Congratulations to everyone who participated in our annual Spring Hat Parade on 4/17. Each classroom had a winner for the best hat! All hats were absolutely wonderful!

We are proud to announce that Cornelia F. Bradford School ranked as the the Highest-Rated elementary school in Hudson county, and 20th in the State of NJ among the elementary and middle schools! Congratulations to our students and staff for their hard work!

We would also like to congratulate one of our teachers – Ms. Jillian Roskin (1st Grade) for being awarded Jersey City Teacher of the Year for P.S.#16!

Well done, PS16 Family! Keep up the excellence!

Two great conferences for parents coming up in May!

• Latino Education Conference Flyer
• Parents as Partners Conference Flyer

Transportation from PS#16 and back (&  lunch) provided. To register please contact Bebe Harry at bharry@jcboe.org or by calling school main office: (201) 915-6450 no later than 4/15/19. Thank you!

Monday 4/1 – 6PM – CPA Meeting – Budget Report & parent workshop re: parent council operations

Thursday 4/4 – Spring Picture Day (Order before Picture Day at mylifetouch.com, Picture ID: AL408122Q0)

Friday 4/5 – 3-5PM – SPRING Dance for Grades 3-5, (permission slips and admission money must be returned no later than 4/1, to ensure accurate headcount.)

Monday 4/8 – Week of the Young Child activities begin for Grades K-2

Thursday 4/18 – (*Half DAY*) Teacher Appreciation Pot Luck and Ceremony, parents are asked to kindly contribute a dish for staff potluck brunch

4/19 – 4/26 – SPRING BREAK – no school

Monday 4/29 – Schools Reopen

***Cornelia Bradford Summer Camp is continuing registration. We would like to thank everyone who has pre-registered and/or submitted queries re: camp. We are working on addressing all parent queries.

Thank you for your continued support!

CPA Team

Dear Parents,

For those of you who have not been able to attend the rescheduled CPA Meeting on March 20, with Academy 1 Principal Ms. Margaret Freeman, please click on the link to view a power point Presentation recapping the meeting: Academy 1 Presentation

The Principal of M.S.#4 has informed us that there will be a special open house presentation held at M.S.# in late May. We will keep you posted.

Open to all students attending JCPS currently enrolled in Pre-k 4 through 5th grades. Registration opens March 5!

The Cornelia Bradford Camp (CBC) Summer Program offers an excellent fusion of fun and learning, physical exercise, creative projects, and more. Diverse learning activities will ensure children do not experience summer learning loss while enjoying summer fun and learning new things. Photos from last year’s camp can be seen here!

New! Deposit option: When registering you may pay a $100 deposit to secure a seat for your child, and pay the remaining balance by May 15. Deposits will go toward the cost of registration; however after April 12 registration costs will increase by $100. All registration fees are due by May 15.

Camp begins Monday June 24* and ends Monday July 22*
(No camp on July 4th holiday)

**Registration for the morning enrichment programs include cost of camp t-shirt and field trip**

Enrichment Camp Options:

• 8:30am – 12:30am Morning Enrichment: $900
• 8:30am – 2:30pm Morning Enrichment + Afternoon Specials: $1100
• 8:30am – 5:30pm   Morning Enrichment + Afternoon Specials + Aftercare: $1400

Sports Camp Options:

• 12:30pm – 2:30pm Sports Camp ONLY: $500
• 8:30am – 2:30pm   Morning Enrichment + Sports Camp: $1400
• 8:30am – 5:30pm   Morning Enrichment + Sports Camp + Aftercare: $1700

Weekly Options:

• 8:30am – 12:30am Morning Enrichment: $300/week
• 8:30am – 2:30pm Morning Enrichment + Afternoon Specials: $350/week
• 8:30am – 5:30pm   Morning Enrichment + Afternoon Specials + Aftercare: $500/week
• 8:30am – 5:30pm   Morning Enrichment + Sports Camp + Aftercare: $600/week

• All activities administered by certified & highly skilled PS16 teachers & staff.
• Students with SPECIAL NEEDS (IEP, 504 and other) and ESL students welcome (our staff is trained and certified in the above-mentioned areas).
• NURSE is available full-time for entire camp duration.
• Breakfast and Lunch NOT supplied (please pack lunch, snack, and water bottle)

*Camp start/end dates depend on the number of snow days, and will be adjusted accordingly.

Dear parents,

A number of teachers have given us their wishlists for books from the book fair. If you would like to purchase a book for a classroom, please send money in an envelope with the teacher and book name on the outside (books listed below).

Alternatively, you may view Ms. Vittal’s wishlist on Scholastic here. If you then click the button “School Wish Lists”, you can view wishlists uploaded by a few other teachers. Scholastic will ship books to the school for free.

