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Cornelia F. Bradford School PS16 Newsletter

January 17th, 2021

Dear Parents,


Superintendent Mr. Franklin Walker, has announced that remote learning will continue through April 21, 2021. This decision was made for "the safety and health of our school community." He went on to say; "We are projecting to bring back students for in-person learning by groups. This plan remains flexible, and we will make a final decision based on the health conditions closer to that time."


Understandably parents are very much divided on whether or not schools should be opened. As we approach the mid way point of this school year it may be becoming more challenging to encourage your child to switch on the computer each morning. It isn't always easy to try to paint a rosy picture. For every newsletter we try to be positive and upbeat. We try to continually praise our students and our teachers. We try to look for the good. But it is important to admit that there are tough days, and there are many days where we long for nothing more than to be dropping our child at the courtyard. There may even be times that our teachers struggle to motivate themselves to teach to a computer screen while craving their normal day to day interactions with their students. On these days we have to acknowledge the things that we are managing to achieve, and we will continue to overcome the challenges virtual learning brings.


We begin this week by honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and called on the American people to "sit down together at the table of brotherhood and meet our promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all." On Wednesday, we will watch the inauguration of our new President and Vice President with hope that they will look at the great legacy of Dr. King for inspiration and courage.

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to all our boys and girls on their amazing performance in our spelling bee. We commend each and every one of you for participating in this years spelling bee which was very differeCongratulationsnt from what you are accustomed to. Despite this, you all excelled and have set a record high for the amount of medals that will be distributed when we are able to have our award ceremony!



Third, fourth and fifth grade students with a perfect score advanced to their classroom championship which took place yesterday. Much appreciation to our teachers for giving these students the opportunity to participate in a traditional style spelling bee! We are extremely proud of our students for all their efforts yesterday. Many of our classrooms exhausted the extensive official Scripps Spelling Bee word lists in the quest to declare a class champion.



This coming Wednesday, January 20th, our class champions and runner up will battle it out, via zoom, in our PS16 Cornelia F. Bradford Spelling Bee Championship. We wish you all the very best of luck!


  • Grade 3, Room 302: Winner - Gabriel Cheng & Runner Up - Ayn Kim

  • Grade 3, Room 301: Winner - Aarushi Raju & Runner Up - Siya Khandelwal

  • Grade 3, Room 309: Winner - Vasilii Negodin & Runner Up - Ethan Santosh

  • Grade 4, Room 308: Winner - Idris Jones & Runner Up - Swara Tempalli

  • Grade 4, Room 307: Winner - Smriti Govind & Runner Up- Vedant Hamirwasia

  • Grade 4, Room 306: Winner - Anshuman Bagaria & Runner Up - Avani Musale

  • Grade 5, Room 303: Winner - Abhinav Swain & Runner Up - Nishka Bansal

  • Grade 5, Room 304: Winner - Shyla Singal & Runner Up - Tanmayee Hingmire



Without financial assistance from our parents , the CPA of PS16 would be unable to provide opportunities like the Spelling Bee to our students. We thank you for continuing to support our students. Pledges for students who participated in the Spelling Bee can be made via this link: Spelling Bee Pledges

Second grader, Dhaanvi Shah, writes why she believes we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Fourth Grade student, Julian Rasquinha, writes about why Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is such an important person in American history and in doing so Julian reminds us all that the march for equality continues.

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a declaration bill to celebrate Martin Luther King’s birthday. It is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of January each year even though his birthday is January 15th. But why is Martin Luther King so important to American history?


The Declaration of Independence states “all men are created equal” and it was over a 100 years since President Lincoln had signed the declaration freeing slaves in America but yet in America, everyone continued to be judged by their color. Black people had to fight to use the same bathrooms, water fountains, schools, bus seats if there was a white person around. They were treated unfairly. Martin Luther King was a preacher who used his voice to start a movement across America to change the laws. He along with black leaders used Gandhi’s methods of non violence to change laws. Martin Luther King “had a dream that his children would live in a country where they would not be judged by their skin color but by the content of their character”. For dedicating his life to achieving equality for people of color he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 14, 1964 four months after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. In 1963 one man’s dream was heard across the nation but it was not entirely his, it was something millions of American’s shared. By celebrating him we remember and honor his dream forever and the march for freedom goes on.

