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Cornelia F. Bradford School PS16 Newsletter

February 27th, 2021

Dear Parents and Guardians


Welcome to an overflowing edition of our newsletter! We have so much to share from the past few weeks as well as so much more to look forward too. But first it is important that we take time to acknowledge Ukraine and her people. What is happening is being felt around the globe. For the people of Ukraine who are fleeing their homes and those who are suffering from the violence and attacks, it is unimaginable. For those who are currently far from their homeland the feelings of fear and helplessness are overwhelming. We are all human and right now this world needs more compassion and love than ever before. PS 16 has families from Ukraine and Russia, from Syria, Bosnia and Afghanistan, from Palestine and Israel and many many more countries but we are all united as one community. Sharing burdens, showing support and solidarity in light of these incredibly sobering and tragic events, is a powerful statement of community. Lean on your community. Love your community. Help your community. We are here to listen and to support our families.

Sending love to you and yours

The CPA Team

Students, staff and parents joined Mrs. Watkins Williams, Mr. Salgado and our Division Director Dr. Galano at last weeks BOE meeting where they were presented with the banner for highest attendance in the district for the month of January. Thank you to everyone who encourages our students to want to show up to learn each day .

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We recently shared the fantastic news of fourth grade student, Atharv Kharbanda, winning first place at the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Contest held in City Hall. Atharv was given the opportunity to present his speech at the Board of Education meeting. Atharv began with a meaningful introduction to his speech and ended with his own personal reflection. It is hard to believe that such impactful words were written and spoken by a fourth grade child. Atharv deserved every minute of the standing ovation he received.

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We are truly honored to share Atharv's words* with our school community.

"Chinese - bad drivers, Italians - mafia, Mexicans - illegal immigrants. African Americans - slaves, criminals. Racial stereotyping is very common. It often leads to misunderstandings, discrimination, and even violence. Six million Jewish people were killed during Holocaust because someone thought they belonged to an inferior race. Millions of African people were bought, sold and killed as slaves because someone thought they belonged to an inferior race. This kind of racial discrimination anywhere in the world breaks my heart. And I'm sure when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. referred to the two Americas in his speech he would have been equally broken inside for the racial discrimination at that time"

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"How painful. I too came to this land as a little child of three years. Now when someone comes up to me and says, tell me about your culture, what they really expect me to say is that I'm an expert in samosas and the Taj Mahal. That was on a lighter note but the fact is that we all racially stereotype each other one way or the other, knowingly or unknowingly. And that's the root cause of racial discrimination. Promise me, when you are interacting with a person who you think is different than you that you will try to find at least one thing you have in common with that person. And I guarantee you that you will have more in common than different. Our differences can be the color of our skin, or music or language or clothing. All external. Believe me, we are pretty much the same inside. We all need to fix racism. But the real question is ARE YOU READY TO DO THAT?"


Upon hearing Atharv's personal reflections and speech Dr. Norma Fernandez , Interim Superintendent, complimented him on how great he is and how he gives "hope for the future." We couldn't agree more!


* Atharv's words are the property of Atharv and should not be republished without his permission

We are excited to announce that we have been granted permission to run our after-school program again!! Classes will run for 8 weeks beginning on Monday March 7th. Information on class offerings and registration details will be shared via email in the coming days.

We are also excited to announce that Summer Camp registration will be opening shortly. Camp will begin on Wednesday June 29th and run through Friday July 29th. Both full and half day sessions will once again be offered.

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Unfortunately, with many Covid protocols still in place, we were unable to hold our medal ceremony in the way we are accustomed to. However. just like all our other PS 16 traditions, we made adjustments and were able to celebrate our students achievements together. Congratulations to all our students who participated! A special shout out to Mrs. Amadeo and her third grade students in Rooms 201 and 202 who earned a staggering 28 medals for perfect scores.

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Students in the Annex will be receiving their medals and certificates this week. The Spelling Bee is the CPA of PS16's main fundraiser. We are happy to share that 106 of our students received sponsorship for participating in this years spelling bee raising almost $4000!!! This will go a long way in being able to provide additional activities and resources for our boys and girls. Thank you to everyone who donated!

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Principal Mrs. Watkins Williams, Ms. Nolan, Mrs. Gauch and Nurse Brennan welcome students on Twosday!

Twosday was a special, one-time event that took place on February 22, 2022 – a Tuesday, hence the name. When you write it, 2/22/22, it's a palindrome, meaning it reads the same forward and backward. And it didn't matter what part of the world you live in or what format you use to write the date! The date is so rare the National Weather Service says a "Twosday" won't happen again for another 400 years, in 2422. The deuces were wild in PS16 with staff and students alike with special emphasis being placed on carrying out two acts of kindness. Not surprisingly the majority of our students first act of kindness was to include all theirs friends as their "Twin". We seen many groups of 3 and 4 twins but fifth grade surprised everyone with a group of TWELVE Twins!

