Isabella and Benny Win Town Hall Contest

Benny and Isabella (front row, wearing white) pose with other contest winners at the award ceremony on May 10th.

Congratulations to Isabella R. and Benny C. from class 402!  They received an award certificate and $50 from the Town Hall for their Black History Month essays!  Six winners were selected out of hundreds of entries from all over New York City!  Their winning essays will be featured on The Town Hall website, for one year.  Click here to visit the website!

Each year, The Town Hall, a performance space, located at 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, presents a series of performances - sponsored by Con Edison - in celebration of Black History for public school children. Every school district in the five boroughs is invited to attend, and seats are filled on a first- come, first-served basis. The Black History Celebration consists of daytime performances, offered free of charge to public school classes in grades three through eight, and their teachers.  Following the concert, they hold a Black History Month Poster and Essay Contest for children who attended the performances. The contest encourages children to think critically about the performance, as well as express themselves through words and pictures.

Special thanks to Benny and Isabella's teacher, Dr. Thomas, for providing the quality teaching that helped to inspire winning essays year after year.  Congratulations!

Greater New York Dental Meeting

Our fourth grade classes were invited to participate in this unique event held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  They participated in an entertaining educational program which emphasized the importance of oral health care utilizing proper brushing techniques in a fun and child-friendly atmosphere.

During the field trip, students had the opportunity to visit five different “stations,” consisting of an educational film, an exhibit on nutrition, a “How to Brush” instructional demonstration, and Colgate’s “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures Van” where those students who were granted parental permission had their teeth screened by a dentist.  Students practiced their newly learned oral hygiene skills at sinks under the supervision of dental hygiene personnel and receive a gift bag containing items, including a toothbrush and toothpaste to reinforce their newly found knowledge.

Special thanks to Jayme S. Spicciatie, Program Manager for the Greater New York Dental Meeting, for always inviting us to this exciting event!  Click here for more information about this event and take a look at the photo collage below!

This free photo collage generated with Smilebox

Meet Our New Teachers: Ms. Presinal

Ms. Presinal is one of seven new staff members to join the Duke Ellington Family! She is co-teaching with Ms. Shlansky in class 402.  Born in the Domincian Republic, Ms. Presinal was raised in Washington Heights and has been teaching for three years. She is a graduate of City College of NY with a background in Special Education. She loves dancing and reading. She was a choreographer the Latino Student Alliance (organization at City College). Her talents led the team to win two championships! Ms. Presinal loves to travel. Her last trip was to Montego Bay, Jamaica for one week There she enjoyed the tropical weather, the music and especially the food, “I would like to go to Hawaii”, she says. “I really like seeing palm trees.” Besides Jamaican cuisine, her favorite foods are lobster tails, steak and garlic mashed potatoes.

Ms. Presinal is working with Ms. Shlansky to make sure her students show progress by the end of the year. “I am looking forward to helping them grow in all areas of learning. Math, Science, Literacy and Social Studies.”

An extended warm welcome goes to Ms. Presinal from her new PS4 family!

Hispanic Heritage Essay Contest - 2014 (VIDEO)

Hispanic Heritage Essay Contest winners Fatima, Sherlyn, Penelope and Adriana hold their certificates.

From mid-September through mid-October, America recognizes the contributions, culture and heritage of Hispanic Americans.  Students in grades 3 and 4 celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with an assembly in the auditorium!  The celebration featured student winners of the Hispanic Heritage Essay contest.  The contest required students to write an essay about their culture.  All participants were given a certificate.  Winners received $5 in cash and five Scholastic books!  Congratulations to the following students who participated in the essay contest:

• Sherlyn G. (401)
• Fatima M. (301)
• Adriana M. (301)
• Penelope B. (301)
• Lisy S. (301)
• Jayrent C. (301)
• Ariana B. (301)

This celebration also featured a vocal performance by Ms. Barnosky's class (402), under the direction of our Music Teacher, Mr. Means!  Take a look at the video below to see the performance!  Congratulations to our talented 3rd and 4th grade students!



IMG 2215 from PS4M on Vimeo.

Art Education At PS4

Art Educator with Brayan (Class 402).

In December, 4th grade students went on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art.  Art educator Rebecca Goyette (pictured above) was their guide through the museum’s collection of art masterpieces.  The students studied character in art predominately through the work of Willem De Koning and Marc Chagall.  A week after the museum visit, Rebecca came to the school to work with the children on creating their own masterpieces.  The results are fantastic! Students created wonderfully, colorful and interesting works of art.   

Ms. Smith, 4th grade teacher who coordinated the event, knows the importance of art education and often makes it a part of her teaching.  When asked about art education, she said, “I believe that children actually learn a lot through exploring the arts and doing art activities!  Art goes beyond verbal language to communicate feelings that might not otherwise be expressed.  Instead of following specific rules or directions, children become engaged in the discovery of the  ‘how’ and ‘why’.  Through experimenting and learning how to handle art materials, children are solving challenges and coming up with new ways to handle unexpected outcomes.  Art also allows children to show individual uniqueness.  It is an experience that requires freethinking, experimentation, and analysis – all part of creativity!   Through creativity, they experience success and accomplishment, which are part of a positive self-image.”

Photos taken by

                

To see artwork done by Ms. Smith's students, visit class 420 or class 402!  To find out more information about the Museum of Modern Art, click here!

PS4 Kids Smile

Students from the 4th grade were once again asked to participate in the "Greater New York Smiles" program for the 2012 Greater New York Dental Meeting at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.  According to Jayme McNiff, Program Manager, over 1,400 students from all five NYC boroughs attended this educational fieldtrip!  "We learned how important it is to brush, floss, eat healthy and see the dentist on a regular basis", said Lamaya (pictured bottom-left).   Brayan (top-center) was very excited about seeing the Greater New York Dental's mascot, Dr. Rabbit.  "We got to see the big purple rabbit...he showed everybody how to take care of our teeth".

The program was an enormous success and plans are already well under way to repeat the program next year!  Each student received a bag filled with gifts from Colgate oral care products and each class received a photo from the event.  Special thanks to Jayme McNiff who makes sure PS4 kids attend each year.  Click here for more information about the event.





Fourth graders attended