In normal times Diwali is one of the favorite holidays celebrated at PS16. Children and staff dress in traditional outfits and parent volunteers visit classrooms sharing the story of Diwali and spending time making Diwali crafts with our students. With Covid protocols in place we have had to adapt how we celebrate holidays and festivals. While we are unable to celebrate our usual way, we are still able and eager to celebrate!
Our CPA vice president, Shweta Bhatia, undertook the task of organizing and coordinating our Diwali event. We owe her a debt of gratitude.
With much appreciation to Mrs. Watkins Williams and Mr. Salgado for encouraging our children to share their cultures with our school. Students and staff were treated to a performance by PS16 dancers who learn with Shehnaaz Dance Academy They put on an amazing show and we are honored to share their talents with our school community. Thank you to Shehnaaz Jagasia (Mom to Aaliya and Zoya) for dedicating her time and talents to PS16. We also thank BuzyBugsalong with second graders Ahaan Anjaria and Kira Honmane for sharing the story of Diwali.
PS 16 Annex was officially opened on Friday September 24th when Jersey City school and government officials gathered to cut the ribbon. The annex is the first school that the city has built without state funding. For years, the number of students attending PS 16 in our main building has been growing well beyond capacity. The Annex will help to alleviate the overcrowding issue at the main building. The thirteen new classrooms in the Annex are home to 8 Kindergarten classes and 5 first grade. These rooms are modern, bright and cheerful! Hopefully we will soon see more new beautiful schools being built in Jersey City.
Thank you to all who joined our Principal Mrs. Terri Watkins Williams, Assistant Principal Mr. Asael Salgado and our PS16 family on this momentous occasion; Superintendent Mr. Franklin Walker and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Norma Fernandez, our Division Director Dr. Joseph Galano , Mayor Steven Fulop, Councilman Mr. James Solomon, Builder Mr. Mark Sheeleigh, Board President Mr. Mussab Ali, Board members Mrs. Gina Verdibello, Mr. Gerald Lyons, Ms. Noemi Velazquez and Mr. Lorenzo Richardson, and Business Administrator Ms. Regina Robinson.
A special thank you to Candace Perry from Skyline Sweets and Mom to Angelica (5th Grade) and Alyssa (2nd Grade) Skyline Sweets generously provided delicious muffins for our guests to take home and enjoy.
As a new CPA team we still rely heavily on the parents who served before us for advice, friendship and encouragement. The words of former CPA President and PS 16 Parent, Natalia Ioffe, reflect how our current CPA team felt at opening our brand new building.
“Today was a historic day for our ever-growing PS 16 community – the ribbon cutting for the newly built annex, and the celebration of partnerships that made it possible. Superintendent Walker did me a great honor by allowing me to speak at the ceremony. I may be retired from the PS 16 parent council, but I can never retire my love for this school, that holds true to Cornelia Bradford’s vision of being “our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers”, a school that raises leaders and future history makers.To paraphrase Mr. Walker’s words, today was proof that we have done something right, because all departments across education and city structures shared a joint vision. Let it be a sign of more bridge building to come.”
We have temporarily paused the sale of uniform polos and sweatpants. Our supplier is struggling with inventory shortages from the manufacturers. Gym tshirts are available for order at this time
We are currently accepting new orders for uniforms. If we have in stock we will send home in your child’s backpack. Otherwise we will place a new order from the supplier and you will receive in two weeks. Click on the links to place your order.
*PRE_ORDERS* – If you have not been able to collect your pre-order you may do so on Monday September 13th between 9am and 10am from the main building courtyard. Please email if you need to make alternative arrangements and we will try to accomadate. Pre-orders not collected on Monday will be returned to our inventory.
We received delivery of our uniform order from the supplier on Friday. Our CPA volunteers spent Friday afternoon and will continue on Tuesday morning packing our pre-orders. Uniforms will be distributed at the courtyard next to the Main building. On Tuesday September 7th we will begin distributing our pre-orders at the following times;
1:00-1:30 – Kindergarten and 1st Grade
1:30-2:00 – 2nd and 3rd Grades
2:00-2:30 – 4th and 5th Grades
Please note that payments are required in CASH.
On Wednesday September 8th between 9am and 10am we will be selling uniforms for NEW STUDENTS only. We do have limited inventory but will also be taking new orders at that time. We do ask for patience with a friendly reminder that the CPA are all volunteers. This is the first time we have attempted to sell uniforms prior to school reopening. Usually uniforms are sold on open house night. Our Principal is very understanding of the fact that it may take a week or two for uniform orders to arrive after school begins.
Our building tours are taking place on Tuesday September 7th
Main Building (Grades 2-5) 10:30am – 10:45am
Annex (Grades K and 1st) 11:00am – 11:15am
In order to adhere to social distancing rules there will only be one adult per household permitted and NO CHILDREN. Please remember that our custodians are hard at work getting both buildings ready to welcome our students so we ask that you be respectful of all their continuing efforts.
