News from Our Co-Presidents January 29, 2023

Our students wrapped up midyear exams last week and are about to embark on the spring semester (although we still have 50 days until the Vernal Equinox)! Students have a well-earned day off tomorrow, but our dedicated team of teachers will be at school for Professional Development Day. As a small token of our gratitude, the PA will provide lunch for all our teachers, staff, and administration. Look for photos next week!

We’d also like to recognize our school counselors, who collectively support nearly 3,000 Bronx Science students. To show their appreciation, students have been composing thank you messages for their counselors to celebrate National School Counseling Week. Parents and guardians are encouraged to participate! If you’ve not had the chance to do so, please take a moment to fill out this form to say thank you to your student’s counselor. You may identify yourself or submit anonymously. The form closes tomorrow – Monday, Jan 30th – so let’s show our counselors how much we value their work!

At our January PA meeting, we discussed possible changes to the Fair Student Funding (FSF) portion of our school’s budget and pledged to keep the community updated on these potentially significant funding changes. We’re happy to share that Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks have announced their proposed changes to the FSF formula for the 2023-2024 school year. These proposed changes include additional funds to support students in two major categories: those living in temporary or transitional housing, and those attending schools with especially high concentrations of students with multiple needs, including English language learners, students with disabilities, students in need of academic intervention, and students in poverty. Notably, their proposal does not remove the funding weight for 13 high-performing portfolio high schools, which includes Bronx Science, and it does not affect the base funding for any student.

We applaud Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks and their commitment to providing extra support to our city’s highest-needs students. We appreciate that this commitment is being made while continuing to meet the needs of all NYC students, including those at the high-performing high schools, for their entire 4-year high school career. The entire DOE press release as of Jan 23, 2023 can be found here.

On the topic of funding, we still have some work to do. Through your generosity, the PA has raised more than 80% of our Annual Fund target of $300k. Thanks to all who have contributed! We would like to reach our goal within the next few months so we can fully focus on the upcoming Spring Gala, which is historically our second largest PA fundraiser. Please visit this link to learn more about the Annual Fund and consider donating any amount that is meaningful to you.

Finally, it’s college admissions season. Congratulations to our seniors who have already been accepted to their school of choice via Early Decision and Early Action and best of luck to those who are still waiting on results.

We hope you are all enjoying your weekend, and that your students enjoy the extra day off.