September PTO Meeting: Playground & silent auction

Tuesday night saw this year's opening meeting for P.S. 9’s PTO, held in the auditorium. Approximately 70 people attended. At the meeting, Ms. D’Avilar announced that the first phase of the playground construction will be done in three weeks, around October 14. The noisy drilling for constructing play equipment, she said, will be completed by Thursday this week, according to the contractor.

The PTO officers encouraged parents and family members to buy discounted tickets in advance for the Oct. 22 Silent Auction, which is traditionally the school’s biggest fundraiser and supports the arts programs. To learn more about tickets, please see the forms sent home with students, or visit the auction website. The officers also announced their main goals for the year. You can read the goals here.

Please click here to read a fuller summary of the meeting, including news about the afterschool program, announcements of upcoming fundraisers and school events, and more of what Principal D’Avilar said.

Summary of April P.T.O. meeting, part 1

At the P.T.O.'s monthly meeting yesterday morning, attendees heard this news about P.S. 9:

1. School surveys are due this Friday, 4/15 at midnight. Completion of them represents 20% of the A-F grade that the school receives in DOE's school progress report. Please take 5 minutes to fill out one on paper or online. Laptops are set up in the school lobby for you to fill out a survey. If you lost your form and don't know your access code you can call 1-800-690-8603.

2. Playground update: the project is now projected to be finished in November. The delay is due to the necessary construction that needs to occur underneath the school to prevent future flooding. The Department of Education says that work will start immediately. Once finished, completing the playground will take 6 to 8 weeks, according to what Out2Play has said in the past.

3. Summer school update: DOE has told P.S. 9 administration that the school cannot hold summer school, including any camps, in the building due to construction and light fixture replacement. P.S. 9 normally hosts around 10 programs in the summer. Ms. D'Avilar and the administration are investigating alternative locations and will give more details soon.

Schoolyard design unveiled

At last week's P.T.O. meeting, Andrea from Out2Play presented the organization's design for the new schoolyard:

Looking counterclockwise, from bottom left, the design includes 70 feet of new playground equipment (the white rectangle); painted blacktop games, trees, and chess tables; a track and 3 tennis courts; play equipment accessible to those with physical disabilities, including a basketball "drop shot"; an enhanced handball court; and a basketball court. A copy of the design with complete labeling is visible in the school lobby, beside the auditorium.

Andrea remarked that our schoolyard has more available space than most other schools, which allowed for an expansive design. The plan first took shape on October 26^th, when a meeting was held with school leaders and community members. From that meeting, Out2Play created 3 design proposals. At a later meeting, these 3 designs were edited into the final proposed plan for the school yard.

The playground area will include new benches. The surface of the playground will be painted various colors; Out2Play estimates that the paint will last 10 to 12 years. Out2Play expects this construction phase of the project to take six to eight weeks. However, it cannot start until the reconstruction of the surface and drainage systems is completed. -Kirby Pulver