1. Pete the Cat
2. Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly
3. Pig Pug
4. Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems

1. Any “Who Was”
2. Lives of the Scientists
3. She Dared – Malala Yousafza
4. She Dared – Bethany Hamilton
5. I Survived Pack ($21.99)
6. They Lost Their Head by Carlyn Beccia
7. Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing Pack ($15.99)
8. Great Adventure Stories for Minecrafters
9. A Wrinkle in Time
10. Harry Potter
11. City of Embers
12. Any graphic novels

1. Any “Who Was”
2. Any “I Survived”
3. Any “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
4. Serpent’s Secret
5. Game of Stars
6. Wings of Fire
7. Dork Diaries
8. DC Comics Detention of Doom / Science Fair Crisis
9. GI Dogs
10. Any “Captain Underpants”
11. Any “Dogman”
12. Ranger in Time
13. Geronimo Stilton
14. Magic Tree House
15. We’re All Wonders
16. When I Grow Up
17. How Dinosaurs Learn to Read
18. Junie B. Jones

Dear PS16 Parents,

If you are planning to attend tonight’s City Council meeting about the Payroll Tax, that will take place at 6PM at City Hall, please find some helpful instructions and background information below.

For those coming with kids tonight (from Brigid D’Souza on Facebook):

• We’ve got some amazing community support to help keep the kids engaged in what might be (for some at least) their first civic action! Check out the signs that Amy Wilson (local resident, artist, and art professor in NYC) is contributing – pictures are below! There is a “Thanksgiving” theme but kids will also be able to make their own signs, and write letters to Council about what their schools mean to them.
• A core parent team will be onsite at 5:45pm – keep an eye out for us when you arrive. We’ll help direct you to the Kid Friendly Zone where there’ll be opportunity to do arts & crafts, create their own signs, and get some onsite lessons in civics. Kids are encouraged to participate in the Council Chambers, but just be forewarned: the Council President & City Clerk will not permit running or lots of noise — so parents/caregivers just FYI.
• The meeting will officially begin between 6pm and 6:15pm. The public speaking portion related to the payroll tax may not begin until 6:45 at the earliest. So — there may be a wait time. Lots of listening opportunity for kids & adults alike.
• When the ordinance comes up, it’s a “wait in line” process. It’ll be evident once it starts. No need to call ahead to speak.

Below is the background information about the Payroll Tax, and the dialogue around it – compiled by https://jerseycityed.com/

Jersey City Council Meeting – Tuesday, November 20, 2018 – Payroll

Tonight at the Jersey City Council meeting, the Payroll Tax proposal is on the agenda and open to public comment. There is no doubt that there will be both strong support and opposition to this new proposed tax on all private employers’ payrolls of non-Jersey City residents (the tax is not levied on individual employee’s wages). The tax revenues are intended to support the budget gap that Jersey City Public Schools face as the State of New Jersey begins to withdraw the funding that has long supported the city’s public schools.

For more information, check out the following links:

• NJ.com article on the November 20 city council vote on payroll tax
• NJ.com article on the November 7 introduction of the payroll tax ordinance
• Civic Parent (Support) – local blogger and parent who has researched and reported on taxes and the funding of our local schools
• Opinion Piece (GOP Opposes Payroll Tax) – Matthew Garofalo is a Jersey City resident and chairman of the Hudson County Young Republicans. Joshua Sotomayor Einstein of Hoboken is the NJ GOP State Committeeman representing Hudson County
• Opinion Piece (City Council Members Offer 5 Point Plan for JCBOE) – two Jersey City council members, James Solomon and Michael Yun, share a plan for filling the funding gap
• Opinion Piece (Real Jersey City Favors Income Tax Over Payroll Tax) – Michael Shurin writes about local news for his site called Real Jersey City
• NJ.com article describing business groups’ opposition to payroll tax

Mayor Steven Fulop has expressed his support on social media, saying:

• 1% is a small tax, which will be shouldered by large companies like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan
• Newark and NYC have payroll taxes, which would mitigate any negative impact to Jersey City’s competitiveness
• Small businesses hire locally, and there is an exemption for businesses that have Jersey City resident employees
• Jersey City schools are underfunded by $150m
• The payroll tax would help to avoid a 35% increase in property taxes
• The payroll tax would help to avoid significant layoffs of Jersey City Public Schools faculty and staff

We hope you will be able to join us for our first official montly meeting tonight, in the auditorium, at 6pm.

On the agenda:

• NJ Child Assault Prevention Presentation for parents & guardians
• Upcoming events (Fall Fundraiser, Spelling Bee, Halloween, etc)
• Updates on public school funding issues