At Home

Weekly Updates - 2/14/2025

Hello Harbor View School Families,

We wish everyone a wonderful mid-winter break filled with relaxation and enjoyable activities!
 
 3rd grade teacher receiving award 

Congratulations to Ms. Natasha Wheeler, our incredible 3rd-grade teacher, for receiving recognition from Senator Scarcella-Spanton and Councilwoman Hanks at their Black History Month celebration at Port Richmond High School on Thursday, February 13th. Her outstanding contributions and dedication to education and community impact are truly commendable. With nearly 20 years of experience, Ms. Wheeler exemplifies our school culture through her passion for project-based learning and her guidance in providing students with volunteer, college, and career opportunities. Alongside Ms. Oyefeso, she has also established our Harbor View African Dance Crew, which performs annually at various Juneteenth celebrations across Staten Island. Thank you Ms. Wheeler for everything you do!

"You’ve Been Caught!" - When someone in our school community observes another performing a kind act, they can fill out a “You’ve Been Caught” Fish to acknowledge the good deed. During the week of February 24th, we will spotlight these individuals and showcase all the caught fish during our School Wide Gallery Walk on Friday, February 28th.

You Be You “Blue Carpet” Celebration - On Thursday, February 28th we will honor every member of our school community with a runway walk during our You Be You Blue Carpet Event. This year, our student council has chosen “Positive Messaging” as the theme. We've engaged students in lessons, discussing how to share uplifting messages with friends and family. In Art class, each group has crafted a unique positive message cell phone, which will be showcased in the auditorium throughout February.

Upcoming Dates:

Upcoming Learning Shares and Family Events:

  • Kindergarten - Learning Share - TBA
  • 1st Grade & Rm 209 - Learning Share, Communities - 3/4/2025 at 12:45pm
  • 2nd Grade - Learning Share, Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities - 3/7/2025 at 12:45pm
  • 3rd Grade - Learning Share, Africa - 4/3/2025 at 12:45pm
  • 4th Grade & Rm 304- Learning Share, Colonial Revolution - TBA
  • 5th Grade - Learning Share, Western Hemisphere, 4/4/2025 at 12:45pm

Support our PTA - Moretti Mini Dream Cakes: Purchase online by 2/19/25 and pick up at school on Friday, February 28th during our school-wide gallery walk.

Click here to visit PTA Store: https://bit.ly/m/PS59

 

dream cakes from Morretti's

Field Experiences: Field experiences are an important part of our curriculum and your child’s education. The experiences are used to enhance the units of study. We will plan many experiences for the calendar year. Some experiences are planned well in advance and other trips have a shorter information turn around period.

Upcoming Experiences for February:

  • 1st Grade - Kingdom Pizzeria and Shopping Center Visit
  • 2nd Grade - Clay Pit Pond, Hudson River Park 
  • 3rd Grade - AMNH, Hudson River Park, College of Staten Island
  • 4th Grade - Staten Island Museum, Garibaldi-Meucci Museum

Please remember:

  • All students are to wear their PS 59 School Shirt on every experience.
  • Our Field Experiences are a mandatory part of our curriculum.
  • Family chaperones will be selected by lottery for each experience. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/XCgCtf5XVuSrPwGo9to be entered into the lottery.
  • Our school requests a traveling NYC DOE school nurse to attend every experience, but unfortunately, they cannot always accommodate our requests. If your child has a 504 please see the main office for further information on our policy for when a school nurse cannot attend.
  • Regardless of the type of experience, it is not permissible for students to meet at or be dismissed from a site other than the school..
  • Please see our Family Handbook for more details regarding field experience expectations and chaperone requirements.

School Spirit - Every Friday is School Spirit Day! Remember to wear your PS 59 School Shirt.

Class of 2025 Families:

  • Senior Activities: A message was emailed, texted and backpacked home to our Class of 2025 families with information regarding student activities and fee schedule. Please visit our graduation page for latest information, www.theharborviewschool.org/graduation.

Have a great weekend!

Community Events (shared by school partnerships and families):

** If you have a community event you would like us to share, please email message and flyer to Ms. Kristen, KDruda@theharborviewschool.org)

School Calendar

  • Midwinter Recess, schools closed

    PS 59 (31R059) - The Harbor View School
  • You Be You! 2025

    PS 59 (31R059) - The Harbor View School
  • School Wide Gallery Walk

    PS 59 (31R059) - The Harbor View School
  • Afternoon and Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences; no school for students

    PS 59 (31R059) - The Harbor View School
  • Eid al-Fitr, schools closed

    PS 59 (31R059) - The Harbor View School
View Monthly Calendar

Field Experiences!

Field experiences are an important part of our curriculum and your child’s education. The experiences are used to enhance the units of study. We will plan many experiences for the calendar year. Some experiences are planned well in advance and other trips have a shorter information turn around period.  

  • Our Field Experiences are a mandatory part of our curriculum. 
  • Family chaperones will be selected by lottery for each experience. Please complete this form (https://forms.gle/XCgCtf5XVuSrPwGo9) to be entered into the lottery. 
  • Our school requests a traveling NYC DOE school nurse to attend every experience, but unfortunately, they cannot always accommodate our requests. If your child has a 504 please see the main office for further information on our policy for when a school nurse cannot attend.
  • Regardless of the type of experience, it is not permissible for students to meet at or be dismissed from a site other than the school.. 
  • Please see our Family Handbook for more details regarding field experience expectations and chaperone requirements. 

