TRCS Monthly Newsletter
March 2016








Spring is in the air... or so we hope!  While we never know what we will get when we go outside, we know inside at Renaissance there is always lots going on!

Renaissance is doing all it can to help keep students on track to succeed.  There are homework centers going on in the high school, as well as Saturday classes for test prep for elementary and middle school students.  The NY State exams will be held next month, so please make sure your child attends all classes if they have been scheduled to do so.  Parent-Teacher conferences are also coming up, so check  out the important dates below!

But it's not all about tests.... there are lots of fun things happening, too.  Preparations are underway for art shows and performances, and sports teams have been busy.  Check it all out here.....

          To All Our Irish Friends..... Enjoy
 
 

Spotlight On......Town Hall on Student Safety
Recently, a community Town Hall on Student Safety was hosted at Renaissance.  The Town Hall was organized by Senator Peralta, Assemblyman Moya and Assemblyman DenDekkar and there were speakers from the 115th  Precinct, NYPD Community Outreach, as well as Arnaldo Salinas of the Guardian Angels.

Some of the important topics covered were:
*    Teaching children how to describe an individual's height, facial features and clothing can facilitate NYPD searches and investigations.
*    Teaching children that if a stranger is touching/grabbing them, they should start yelling.
*    Teaching children the addresses of where they usually are. Children need to be familiar with their school and home address in case they need to contact 911.
*    Teaching children their parents' full name. While children are used to calling their parents "mommy" and "daddy," it is crucial that children know their parents' full names.
*    Do not place children's keys visible around their neck. Predators will know that a child walks home alone when they see the keys tied around a child's neck.
*    Do not have the children's names on their backpacks. This facilitates the work of predators to pretend they know the child, or his/her parents.
*    Do not walk with both headphones in your ears.  One headphone should be out of ear in to be aware of what's going on around you.
*    Do not walk with your phone in your hand.  Be alert, your face lifted to see your surroundings.

Our crossing guard Angela received a special citation for her actions in helping one of our students feel safe when coming to school.  Renaissance is always happy to be of service to the community.
  Asemblyman DenDekker and Senator Peralta 
Assemblyman Moya, Sen. Peralta, Angela, Dep. Inspector Hennesey and Principal Stacey 
Classroom Updates

On Tuesday, February 9, computer programmer Karthik Senthil did a workshop with eighth graders, talking about coding and how the Internet and apps work, and leading the kids in an activity where they came up with ideas for their own apps.





PreK finished their building study by creating building/architecture collages!  Their next study will be  the Clothing Study, learning various information about clothing and all that it entails. For example, various textures and clothing worn in different cultures. They continue to practice letter identification and their sounds, as well as number identification. They also took their second field trip to the Laguardia Performance Arts Center. The class loved seeing Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy.

5th Grade celebrated the end of their Fractions module with a big celebration today to acknowledge all of their hard work.  Students did some of the baking, learning how to measure ingredients using theie knowledge of fractions. Family & friends were invited and everything looked delicious!
  
9th & 10th Grades Pi Day Celebrations
   
   
Erin's 9th & 10th Grades classes did some cool activities for Pi day, including creating Pi art by charting a cityscape using Pi numbers, making Pi bracelets with colors representing different Pi numerals and even eating apple Pi.... oops,  we mean pie!  
 
  High School agriculture students have been preparing the garden for spring planting

 

Kindergarten
held their art presentation for families and had a great turn out.  On display were many of the projects that they have been working on all year.
    Cityscape, lighted houses and penguins!  Self-portraits
 

Second grade
had a busy month with two activities really standing out:
They kicked off the month with a fabulous visit
to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Students toured the museum with a guide who helped
them understand the artist's choices when creating the masterpieces. Then they worked
with two artists to create sculptures.
 

     Second graders also dressed up to look 100
     years old for the 100th day of school: 
 
Teacher Flo invited her friend Kaicy to visit the
class. Kaicy is a math specialist at the Chinese American School in San Francisco, working with 7th and 8th graders and also coaching teachers to help create dynamic math lessons. The kids enjoyed having Kaicy come visit and teach them how to make Multiplication Monsters.

