Ellington PRIDE Celebration - October

Columbia musicians, from The "Back to Bach" Project, visited PS4 to celebrate this month's virtue: integrity.

Our scholars celebrated this month’s virtue with a performance from students at Columbia University. Heather, Zoe, Annette, Yael, and Zane represented The "Back to BACH" Project! This global initiative inspires music and arts education to young children, and teaches them the value of hard work and passion. The Back to BACH Project is a global initiative to inspire music and arts education to young children, and to teach them the value of hard work and passion. For more information about the project, click here.

PS4 is a PBIS school! Through our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system, our school showcases a different virtue each month. The virtue of the month for October is INTEGRITY.  Students show integrity by being consistent with completing their classwork, always supporting their classmates and coming to school ready to learn.  

PBIS practices include preventative and responsive approaches that may be effectively implemented with all students in a classroom and intensified to support small groups or a few individuals. To encourage our scholars, they are commended with Knight Notes for excellent behavior.  Classes that receive the most Knight Notes are recognized at our monthly assemblies.  This month, Mr. Cantu (PBIS Coach) awarded classes 304, 402 and 504.  Congratulations to all of our Knight Note winners and special thanks to the musicians from Columbia University for bringing their Back to Bach Project to PS4.

3rd grade Class - Knight Note winners: Class 304 pictured with musicians, Mr. Beller,  Ms. Cole (teachers) and Mr. Cantu.

4th Grade Knight Note winners: Class 402 with musicians and Mr. Cantu (PBIS Coach) 

5th grade class Knight Note winner: Class 504, pictured with musicians, and teachers; Ms. Anderson and Mr. Rosario.

Tar Wars - 2016

5th grade students from Ms. Anderson's class participate in the Tar Wars anti-smoking program.

Recently, physicians and medical students returned to PS4 for our annual Tar Wars presentation for students in 5th grade. Led by Dr. Anita Softness, who coordinates Tar Wars, the program has been a hit at our school for nearly 10 years!

Tar Wars is a tobacco-free education program for students in 4th and 5th grade students. The program is designed to teach kids about the short-term, image-based consequences of tobacco use, the cost associated with using tobacco products, and the advertising techniques used by the tobacco industry to market their products to youth.  Ms. Anderson (5th grade teacher) was very excited about Tar Wars returning to PS4.  "This was the best Tar Wars workshop I've seen in years, " she said.  "The student-doctors really interacted with the students and the curriculum now includes more anti-smoking activities".

Dr. Anita Softness, Tar Wars Coordinator, for making sure our school is always at the top of the list for receiving this great program! Check out the photos below from the Tar Wars presentation at PS4 and click here for more information about the program!

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

5th Graders Sing at Fordham University

Recently, students from Ms. Anderson's class were asked to perform at Fordham University!  Administrators and and educational leaders who have partnered with Fordham's Graduate School of Education were invited to attend a Principal's Holiday Luncheon Program.  Directed by Mr. Means, class 520 sang "We The People", a song based on the Preamble of the United States Constitution.

For more information about the song, click here!  Click here to see a video from the event!

Ms. Anderson (back-right) and her class with Mr. Means (back-left), Marge Struk (Network Leader), Dr. Batisti (Associate Dean), Delois White-Jones (Prinicpal) and Mr. Theodore (Staff & Budget Coordinator).

Tar Wars

A group of physicians, residents and medical students made their annual visit to 5th grade students at PS4!  They taught a program called Tar Wars!  This program is designed to teach fourth and fifth-grade students about the dangers of smoking.

Coordinator Eric Blacher in Ms. Anderson's class.

Eric Blacher, coordinator of the outreach program had a great time with Ms. Anderson's students.  "We had a fabulous time with the kids", he said. "We felt everything went quite well and the kids seemed very engaged and involved in participation.  And they were so well-behaved!"  The students learned what's in a cigarette, why cigarettes are hazardous, the dangers of second-hand smoke and how to avoid it, bringing to awareness how media/Hollywood advertise to target young people, how peer pressure effects them and how to say no, how much cigarettes cost and how much money the would save by not choosing to smoke. 

The "straw exercise" gave students an opportunity to experience exactly what it feels like not be able to breathe when the lungs have been damaged from many years of smoking.  "We also learned from the kids, as well", says Mr. Blacher.  " They gave us an idea of what kids their age care about,  what language they use to describe it, what excites them, and the role cigarettes/smoking plays in the community".  

For more information about Tar Wars, click here!