 

Health, Safety & Wellness Corner

Here are a few updates, resources and reminders now that the colder weather is approaching! 

  • Schoolyard: For the safety of our students and families please refrain from driving into the school yard during arrival and dismissal times. 
  • Clothing: What to wear? Now that the colder weather is here, we recommend that students come to school dressed in layers. Some of our classrooms are warmer than others, then once the students go outside it becomes much colder. In addition, many students like to run around outside during recess, please keep this in mind and have your child wear comfortable closed toes show to prevent them from falling or scrapping their toes. 
  • School Bus Lane and crosswalks: please refrain from parking in front of the school building or in crosswalks during arrival and dismissal. When cars are stopped or parked in these locations it creates a safety hazard for our students as they are trying to arrive and leave from our school building. 
  • Flu: The flu spreads easily. You can spread it to others before you know you're sick. It can cause serious illness in infants and young children. Getting the flu vaccine is the best way to prevent flu and its complications. The vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older every year. Here is information from New York City health Department on how to fight the flu and stay healthy: Flu Family Letter english.pdf  Flu Family Letter spanish.pdf 
  • Lice: The presence of head lice in institutions such as schools is an uncomfortable fact of life. Together we can help ensure these occurrences do not become a greater problem. We encourage families to notify the main office if they detect head lice in their child's hair. When a student is found to have lice, notes are sent home to members of the child's class.
    • What are head lice?
      • Head lice are small insects with six legs usually the size of a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns).
      • They live on or very close to the scalp and don’t wander far down the hair shafts for very long.
      • They can only live on human beings; you can’t catch them from animals.
      • Nits are not the same thing as lice. Lice are the insects which move around the head. Nits are egg cases laid by lice, stuck on to hair shafts; they are smaller than a pin head and are pearly white.
      • If you have nits it doesn’t always mean that you have head lice. When you have got rid of all the lice, the nits will stay stuck to the hair until it grows out.
      • You only have head lice if you can find a living, moving louse (not a nit) on the scalp.
      • Anybody can get head lice.
      • Head lice infections are caught from close family and friends in the home and community, not from the school.
      • Spread of head lice requires direct head to head contact. They can’t swim, fly, hop or jump.
    • Here are a few tips to help prevent the spread of head lice:
      • Check your child's hair on a regular basis.
      • Because head lice need close head-to-head contact to spread from one person to another, to reduce the spread of head lice, teachers will discourage students from activities which may involve head to head contact.
      • To reduce your child’s risk of getting head lice, make sure that long hair is tied up and discourage children from sharing their brushes and combs and having head to head contact with others.
      • Remember - Anyone can get head lice – they have no preferences for cleanliness, hair color, hair type, ethnicity or age.
    • Here are some resources to learn more about lice and treatments:

HVS Electronic Bulletin Board

NYCID After-Care

NYCID: Serving grades 4K to 5th. Registration for 2024-2025 in NOW Open!

child playing, books, afterschool registration flyer

The After Care program will begin on the 1st full day of school and will follow a school calendar operating from 2:20PM-6:00PM (closing promptly at 6:00pm).

*New Monthly After-Care Fees
Kinder to 5th Grade: 1st Child $275 2nd Child $225 3rd Child $200

Pre-K - Monthly After-Care Fees for $325 ($75 Discount if sibling enrolled in K-5 After Care)

Registration: If you already have access to the NYCID Parent Portal please log in and click the “Enroll” tab. If you are new to NYCID’s Online Registration system, go to www.nycid.org click What We Do then select Youth Development and then After School and Summer Programs- scroll down to forms and resources and click New Parent Registration. Fill out form. After you submit your registration, please log into the Parent Portal. Our (Free) NYCID Advantage After School Program funding has ended. If you are in need of After Care for the upcoming school year, you may be eligible for a Voucher that would pay for the program at no cost to you.  In order to see if you are eligible you must apply ASAP. It can take up to 4 weeks to receive your voucher so you must act quickly to begin After Care in the Fall. The application is online only. The steps to apply are below or you can come to the school on July 29th or July 30th from 10am- 1pm to get assistance with the online application.

  1. Please copy and paste the below link into your browser: http://mycity.nyc.gov/
  2. Click on Check eligibility and apply for child care assistance under Child care, then click on Apply now under Apply for child Care.  
  3. Select Child Care Voucher under New Child Care Voucher, then create an account,  Once an account is created you can start the process to see if you are eligible for a voucher.  
If you are eligible you will receive a voucher application from the voucher unit that will need to be completed by NYCID. When NYCID completes the forms you will submit them to the Voucher unit to be processed. It may take up to 4 weeks to receive voucher approval.  You will not be able to begin After Care until you have completed this process and are deemed eligible for a voucher and visible in the NYCID voucher portal.  When you receive the voucher application for NYCID to complete please forward to lfazio@nycid.org. If you have any questions please call Lauryn Fazio at 732-861-2134.

Goodhue After Care

Goodhue:  Serving grades Kindergarten to 5th, LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE - Registration is now. Call 718-447-2630 or email avindigni@childrensaid.nyc.org