1. Art and Diseño

Linda Mazza, Principal
Lisa Pagano, Assistant Principal
January 29, 2015
Volume 6, Issue 17
PRINCIPAL’S NEWS
SCHOOL CLOSINGS
 February 16-20 - Midwinter
Recess
 April 3-10 - Spring Recess
TITLE III AFTERSCHOOL
KINDERGARTEN
APPLICATION PERIOD
ATTENTION PARENTS!
Our Title III afterschool is happening on Thursdays from 2:45 to 4:15. This program will
continue until April 2nd. This program is available to all English Language Learners who
are or have been serviced by our ESL teachers.
The Kindergarten application
period opens on January 7, 2015,
and closes on February 7, 2015.
All applications must be
submitted online or at a
Borough Enrollment office. All
current pre-k students must
submit an application for
kindergarten. You should receive
an Elementary School Directory
from your pre-k teacher. If you
need assistance, please see
Sergio Borrero, Parent
Coordinator.
You can also visit
www.nyc.gov/schools/kindergarten
or
www.nyc.gov/schools/EnrollmentOffices
During your child's Title III Program on Thursday afternoons, there will be Adult English
workshops provided by Ms. Wood from 2:45-4:00 in the Library. All parents are
welcome and you do not need to sign-up--just come to class! We will work on computer
skills, practice English conversation, and have presentations to teach you how to help
your children with literacy, math, and homework.
CBE KIDS AFTERSCHOOL CENTER AT PS 295
Winter/Spring registration will begin soon. We are offering a wide range of enrichment
classes in art, video, science, dance, sports, circus, Spanish and much more! Register
early to ensure getting your first choice. The new semester begins February 2nd
Check with Sergio Borrero to get a brochure. Register online at
www.congregationbethelohim.org/afterschool, or call 718-768-3814x211 with questions.
GET FREE WIFI INTERNET ACCESS with the Brooklyn Public Library’s HotSpot
program.
SIGN UP for and attend a Library HotSpot orientation session
CHECK OUT your library HotSpot device for up to one year
GET CONNECTED by bringing the device home
To participate, you’ll need a Brooklyn Public Library card, valid ID and an email address,
as well as to attend an orientation session. For more information, visit
www.bklynlibrary.org/mifi. This service is reserved for patrons who have no internet
service at home. UPDATE: All devices are currently checked-out. Please inquire via the
link above in March, 2015.
IDNYC AVAILABLE IN JANUARY
IDNYC, the City of New York’s new government-issued photo identification cards are
available for all NYC residents age 14 and older. IDNYC grants New Yorkers access to
the City’s important services and programs. It can be used as a library card at the
Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens library systems, and to gain entry into public schools.
Card holders will also get a free one-year membership to 33 of the City’s leading
museums, zoos, concert halls, and botanical gardens. You can get the IDNYC free of
charge. All you have to do is submit an application at an IDNYC Enrollment Center. For
more information, call 311 or NYC Council Member Carlos Menchaca’s office @ 718439-9012. You can also visit http://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/index.page
Website: www.ps295.org
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PS295PTA/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PS295
Linda Mazza, Principal
Lisa Pagano, Assistant Principal
January 29, 2015
Volume 6, Issue 17
PTA NEWS & INFORMATION
NEW, IMPROVED PTA MEETING SCHEDULE—SEE YOU NEXT
TUESDAY MORNING
First of all, the meeting we were scheduled to have on the day of the Biggest Blizzard in
History will now take place next Tuesday, Feb. 3, at 8:30 a.m. As I promised earlier,
we’ll have lots of interesting and important things to cover, including Brooklyn Boogie
Brunch, Touch-a-Truck, Spring Arts, and the new Burning Bright journal. And free
coffee!
IMPORTANT DATES
 January 29th- PreK nonattendance day
 January 30th- Cupcake Friday
 February 3rd- PTA @ 8:30 am
 February 3rd- Armory Day
Grades 3-5
 February 16th-20th-Mid-Winter
Recess
FOLLOW
PS295VISUALARTS ON
INSTAGRAM
Ms. Shen-Ribeiro has set up an
Instagram account to share her
classes’ creations with family
members! The account is under
the name ps295visualarts. Check
it out today!
Also, the schedule for the rest of the year is changing a bit. Ordinarily, we alternate
between morning and evening meetings so we can fit into more peoples’ schedules. We
also do more morning meetings during the winter when it’s cold and dark at night and no
one wants to leave the house. Well, when we made the schedule last summer, we
somehow ended up with six morning meetings and only four evening ones, and three
morning ones in a row (including the last two). We don’t want to shut out our eveningonly parents! To balance it out better, we’ll flip the time of the rest of our meetings
beginning with Feb. 24, which will now be an evening meeting. They’ll all be awesome—
promise.