 
Happy Birthday Dr. Suess
Renaissance celebrated the wonderful children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel , known as Dr. Suess, with a week of fun activities, fun clothing and lots of reading.  The cafeteria even joined the fun, making Green Eggs & Ham.

 







Banana, strawberry and grape "hats".  What a fun way to get kids to eat fruit!

Fundraisers!
Some of our teachers have held various fundraisers in order to get special supplies or programs for their classes.  In t he past these have included ipads and laptops.  Here are two easy ways to have a big impact with just a couple of dollars!

Flo Evans, 2nd grade teacher, started a Donor's Choose campaign to raise fund for a wonderful art project.  There are only 12 days left in the campaign, and they need your help!  Please share this link with your family and friends, so they can reach a wider audience.  For a limited time, #BestSchoolDay funders are now matching donations to this project, so your donations will have twice the impact. Click on the link below, to learn about the project and see how you can help.Choose Art and Us
PreK teacher Rachel has also created a Donor's Choose campaign to create Technology for Pre-K Learning Centers.  To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, just make a contribution on that project page - donations will be doubled automatically, but only while funding lasts. Funding will help supply mini iPads for Spanish, math and literacy learning.

MS Student Council Trip to Albany.... by Gillian Mendoza
"On March 8, the middle school student council advisory representatives went to the Capitol in Albany. We spoke with Vivian Cook, an assembly member from Jamaica. We got to talk to her about our school - about the activities and our interests. We were able to view an Assembly meeting, where they were voting for the Board of Regents. Cory Krall, Joe Herrera, and Charles Jones from Families for Excellent Schools gave us a tour of the Capitol. We saw some art, sculptures, and a lot of other organizations protesting or trying to get funding. There were mascots there from different colleges. There were people protesting about GMO's and how our food should be labeled. 
The students who went were Gillian Mendoza, Louis Angel Ramirez, Nickolas Chalen, Ellis Spica, Diane Castillo, Colin Gargan, John Demir, Murray Melnick, and Daniela Martinez."

This was a great lesson in the American lawmaking process and government at work. The high school council will be going up on March 22nd, and there is also a press conference scheduled for March 24th. For further information, contact Peggy at [email protected].

Meeting with Queens Assemblywoman Vivian Cook

With FES lobbyist Joe Herrara

"Fuddy Meers" Rehearsals Underway............by Luc Papineau


TRCS' production of "Fuddy Meers" will be on April 13, 14 and 15th. The Tech Team and other students have been working on this project since mid October. The cast includes Paola Noel-Cortez, Nicholas Rios, Ella Shea, Loren Francione, Andres Aguirre, Max Cerezo, and Kenji Cano. The play by David Lindsay Abaire is about Claire, a woman with amnesia. Everyday she awakens with no memory of her life, with only her son and husband to clue her in.  One day she is abducted and mayhem ensues!  The play premiered Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club on November 2, 1999.  We hope you will join us at the Renaissance adaptation, directed by Curtis Anderson! 

Arts Perfomances - Dates to Remember
Elementary School Movement & Music Performance June 16 & 17
 Thursday during the day for students, during the evening for families & friends on Friday  

Eighth Grade Arts Presentations May 12 & 13
Thursday during the evening for families & friends, during the  day for students on Friday  

High School Arts Presentations May 24 & 26
Tuesday during the day for students, during the evening for families & friends on Thursday

Afterschool Clubs
The High School Student Government has taken on the high school cluster initiative to have student led clubs during lunch and some afternoons. Through student selection from all HS grades, and with the help of Yumeris, the following clubs are being offered at TRCS, in addition to existing clubs

A cappella/glee club- led by Rosie Baez
Sewing club - led by Tara Pemba*
Running club (through Natalie's connection with Mighty Milers) 
Book club - led by Vivianne Batiste
Step/Cheerleading- led by Makaeda Lewis and Alison Hunt 
Other clubs that are in the works:
Film
Debate
Weight room
School newspaper
See Nicole if you are interested in joining up! 

* The sewing club needs material or sewing supply donations! Please send them to Nicole in 311.  
TRCS Sports Desk
sports
Congratulations  to Coach Daisy Pena and the HS Lady Knights who finished as Division Runner-Ups,  and brought the first ever HS Girls Basketball  Trophy to TRCS. 

