Dear Parents & Guardians:
It was an eventful week for the NYC school system and the PA.
We were overjoyed to be able to host our 4th-and-a-half Annual Comedy Night. Bronx Science’s resident Queen of Comedy, Zarna Garg, along with her friends Wali Collins, Cory Kahaney and host extraordinaire Joe DeVito entertained more than 100 Bronx Science parents, faculty and staff, and in the process helped raise nearly $5,000 for the PA.
The evening provided a welcome respite from some anxiety-inducing issues, several of which we’re understandably hearing about from you more and more; namely bus transportation; graduation; and the 2021-22 school year. Let us try to help allay some of those concerns here.
First: busing. While neither the administration nor the PA can endorse or indeed contract the services of a bus company, we have assembled a working group to explore viable options. Thanks to your robust response to our survey from last month, we have a clear picture of what the community would like to see, and we can report that several companies have expressed tentative, conditional interest in offering family-contracted services similar to what Vallo provided. We will keep you updated as we learn more.
Next, we are encouraged by the outpouring of offers from the parents of seniors to assist the Alumni Foundation, the PA and the school in producing a memorable, yet safe, graduation for our seniors. Importantly, the DOE has not yet authorized in-person ceremonies, and that is the key issue. Yet we remain hopeful that conditions will improve to the point that an outdoor event of some kind will be possible. In the interim, the PA has organized a Seniors ’21 committee to help make preparations for any eventuality. Principal Hoyle will address senior issues at our next PA meeting (see below).
And that brings us to September, and the next academic year. Some of you have already expressed concerns about what 2021-22 will bring. Please know that the messaging coming from The White House, the CDC, City Hall and the DOE is clear: All share an overwhelming determination to engineer a smooth and safe reopening of all schools. For now, the focus of our school’s administration is to be ready for an imminent return to blended learning this spring.
Finally, please mark your calendars for our next PA meeting on Monday, March 15th at 7pm, where Assistant Principal Andrew Nasser will moderate a student panel. Topic: What the Pandemic Has Taught Us.
Stay safe Bronx Science,
Jerome Kramer and Cliff Stanton
PA Co-Presidents, president@bxsciencepa.org
