flyers here: English  Spanish  Chinese  Arabic  Register here.
  • BCS will be hosting Summer Rising in our building with our partner YWCA
    • Mon-Fri 8am-6pm from July 5-August 12 for Grades 6-8
    • We will offer limited high school programming TBD
    • Please note that the Summer Rising 2022 enrollment application for families will launch in late-April. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Note that families should be prepared to reference their student’s nine-digit student ID number (OSIS) to apply. 

BCS Core Value Shout outs

  • Please send a shout out to your teachers, students or peers for exemplifying one of the BCS core values.  Here’s the shout out form.  
  • Check out our shout outs every Wed on our BCS Instagram (TheCollaborativeChronicle).  We’re so proud of our collaborative, courageous, kind, responsible, openminded, and persistent community!

Pupilpath Security Concern Update – BCS data was NOT impacted

  • As you know, we are one of many schools in NYC and nationwide that use Illuminate Education products (such as PupilPath) and there was recently a security issue in Jan 2022 which compromised some student data.
  • We are happy to report that we have confirmed with Illuminate that their investigation determined that Brooklyn Collaborative Studies data and applications were NOT affected by the security incident.

Participatory Budgeting season is here!  Please vote for the BNS/BCS project!  LAST DAY TO VOTE IS TODAY Sun 4/10!

  • Now is your chance to vote for our current project, New Gym Partition for BNS / BCS.  Voting is 4/2 – 4/10.
  • You must live in City Council District 39 to vote 
  • Children ages 11 and up can vote
  • CLICK HERE – Voting is online and in person (our project is a Capital Project).
  • You can vote on how City Councilmember Shahana Hanif spends $1.5 million for projects in her district. Our beautiful Dance Yoga Studio is an example of a successful project supported by families and other residents of City Council District 39.  PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR PROJECT!!!!

Buy Your Yearbook AD now – for Grade 8 and 12 only

  • For 12th and 8th Grade Students and Parents only, Deadline: Friday, April 15
  • Send a message to your child that they will never forget!  Recognize your child’s Grade 12 graduation or  Grade 8 promotion!
  • Design your own ad, or email us your pics and text and we’ll design the ad for you! 
  • Advertise your business or send in a business card!
  • Full page $50 • Half page $25 • Quarter page $15 • Business card $10
  • Go to https://link.entourageyearbooks.com/my/BCS2022 or email andrew@bcs448.org for more information.

OPPORTUNITIES

Summer Youth Employment Program Application

  • Get a job/internship this summer!
  • Application due date: Fri 4/22/2022
  • Who is Eligible?
    • Young people age 14 to 24
    • Must be a resident of one of the five NYC boroughs
    • Legally allowed to work in the US
  • Click here for the application: Summer Youth Application 2022!
  • Find our school under: Brooklyn Secondary School for Collaborative Studies

Get your Working Papers

  • All students between 14 – 17 must get an employment certificate in order to work.
  • Your school counselor in Room 510 (Deb or Todd) can distribute your working papers. Please bring in your paperwork a day or two before you will need your working papers.
  • Make sure you have with you: Working Papers Application with Section 1 completed and signed by a parent/guardian. You only have to fill out Section 1. AND An original version of a New York State doctor’s note (stating the student is “fit for employment”). Tell your doctor you need a note for your working papers and they should know what to do.

DONATE TO BCS AND FORWARD TO YOUR NETWORKS

Support our BCS Cosmetology Club and Atiya

  • The skills learned in this club will set them up for success in the business industry of cosmetology. Students will learn about the theory of cosmetology as well as the practical.  This club also advances student awareness of a career choice that is both lucrative and rewarding. Students will gain knowledge about the entrepreneurial side of cosmetology while still being able to advance their learning in college.
  • Donate here

Support our EcoPhysics Food Science class and William

  • With a classroom induction cooker, the hope is to spark interest in cooking more than just a cup of soup. In our food ecology class, we will ask students to explore recipes from their culture and possibly prepare them as science investigations in the classroom. This specific cooktop can give users control to a specific degree to test their recipes, like they would a scientific experiment. Donate here
  • As we study Food Science, we learn about the ecological and culture importance of passing down/on recipes. In the past, recipes were passed along in writing and orally. Today, students tell us they learn most things from watching instructional videos on the internet.  Students will be making videos of their own favorite recipes, and need a computer that can edit and produce videos like the ones they see on social media.  Donate here

Amazon Wish List – more tissues and snacks please!

  • Please help purchase items off our Amazon Wish List
  • Right now, we would most like TISSUES and GRANOLA BARS 
  • Please choose Friends of Brooklyn Collaborative Studies as your charity on Amazon Smile and donate to BCS while you shop at Amazon at no cost to you!

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

Want to study a new language for free?

  • Open to all BCS students for enrichment and for MLL students learning English. 
  • To sign up: Please email Chloe@bcs448.org from your BCS email address with the language you want to study.  Chloe will send you an email from Rosetta Stone with your log in and password.  
  • All study is done online – you need a BCS email address, Internet connection, a computer with speakers, and headphones to take the course independently.
  • All accounts from previous years are still active, and you DO NOT need to email Chloe for a new login.  
  • Languages Offered through Rosetta Stone:
    • Arabic
    • Chinese (Mandarin)
    • Dutch
    • English (UK)
    • English (US)
    • Persian (Farsi)
    • French
    • German
    • Greek
    • Hebrew
    • Hindi
    • Irish
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Latin
    • Polish
    • Portuguese (Brazil)
    • Russian
    • Spanish (Latin American)
    • Spanish (Spain)
    • Swedish
    • Filipino (Tagalog)
    • Turkish
    • Vietnamese

Convert previous grades to Pass or CR (credit) instead of number grades

  • Due to the pandemic, the DOE is allowing students to convert their final passing numeric grades (65-100) to “P” (“Pass” in Lower Grades) or “CR” (“Credit” in Upper Grades) for the following semesters only:
    • Lower Grades: 2020/1 (Jan 2021), 2020/2 (June 2021), and 2021/1 (Jan 2022)
    • Upper Grades: 2019/2 (June 2020), 2020/1 (Jan 2021), 2020/2 (June 2021), and 2021/1 (Jan 2022)
  • If you would like to convert any of your child’s numeric grades to P or CR in these semesters, please write to your child’s crew leader to submit the request on your behalf for the grade change.  All families will receive a copy of their child’s transcripts in the mail with report cards this week so that you can review all grades to make any requests.

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.  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.  
  • 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. 
  • If families would like to utilize the van, please come after 2:30pm with your own QR code

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

School Food Updates – Hot Breakfast available every day, Free lunch/breakfast daily

  • 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
  • Hot lunch and breakfast are available daily and free to all students