More Information on school reopening can be found here
For the past few months our school administration and the CPA have been trying to reach a compromise with the Historic Paulus Hook Association (HPHA) regarding the schools use of Paulus Hook Park during school hours. Many of you have attended HPHA’s monthly meetings to voice your concerns and have reached out to city officials. An article was published in the Jersey Journal that strongly favored HPHA with little regard for our concerns for our children’s safety while they are at school. Not only are we parents of PS16 students but we are also residents of Paulus Hook. The CPA are working hard to represent our members to the fullest yet the HPHA are failing to recognize and understand how their members (which includes US!) feel. Ultimately the decision to lock the gates during school hours will be one made by city council. It is of utmost importance that we make our voices heard. Please email our councilperson Mr. James Solomon and Mayor Fulop expressing your concerns. Please sign our petition.
We realize it is hard to believe that the issue of children’s safety has actually turned into some type of argument but despite meetings and compromises this is the point we have reached. We are now asking our parents to sign and share (within the neighborhood) our petition which will be presented to Mayor Fulop and city council with the following message:
“Dear Mayor Fulop and elected city council officials
We the undersigned are requesting that the gates at Paulus Hook Park are locked between the hours of 8:30am and 2:45pm on school days only. This park shares a fence with PS16 . In previous years students have used the park for arrival and dismissal, recess and outdoor gym time. With over 700 students it is advantageous to be able to use the park. Outdoor time and exercise is not only good for children’s health, it helps contribute to their mental health and social development. Safety dictates not having random people in the playground at the same time as PS16 students. This park runs along a busy intersection. Keeping the gates open runs the risks of children aged 5 to 11 being injured by heavy vehicular traffic, possible abductions and children just leaving alone. Mayor Fulop has stated in emails to parents “When you trust your kids to a school environment you are trusting them to a safe environment with security and safeguards. I will make sure it is a secure setting for the school.” It is our hope that our voices are heard and Paulus Hook Park is a secure setting and safe environment for our children.”
As we prepare to begin the new school year we do so with a mixture of excitement and concerns. This Thursday at 5:30pm our Principal, Mrs. Watkins Williams, and Assistant Principal, Mr. Salgado, will hold an informational session via Zoom. They will outline the ways PS16 Main building and PS16 Annex have been preparing to welcome back students following Covid Protocols. The Zoom link will be shared via our website www.ps16cpa.net on Thursday afternoon.
Also on Thursday September 2nd the Historic Paulus Hook Association (HPHA) will be holding their monthly meeting at 7:30pm at Paulus Hook Park (friendly known as PS16 courtyard) In the event of rain the meeting will take place via Zoom and the link will be shared on their website www.paulushook.org. The neighborhood association are strongly opposed to the gates being locked during school hours. Our children’s safety is at risk and we will continue to advocate for our students.
BUILDING TOURS: On Friday there will an abbreviated tour of both of our school buildings for those who may be interested. The schedule is as follows;
MAIN BUILDING (Sussex Street) Grades 2-5 will take place at 10am to 10:15am
ANNEX (275 Washington Street) Grades K & 1st will take place at 10:45 to 11am
In order to adhere to social distancing rules there will only be one adult per household permitted and NO CHILDREN. Please remember that our custodians are hard at work getting both buildings ready to welcome our students so we ask that you be respectful of all their continuing efforts.
UNIFORMS:We are expecting delivery of our uniform order from the supplier on Friday. Our CPA volunteers will spend Friday afternoon and Tuesday morning packing our pre-orders. On Tuesday afternoon (September 7th) we will begin distributing our pre-orders at the following times;
1:00-1:30 – Kindergarten and 1st Grade
1:30-2:00 – 2nd and 3rd Grades
2:00-2:30 – 4th and 5th Grades
Please note that payments are required in CASH.
On Wednesday September 8th between 9am and 10am we will be selling uniforms for NEW STUDENTS only. We do have limited inventory but will also be taking new orders at that time. We do ask for patience with a friendly reminder that the CPA are all volunteers. This is the first time we have attempted to sell uniforms prior to school reopening. Usually uniforms are sold on open house night. Our Principal is very understanding of the fact that it may take a week or two for uniform orders to arrive after school begins.
We can not wait to welcome all our boys and girls ‘home’ to PS16 and hear the sound of laughter in our classrooms once again!
– The CPA of PS16
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The CPA of PS16 would like to extend a huge welcome to all our incoming boys and girls and their parents. Our school staff and teachers are busy preparing for the new school year. Currently air purifiers are being installed in all our classrooms and our custodial staff are hard at work. This year brings extra excitement as our much anticipated Annex building will open its doors for our Kindergarten and first grade students.
The first day of school is Thursday September 9th. The school day begins at 8:30 am and dismissal is at 2:45 pm.
PS16 students (K to 5th grade) do wear uniform each day. We are aware that new students were not able to pre-order uniforms before the deadline but rest assured that we did order extra that will be made available for purchase. More information of uniforms can be found here.
Typically our teachers do need parents help to provide necessary classroom items. Supply lists for each grade can be found here
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