Dear BCS Students/Families,
We wish you a restful Labor Day weekend. Please read this family/student update carefully. It has a lot of important information to help you get started with school this year! Stay tuned for more updates from us! If you are not receiving this update as an email, please email Scill@bcs448.org with your child’s name and grade to be added to our family listserve.
BCS ANNOUNCEMENTS
Community support for our student Mo
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One of our students, Mo Mbaye (Class of 2021), was injured last week. Thankfully, his injuries are non life threatening and Mo is expecting a full recovery! His supporters (Team Mo!) have put together a fundraiser to help with medical/family expenses. Mo has always helped out his community and we hope to shower him with love now when he needs it! We love you and we’re sending you well wishes as you recover, Mo!! https://www.gofundme.com/f/
help-mo-recover-stop-gun- violence-fort-greene-bk
NEW students, please sign up for your BCS student email address!!! VERY IMPORTANT
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Your teachers will primarily use your BCS student email to contact you
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Go to gmail.com
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Your username is firstname.lastname@bcs448.org (For example, if your name is Jose Brown, your BCS student email address is jose.brown@bcs448.org)
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Your password is bcs+the last five digits of your OSIS number (For example, if your OSIS number is 123456789, then your password is bcs56789)
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Once you’ve entered your password, the system will prompt you to choose another password. Pick a secure password that you will remember.
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Write down your email and password in a secure location. You will need your BCS student email address all the time.
Returning students, please make sure you can access your BCS student email address
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If you need a password re-set, please email Scill@bcs448.org
School starts with a 3-day all-remote orientation from 9/16-9/18
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The DOE recently announced a delayed opening to school
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Wed 9/16 – Fri 9/18 – students will have a 3-day all-remote orientation – we will send out more information about that shortly, please stay tuned to your email
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Mon 9/21 – this is the first day in-person in the building for Group A – Group B and D are remote on Mon 9/21; the first day in-person in the building for Group B is Thurs 9/24 (unless a student in Group B has an IEP, is a Multi-Language Learner, or a Student in Temporary Housing – those students will start Wed 9/23 from 9am-11:45am)
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During the first 1.5 weeks, we will have a schoolwide expedition where you will be engaged in community building and digital competency. You’ll learn all the digital systems you’ll use this year to be successful and practice using the digital tools.
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And you’ll re/connect with your classmates and teachers (socially distanced and virtually) after having been away for so many months!
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The week of 9/14, we’ll email you with more information about what to do on Wed 9/16 to get started with school.
COVID testing for in-person students
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Although the Department of Education is not requiring that all students and staff be tested to start school, we strongly encourage that you are tested anyway.
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Since the coronavirus can be contagious in children and adults without symptoms, frequent testing is one important way to feel more confident that you are not carrying or spreading the infection. Testing is free for all New Yorkers. You can get a COVID test at any of the 34 NYC Health and Hospitals locations, and you can read about testing and find other testing locations HERE.
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Thank you for making this decision to help protect your health and the health of all of our students, staff, and families.
Please support our BCS Amazon Wish List
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As we gear up for school, we are in need of materials to support with outdoor lunch/class
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If you are able to support, please help us collectively purchase stools, cones, and barriers to support with using our outdoor space often and safely
DOE ANNOUNCEMENTS
ALL STUDENTS, please sign in to your DOE student email address
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Enter your 9-digit Student ID (OSIS) number.
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Enter your birthday.
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Click Continue.
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If the information you enter matches your student record, your username will be displayed.
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Your DOE student email address is your username followed by @nycstudents.net. For example, if your username is JoseB, your student email address is JoseB@nycstudents.net.
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If you haven’t already set up a password, you will be asked to set one up.
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Re-enter your password. Pick a password that only you will know.
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Click Update Password.
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Write down your DOE student email address in a secure location. Your crew leader will ask you about it the week of 9/14. You will need your DOE student email address to sign into some DOE systems this year.
DOE Attendance Policy
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The DOE has issued a new attendance policy for this school year
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A student is marked present only during the synchronous parts of their school day:
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In Person: Student is physically present in the classroom for instruction during the scheduled school day.
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Remote: Student is virtually present in a Zoom class during the scheduled school day.
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Please talk with your child about the requirement to attend virtual Zoom classes
New DOE COVID Testing Protocols
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Beginning October 1st and recurring each month, it will be mandatory for schools to test a random 10-20% sample of their students participating in blended learning and on-site staff population.
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The percentage of staff tested and the frequency of testing will rise significantly in schools in any zip code that reports a percentage of positive tests of 3% or higher using a 7-day rolling average
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Families will be asked to sign a consent form at the start of the year for their child to participate at random, and be notified ahead of time if their child has been selected for the month. Families in blended learning that have not submitted a testing consent form by November will transition to remote only instruction. The full UFT/DOE agreement on testing can be found here.
Parents, sign up for your NYCDOE Student Account
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Parents can sign into their New York City Student Account (NYCSA) to access information from DOE systems about your child. Your NYCSA account can also help you find your child’s grades, test scores, schedules, transportation information, and more— from anywhere, and in all nine standard DOE language translations.
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If you have not previously created an account, you will need an account creation code. Please email Scill@bcs448.org with your child’s full name and grade and your request for a code.
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Opting into all-remote
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Families can choose all-remote at any time. To do so, please fill out this form: https://www.nycenet.edu/
surveys/learningpreference and then confirm with Scill@bcs448.org that your request has been received by the DOE. -
If you choose all-remote now, the first opportunity to opt back into blended learning with some in-person days will be for Nov 2020
No traditional school supply lists this year
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We plan to give students all their supplies if they need anything (either providing them digitally, mailing them, or arranging for pick up from the building for all-remote students).
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Students should have a computer/laptop/ipad, internet access, and likely a good pair of headphones to reduce background noise with a small mic.
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We will not have traditional supply lists this year as the needs in blended/remote learning are much less than a typical year.
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As always, we appreciate donations to the BCS PTA (https://www.bcspta.org/) to help cover the cost of supplies that teachers purchase each year
If you need a computer/ipad
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We have a limited number of ipads/chromebooks for distribution for students who need one. Please contact Tracey@bcs448.org and Eddie@bcs448.org so they can send you the loan contract and arrange pick up with you during the first week of school.
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If you no longer need your DOE ipad, please email Tracey to arrange the return of the DOE ipad to the school
In-Person Students – Reminder masks on + social distancing always!
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All students and staff must wear masks the entire school day from 9am-2:30pm during blended learning. That’s a long time so please start practicing by wearing your mask more often so that you can get used to it. No mask, no school! Staff will be wearing them all day as well, so we’re in this together!
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Also, all students and staff must practice social distancing while in school so please be mindful of what 6 feet feels like!