Welcome to School Year 2022-2023 at Middle School 88! Please see Ms. Mitchell’s welcome letter below.
Dear Parents and Families,
Welcome back to the school year 2022 -2023. I hope you’ve enjoyed a wonderful summer and made some beautiful memories. It is so exciting watching students as they embrace the school community in the second week of school as they are filled with joy and many stories to share along with great ideas.
It was lovely meeting so many parents during our virtual PTA meeting and for those of you that missed the meeting, please view our presentation HERE. We have much to share with you regarding MS 88 in terms of who is who, what’s new, understanding our systems and structures, various forms of communication and how to access resources and information using our newly designed school website.
Assistant Principal, Matthew Gunsaulus is our point person on technology and communication, and he recently redesigned our website so that it may serve as a useful tool for families and the MS 88 community. Please stay tuned for a brief video on how to use the website so that you can easily access all school resources and information.
The LEAP after school program will begin next Monday, September 19th and runs 5 days a week – Monday through Friday. Please see LEAP information HERE. We have an additional after school program that will begin on September 28th. MS 88 teachers will lead a variety of programs and an after-school menu will be linked to permission slips by next Wednesday, September 21st. Assistant principal Matthew Gunsaulus will supervise the after-school program and more information will follow. All after school programs will be posted on the school website and flyers will be sent home. The MS 88 after- school will begin on Wednesday, September 28, and again, all information will be posted on our website and backpacked home.
This year we will continue providing lunch clubs for students that would like to participate and will begin the first week of October. Your child’s teacher will notify you a week before the club begins.
As many of you are aware we are no longer using pupilpath to communicate and instead will use GAMMA for attendance only. https://www.schoolsaccount.nyc/
JumpRope will serve as our standards based electronic gradebook. A little bit about JumpRope;
-All scores and reports in JumpRope are aligned with a standard or learning goal.
-Families and students will have access to grades as they are entered by teachers.
-Students’ grades are weighted more towards recent grades, which rewards progress over time and does not penalize students who do not understand something at the beginning of the marking period.
-Information about how to login will be available by the end of September and a video on how to use the platform will be available on the school website and discussed during the next PTA meeting on 10/18.
As a reminder, every Tuesday between 2:45 p.m. and 3:55 p.m., parents have the opportunity to communicate with teachers. We will send out a separate letter on ways to communicate with staff members during the designated time. Please review the comprehensive 2022-2023 school calendar and monthly calendar which will be backpacked home and posted online. You will also receive a weekly update and/or reminders of things previously discussed and updates on what is to come.
Many of our parents on PTA and SLT graduated with their children last year and we need parents to fill PTA positions. If you are interested, please reach out to our amazing PTA president Allison Day at ms88pta@gmail.com
Please make every effort to use the school website as an info hub and we will continue to backpack information home.
I can’t thank you enough for trusting us with your children. Your partnership is essential to the success of the MS 88 community and know, I am accessible to you by phone and email.
Looking forward to a dynamic, joyful, and successful year ahead.
My very best,
Ailene Altman Mitchell
Principal