Respect For All Week
Dear PS 59 Families,
What an exciting “RESPECT FOR ALL” week we had here at PS 59-The Harbor View School. It was great seeing and hearing the children arrive every morning excited to participate in all the activities our school had planned.
As part of our school’s daily routines, our classes begin their day with a morning meeting from the Responsive Classroom curriculum. Each morning, students and teachers gather together in a circle for twenty to thirty minutes and interact with one another during four purposeful components:
Greeting: Students and teachers greet one other by name.
Sharing: Students share information about important events in their lives. Listeners often offer empathetic comments or ask clarifying questions.
Group Activity: Everyone participates in a brief, lively activity that fosters group cohesion and helps students practice social and academic skills (for example, reciting a poem, dancing, singing, or playing a game).
Morning Message: Students read and interact with a short message written by their teacher. The message is crafted to help students focus on the work they’ll do in school that day.
Throughout the day we build in opportunities to model and highlight actions and words that reflect the qualities of a caring and respectful community. At the end of each day, the school community participates in a closing circle designed to have teachers and students reflect on the day and plan for the following day.
In celebrating Respect for All week, each day we did something a little different.
On Monday our students and staff wore their craziest or mismatched socks to school. We spoke about ways we can “Sock it to Bullying”. Our morning discussions included “How can we be ally?” and “Ways to help a friend in need”. We had an “AWESOME” assembly presented by Nathaniel Gray, founder of the Proud Path. He facilitated an interactive assembly for grades K-3 on how everyone is awesome. He discussed the things that make each of us different and unique is what makes each of us awesome. For our 4th grade students Nate facilitated a group discussion and opened up dialogue between the students on how we are different and it’s okay to be different. Some things that make us different are out of our control and that’s okay. What some people say and do can not define us, we need to define ourselves. We need to support one another and let each other know we are there for them. In the afternoon, Nate led our professional learning session for teachers, administration and support staff.
On Tuesday we wore hats and discussed how to put a “Lid on bullying.” We discussed different scenarios and spoke about if you see something happening that is not right what we can do to prevent it from happening again. We also emphasized the importance of being respectful and kind to each other.
On Wednesday, we wore red and pink to celebrate friendships and kindness. Our students filled out paper hearts with drawing and messages demonstrating acts of kindness. We posted the hearts on our Kindness tree outside of the main office. Our Pre-K students visited our neighbors at 350 Richmond Terrance and hosted a Kindness Day sing-along. Keith Cummings from Kawanis Cares met with our parents and guardians on the topic of bullying. He engaged us in a conversation around strategies, parents can help our children and spread the messages to others on how to prevent, what are the signs and what to do when we see something that not okay.
On Thursday we all wore our favorite team jersey or school shirt. Together we showed we are a team at PS 59. We are a team that represents an amazing community of kind and respectful people that does small acts of kindness each day.
We hope everyone enjoyed this week’s events and had as much fun as we did celebrating Respect for All. We wish everyone a safe and happy mid-winter recess. We look forward to seeing everyone return to school on Monday, February 26th.
Thank you,
PS 59
This five day a week program provides a warm, wholesome and structured environment for children during after school hours. Transportation is provided from PS 59 to the Goodhue Center. For more information please visit: 
NYCID offers After-care Monday thru Friday from 2:20pm-6:00pm at PS 59! For more information about program please visit: 