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2nd Graders Cameron and Arhaan from Room 10TWO wearing all the TWO's on their shirts!
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First Grade Teachers "twinning" on Twos Day!
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Check out some more photographs on our school webpage

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Ms. Vittal's first graders celebrate 100 days of enjoying school!!
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The Golden Oldies of PS16 - our fifth graders!!

To celebrate Lunar New Year our students were encouraged to wear red clothing or accessories. Luna Yang (Kindergarten Room 208) shares the reason why red is so symbolic.

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Second grade student Chloe Chen (Room 103) undertook the task of teaching her classmates and Mrs. Gauch how to make a paper lantern. She also took the time to share the importance of paper lanterns and the part they play in Lunar New Year celebrations. Ms. Chen taught her class so passionately that one would assume this young lady has dreams of becoming a teacher in the future. Alas she aims to take the fashion world by storm as a top designer instead!

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It doesn't take a special holiday for students at PS 16 to share their culture. Every day our boys and girls are able to bring what makes them who they are to the classroom. They are constantly encouraged to celebrate our schools diversity.

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Each year our classrooms participate in a door decorating contest. Our students work together with their teachers to highlight the theme "Peace and Friendship". Every door is unique and it becomes extra challenging each year to select the winners. Congratulations to:

  • Room 209 Annex - Ms. Nicholas and Mrs. Tapia with "There's no masking it! Peace and friendship rule in our class!"
  • Room 105 Annex - Ms. Vittal with "Room 105A Runs on Peace and Friendship"
  • Room 102 - Ms. Schoeck with "Peace and Friendship"
  • Room 201 - Mrs. Amadeo with "Share your Smile. It's a symbol of Friendship and Peace"
  • Room 306 - Ms. Talalai with "Peace and Friendship are the key to putting a smile on everyone's faces"
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Ms. Nicholas and Mrs. Tapia's students outside their winning door!

The boys and girls in Ms. Vittal's class (Room 105 Annex) and Ms. Nicholas and Mrs. Tapia's class (Room 209 Annex) celebrated Fun Friday with a special treat. As a reward for winning the recent door decorating contest they were able to enjoy an ice cream sundae party together!

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Room 209A share a special 'Thank You' card with Mrs. Watkins Williams. We hope they shared some ice cream too!
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This week our students will celebrate Read Across America with special activities each week. We will also prepare to kick off our Readathon!!

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Room 209A are already sharing their book reports in anticipation of Read Across America Week!
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The hallways at the Annex are ready to surprise our students thanks to Thing 1 and Thing 2!
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Birthday Wishes to our staff members who are celebrating this week and who have recently celebrated


  • Candice Nolan - February 7th

  • Dawn Isoldi - February 15th

  • Nikki Duncan - March 3rd

  • Maeghan Robertson CPA - March 10th

  • Asael Salgado - March 11th

  • Annette Bigger - March 12th

  • Darnell Aiken - March 14th

Much appreciation to all our sponsors for supporting our Holiday Sing Along and Tree Lighting event. Our sponsors are all PS16 parents and we proudly endorse their small businesses in our community.

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BuzyBugs provides themed art and craft sessions for kids. They aim to provide fun and learning together by including various STEM activities, Science Experiments, and games in the sessions. Please follow on Facebook and Instagram: BuzyBugs for upcoming session updates and fun craft ideas.

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"Techfunic is an affordable Math & Coding program for children ages 8-15 in the US. We offer family friendly flexible schedules for small group tutoring. Our classes have a max strength of 3 and are led by brilliant young tutors who connect with children and conduct the classes in an interactive, engaging way that is proven to increase absorption of concepts driven by peer group interaction."

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This school year we have been trying to continue with our weekly CPA hour on Tuesdays between 9am and 10am. Weather permitting we have been outside the main building to address your concerns and assist with uniform purchases. We are putting a pause on outdoor CPA hour at this time. We are always available via email and are open to meeting up at one of our local coffee stores!

The district calendar for the school year can be found here.

At this time both gates to Paulus Hook Park remain unlocked during the school day. Our staff are being extremely vigilant while overseeing outdoor recess. However we also need parent cooperation during drop off and dismissal times. Please close the Grand Street gate when you enter and exit. We ask that you allow our teachers to safely assemble our children at dismissal and refrain from permitting younger siblings to use the equipment until our security guard (assisted by CPA volunteers) opens the Washington Street gate at 2:45pm. Our students safety is always our number one priority. We must work together to ensure this.


Please also note that a Jersey City ordinance (Ord. No. 16-167) prohibits ALL dogs, whether leashed or unleashed, from Paulus Hook Park.

The CPA Executive Team for 2021-22:

President - Leanne Kerr

1st Vice President - Shweta Bhatia

2nd Vice President - Jackie Cox

Secretary - Angela Park

Recording Secretary - Maeghan Robertson

Treasurer - Priya Rasquinha

Ass. Treasurer - Didi Roca

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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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