Too long, didn’t read—here’s all you really need to know. The PTA meetings for the
rest of the year will be held as follows (these are all Tuesdays, of course):
 Feb 3—8:30 a.m. (this is a makeup for the Jan. meeting)
 Feb. 24—6 p.m.
 March 31—8:30 a.m.
 April 29—6 p.m.
 May 26—8:30 a.m.
 June 23—6 p.m.
We’ll update the school calendar on the website. Please update it on your own calendar
as well!
CUPCAKE FRIDAY TOMORROW
It’s Cupcake Friday time again! Let’s close out January with our faces full of sweet,
sweet cupcakes. We’ve continued to blow away our revenue goals for this thing—it’s
exciting to think about how much we’ll make over the course of the year if we keep it
going. Every cupcake you bake and sell means one more dollar for Linda to spend on
classroom books, art materials, classroom supplies, dance and gym equipment, and
great stuff like that. And the kids love it too, of course. You know how it works—drop
them off in the office Friday morning or bring them straight to the tables in the courtyard
a few minutes before pickup. Thanks!!
Website: www.ps295.org
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PS295PTA/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PS295
Linda Mazza, Principal
Lisa Pagano, Assistant Principal
January 29, 2015
Volume 6, Issue 17
GET READY TO BROOKLYN BOOGIE BRUNCH—TICKETS ON SALE FEB. 2!
That’s right, tickets go on sale Monday for Brooklyn Boogie Brunch! It’ll take place Sunday, March 1, from noon – 4
p.m. at Littlefield, 662 DeGraw at Third Avenue in Gowanus. This was a new event last year, and it was an instant
success. We’ll have bands of all kinds playing music for the whole family, including The Dust Rays featuring PS 295
dad “Captain” Kirk Douglas of The Roots, Songs for Unusual Creatures with PS 295 mom Allyssa Lamb, Blue
Lightning with PS 295 graduate Oliver Branham-Upton, and Bones Crew with current PS 295 student Conn Morris,
plus DJ sets by PS 295 dad Olivier Conan of Barbes. In other words, it’s the kind of show only PS 295 can put on!
We’ll also have great food available from—yes—PS 295 parent-owned Sidecar and The Chocolate Room. Craft
projects and a cool raffle round out the day. It’s going to be so much fun you won’t believe it.
What you need to know:
TICKETS SOLD OUT QUICKLY LAST YEAR. This is a fundraiser, and tickets are being sold to the general public
through the Littlefield website (www.littlefieldnyc.com—you can buy them there, too). We’ll also have a limited
number of tickets set aside for sale to our community in the courtyard. We’d love to find a place for this with a bigger
capacity, but for now, please buy your tickets asap so you don’t miss out. Also:
 Tickets cost $15 each, four for $50. This is a bit more than last year, so team up with friends for that 4/$50
discount so you can get the price down a bit.
 Buy your teacher a ticket! We wish we could invite them in free, but again, it’s a fundraiser—our goal is to make
enough to pay for our dance program next year, and we all love the dance program, right? At the same time, it
was great seeing so many teachers at last year’s BBB! How often do you get to rock out and have a beer with
them? Not often enough. (Maybe coordinate this through your class parents so they don’t end up with 10 tickets
each).
 We’ll need day-of volunteers! We’ll send out more details when we get closer to the event, but please consider it;
it really is a fun day. Jobs will include selling food, assisting with craft projects, that kind of thing. Note—
volunteers will still need to buy tickets (the fundraiser thing), but we’ll give you a food/drink ticket to show our
HUGE appreciation for your participation. If you’re interested, email Maria at [email protected].
THE PS 295 WEBSITE NEEDS WRITERS
The PS 295 website has come a long way in recent years—now it’s about to get even better! Our crack web team is
currently working on an upgrade that will include new features like sections for individual classes and a more
smartphone-friendly design. At the same time, we’d also like to add more feature articles to the site to share more
information about the school with its community. We just need the people to write them! Here are a few potential
topics off the top of our heads:
 The ABCs of the DOE—a guide to all the weird jargon and acronyms you hear teachers and administrators
tossing around
 A history of the PS 295 library—built from the shelves up by parent volunteers, including our own Susan Weseen
 Upcoming plans for school construction, including repointing the façade, building a door to the blacktop, and
replacing the cafeteria floor
 An interview with a teacher—perhaps by one of their own students
Or anything else you think would be interesting to your fellow parents. Sound intriguing? Email Dan at
[email protected] or Caroline Bailey at [email protected].
Website: www.ps295.org
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PS295PTA/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PS295