Congrats also to Coach Alex Smith and the MS Lady Knights who advance to the NYC MSBL Queens Championship by defeating JHS 185  42-40 .  

TRCS Sports would like to thank 82 St Academics for attending a recent playoff basketball game , They provided a well needed boost of support . 

Upcoming Games :
NYC Queens Championship : Saturday March 19 , 2016 - location TBA
For more info about TRCS Sports visit  Www.TRCSKNIGHTS.COM 
 

 
                                          High School Girls Basketball Team 
PTA News
The Wednesday, March 16th PTA meeting featured a special guest host Hannah Gould.  Ms. Gould was here to introduce the documentary film "Not My Life", which was screened at the school that evening.  Not My Life comprehensively depicts the cruel and dehumanizing practices of human trafficking and modern slavery on a global scale.  Filmed on 5 continents, in a dozen countries, Not My Life takes viewers into a world where millions of children are exploited through an astonishing array of practices including forced labor, sexual exploitation and child soldiering.

After the film there was a Q & A with Ms. Gould. For more information about this important and timely topic, please visit:  https://www.unicefusa.org/mission/protect/trafficking/end/resources  To find out how you can help to change the cycle of slavery visit http://slaveryfootprint.org/ and please click here to have a message sent to your representatives to pass the Trafficking Prevention Act. 

Alumni Corner
2012 Alumna CJ Joseph visited with us recently while on
spring break.  CJ is a  senior at The College of St. Rose in Albany, NY.  She will be graduating in May with a B.S. in psychology.  While at St. Rose, CJ has been very active on campus as a campus guide, a resident associate and is active in sports and music.

Those of you who remember CJ from her Renaissance days will remember that she was a singer/songwriter back then, and she is still writing and producing her own music.  After graduation she will be considering different options, but in the meantime you can check out her music on itunes under CJEWEL!  


Girelle Guzman, class of 2002, is the new Director of Time & Space at "New Lab", a multidisciplinary design & technology center in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.  Besides being an alumna, Girelle was our leadership coordinator for a number of years. Check out their amazing website at http://newlab.com/, and Girelle's profile at http://newlab.com/about/team/.

 


UPCOMING DATES
Tuesday, March 22nd - Trip to Albany for Charter School Advocacy
Thursday, March 24th - Press Conference at Growing Up Green Charter School
Friday, March 25th - Good Friday, NO SCHOOL
Tuesday-Thursday, April 5-7 - 3rd thru 8th Grade NYS ELA Tests
Thursday , April 7 - Parent Teacher Conference 5-8PM
Friday, April 8 - Parent Teacher Conference 1-3 PM, 11:40AM Dismissal
Wednesday, April 13 - CSG Meeting 6-8PM
Wednesday-Friday, April 13-15 - NYS 3rd thru 8th Grade NYS Math Tests  


HELPFUL HINTS AND COOL LINKS
 

Check out the new link on the Parents page of our website called "Supporting Your Child."

http://www.renaissancecharter.org/parents.html/support_child.com  


 This page includes many helpful documents and resources to support your child both academically and emotionally, from experts in the field and our own staff. Currently, there are several documents that will help you help your child, by understanding our discipline code, our commitment to an anti-bullying culture, and by understanding what our communication protocols and our philosophy of student counseling. Here are some additional resources:

  

NYUL Parents Guide to STEM http://www.nyul.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/NYUL-Parents-Guide-to-STEM2.pdf 

  

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/people-skills/201008/cyber-bullying-defenses�  

http://eyeguardian.com/ 

   

Read the following document for tips on internet safety:

Internet Safety  

  

Elementary Math: 

Make an investment in children, education and the future of our world.  Safer, better-educated communities are great for business; they improve the quality of life for everyone. Renaissance's hard-working, high-achieving students strive to make that happen and with your help that goal is closer to being a reality:  Please visit our website for more information, and lick on the red DONATE button on the bottom of each page: http://www.renaissancecharter.org/.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

The Renaissance Charter School

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The Renaissance Charter School | 35-59 81st Street | Jackson Heights | NY | 11372