Haley Roca, a fourth grade student from Mrs. Talalai's class gave a presentation to her fellow classmates on Three Kings Day. Haley enjoys celebrating Three Kings Day with her family and this year she was eager to help her fellow classmates learn more about this special day.

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"To help our parents and students bridge the gap between elementary and middle school, and learn about the acceptance processes involved, Principal Watkins-Williams and the CPA Team launched the Middle School Connection, inviting principals of various middle schools, as well as academic program supervisors, to our monthly CPA meetings, to speak to our parents about their schools and programs available."
(THE BRADFORD SPIRIT NEWSLETTER Jan-March 2015 | Issue No. 9)


Our Middle School Connection Program has been very successful the past few years, providing a valuable resource to our 5th grade parents as they prepare to transition their children to sixth grade and beyond. This program, and the series of guest speakers, is also of great assistance to parents of younger students as they begin to make plans for the future. It is never too early to start educating yourself about your child’s options for the future.



We are pleased to announce that Principal Stellato, from MS4, will kick off our Middle School Connection Program at our next meeting scheduled for February 1st. Please sign up in advance via this link

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Our Girl Scout troop at PS16 continue to meet and work together to earn their badges. The troop recently earned their cooking badge and are now working on a Business badge. They continue to work on increasing their knowledge of business. The girls meet monthly to participate in cooking classes with their friends at Bambino Chef. Valentina Mendieta Prat (Grinch) and Daniella Fonseca (Snow Globe) both received a $25 gift card to WORD Bookstore for their festive cookie decorating skills!

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Preliminary auditions for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Contest have been rescheduled for Tuesday January 19th. Further details can be found in this letter from Mrs. Hennessey and Mrs. Martino.

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Meals continue to be distributed at MS4 on Bright Street. JCPS are also operating a "Meals on the Bus" program where meals are available to be picked up from set locations. Bus 6 Route is the closest for our school. Meals can be picked up on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 12:20pm from the bus at our school corner.

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If your child will be absent from school you should email your child's teacher AND our school Community Aide. Ms. Claudia can be reached at croyster@jcboe.org

School will be closed on Monday January 18th in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The calendar for the 2020-21 school year can be found here.

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There are no staff members celebrating birthdays this week so we celebrate those who don't normally get the attention they deserve on their special day. Happy 'half birthday' to our June/July babies!!

  • Mr. Kareem Johnson - June 24th

  • Ms. Jennifer Warrington - June 28th

  • Ms. Vickie Williams - July 4th

  • Mr. Brian Cook - July 15th

  • Mrs. Sharon Tapia - July 21st

Our next CPA monthly meeting will be held on Monday, February 1st at 6pm. We will begin our Middle School Connection Program with guest speaker Principal Stellato of MS#4. Please sign up in advance to attend via this link. A Zoom link will be shared with all registrants on February 1st.

Interim President - Jessica Smith

Interim 1st Vice President - Jackie Cox

Interim 2nd Vice President - Angela Park

Interim Secretary - Maeghan Robertson

Recording Secretary - Leanne Kerr

Interim Treasurer - Shaheen Yadav

Interim Ass. Treasurer - Shaili Marwaha

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Please support Concerned Parents Association of PS16, a 501(c)(3) organization, through your Amazon account. Login to Amazon Smile, link your account and select “CPA of Ps16 - Cornelia F Bradford” as your charitable organization. Through Amazon Smile, 0.5% of every purchase will be donated to CPA of PS16.


**UPDATE** You can now participate in Amazon Smile through the Amazon App on your phone! Update to the latest version of the Amazon Shopping app on your phone. Under 'Settings' tap on 'AmazonSmile" and follow the onscreen instructions.

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Boxtops for Education is online now! Download the Box Tops app, find your school as “Cornelia Bradford Elementary 16”. After you shop, simply scan your store receipts to find participating products.The app will automatically credit your school's Box Tops earnings online.

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