Back to School Picnic at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

Field Day 4th Grade P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

Beautiful day for 4th grade Field Day at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School).  Students have been clearly inspired by the 2014 Soccer World Cup.

 

Science Fair at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

Dear 217 Families, you're invited to the 2014 P.S./I.S. 217 Science Expo!  Please take some time to look at the amazing long-term science investigations that middle school students (Grades 6-8) have worked diligently in the past few months!  

Date: Monday, June 23, 2014

Time: 1-2 pm

Place: P.S./I.S. 217 Library (2nd Floor)

Gold Opera Performances by 4th Graders at P.S./I.S. 217

4th Graders at P.S./I.S. 217 every year work with Young Audiences New York.  Annual Gold Opera Project provides students with in-depth meaningful learning experiences through the arts over a multi-week schedule. Residency programs are skills-based, integrate with the curriculum, and address the Learning Standards and Blueprints for Teaching and Learning in the Arts. Through the Gold Opera Project students compose an opera with a professional artist in residence.

Students in Class 403 composed and performed an opera "Drolid Day" about 3 tribes - wolves, dragons, and squids, - hunting for ingredients for their special holiday cake.

Whereas Class 401 opera "Spin the World" transported the audience to the Brazil rainforest, where they were greeted by chatty parrots, dancing jaguars, and singing anacondas, trying to save their home from greedy humans.

Incoming Families Orientation at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

The PTA is excited to welcome new parents to our school! There will be an Open House for incoming families on Friday, June 20th, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the cafeteria.

Meet PTA members and Ms. Beckman, principal of 217. There will be light refreshments, as well.

Children are welcome but this is a parent-geared event.  Looking forward to seeing you then!

Field Days at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

Parents and third graders had a fabulous time at Field Day last week! Field Day is an event where students participate in friendly competitions through supervised outdoor games like potato sack races, egg spoon races, Three-Legged-Races and steal the bacon.

In order to have successful Field Days, we need parent chaperones (to help supervise and to escort students to the bathroom), as well as donations for snacks. Suggested snacks include: juice boxes, assorted fruit cut into serving sizes, pretzels and popsicles. Some students have nut, dairy, and wheat allergies, so please be mindful of what you donate! Please pay attention to the notes about upcoming Field Days from you teachers sent home via backpack and help your children have a wonderful team-building experience!

iDig2Learn Gardening Program at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

On July 11th P.S./I.S.217 students had a great time planting at the Environmental Learning Youth Center as part of iDig2Learn, a gardening program sponsored by the PTA. This year, iDig2Learn focused on observation. Journals were used to collect data on weather conditions and temperature, plant growth, insect evaluation and overall inspection of vegetables and flowers. Then massive planting ensued! The students loved the new seating area under the Linden tree and the new and improved stone pathway.

In May, P.S./I.S. 217 students visited the Roosevelt Island Community Garden. Sande and Mitch Elinson, RI Community Garden co-secretaries, and Ron Schuppert hosted the students’ inspiration tour. The children and grown ups had an absolute BLAST!!! They saw azaleas, lettuce, tulips, phlox, fish, frogs, the pond, snails and a goose too! Children selected their favorite photo of a flower and described what they liked about it. One student said he liked the rose because it was the flower of love. They toured the entire garden and found plants they knew.

Co-secretary Sande spoke about the origin of the garden and how it was just dirt until the community wanted to make it a garden. Now over 130 people have garden plots to create whatever they can dream up. Each student spoke about what plants need to survive - water, sunlight, soil, nutrients, earthworms and even TLC (just like many living things). We saw gardens that were just dirt and needed inspiration, we saw gardens with many weeds, we saw gardens that were beautiful with little sculptures and places to sit.

The Roosevelt Island Community Garden Club was happy to host the school and likes the idea of children getting up close and personal with nature. They reminded everyone that the garden is open on weekends and children are welcome to return with a grown up throughout the season.

P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School) Colombian Dancing Performance at Turtle Bay Music School

On June 5th Pre-k through fifth-grade students performed at a concert concluding the 8-week Colombian Dance Residency with Turtle Bay Music School and New York’s premier Colombian ensemble, Folklore Urbano. The Colombian Dance Residency is a free after-school program open to all 217 students.

At the final performance students were accompanied onstage by some of New York City’s most talented musicians.

For the past six years students have had an amazing opportunity to learn about Colombian music and dancing through this program. We appreciate Council Member Ben Kallos's support which allows us to continue this wonderful program every year!

"The Frog Bride" Lincoln Center Education Workshop & Performance at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

P.S./I.S. 217 and Lincoln Center Education held another free family event on May 28^th, that included a workshop on story-telling through acting followed by The Frog Bride performance by Master Storyteller David Gonzalez.  Students pre-K through 5^th grade had fun pretending to be witches, frogs, and princes, performing little sketches facilitated by the Lincoln Center educators.  The workshop concluded with an amazing performance of a hip family-friendly adaptation of the classic Russian fairy tale, The Frog Bride.  The story was beautifully told to the music of Prokofiev and original jazz/rock compositions.  Master Storyteller David Gonzalez told this tale of a dreamy (and prideful) young man’s journey into manhood with a comic spark that swells to the outrageous.

"Tu Maraca" Lincoln Center Education Workshop & Performance at P.S./I.S. 217 (Roosevelt Island School)

P.S./I.S. 217 and Lincoln Center Education held a free workshop “Tu Maraca” by Scott Kettner and Maracatu New York on Wednesday, May 14th. Lincoln Center educators used percussion instruments to help students pre-K through 5th grade explore traditional rhythms from the Northeast of Brazil. The workshop was followed by a life performance of Maracatu New York – New York’s first and only Maracatu ensemble dedicated to the performance and knowledge of traditional Maracatu de Baque Virado, while fusing these rhythms with New Orleans Second Line and Mardi Gras Indian rhythms. Band leader and musicologist Scott Kettner and his musicians enthusiastically presented various Maracatu rhythms with Portuguese lyrics, and the program culminated in an audience parade in the school auditorium.