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Google Classroom for Parents

As MS839 begins remote learning, Google Classroom will become the primary platform for students to access and submit assignments. Below is information for parents regarding use of the platform.

What is Google Classroom?

Google Classroom is a Course Management System. Teachers use it to post assignments and materials for students. Students will use Google Classroom to submit assignments and communicate with their instructors.

Email Summaries

As parent/guardian, your access to Google Classroom is limited to either daily or weekly summary emails. When you sign-up, you can request the frequency of email that you want to receive. Once you have chosen a frequency, you will begin to receive email summaries containing:

  • Missing Work – Work that has not been submitted when the email was generated and sent.
  • Upcoming Assignments – Work that is due in the near future
  • Class Activity – Everything posted by a teacher.

You will only receive an email if there has been recent activity for any class for which your student is enrolled.

More information regarding email summaries can be found here.

Supporting Your Student

When students sign on to classroom.google.com using their MS839 account, they will see a list of their classes.

By clicking on the menu in the left corner, students can see a “To Do List” of upcoming assignments.

When a student clicks on a class, they will be taken to the class “stream.” This view shows all recent activity posted by a teacher. By clicking the “classwork” tab, students can see upcoming assignments.

Students can submit work by clicking on the assignment title, then clicking “Add or Create” and choosing the option appropriate for the assignment.

Students also receive email notification any time their teacher posts an announcement or assignment. Students should be checking their school email daily.

Parent Access

If you don’t currently receive summaries or have not received an invite, please use this form to submit a request.

MS 839 PTA

MS 839 4th Annual Auction

LETS PARTY!

This is your chance to bid for amazing items and hang out with your fellow MS 839 parents, teachers, administrators, and staff. 

Great food – generously provided by parent-owned Della, The Good Fork, and scrumptious desserts by The Chocolate Room.

Wine offered by Big Nose Full Body.

Entertainment by the fabulous live karaoke band The Occasionalists!

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW!

The auction is our school’s largest fundraising event and we’ve created a sliding scale to allow everyone to attend.

Swallow – $25

Egret – $45

Heron – $60

Hawk – $80

Pay more if you can, less if you can’t.

We still need your help!

  • We are looking for sponsorships from local and/or parent-owned businesses to cover our upfront fees. We’re stepping it up this year with location, service, and decor.

Click here to see how sponsors are acknowledged.

  • We still need help getting donations of auction items from businesses and individuals. Think about businesses you frequent, your employer, friends, and colleagues… Get creative! Find our solicitation letter and donation form to print here. Find donations ideas here
  • Do you have access to Broadway tickets, sporting events, concerts or cultural institutions?
  • Do you or a family member have a vacation home, or do you frequent an Inn or hotel that may be willing to donate a weekend stay? 
  • Do you have a special skill, talent or area of expertise that you can donate as a service? 
  • Do you know restaurants you love that could donate a dining experience?
  • Would your go-to Wellness Spa, Beauty or Hair Salon be able to donate a service?
  • Do you know an artisan or artist who could donate a painting, sculpture, jewelry, etc.

Help us process auction items you’ve secured by using our online donation form. 

To avoid duplicated efforts, please contact the auction committee with any ideas regarding restaurants and businesses at pta.auction@ms839.org.

This year our auction will be online so you will be able to bid before the event (and even if you can’t attend).  We will launch our bidding site very soon, stay tuned!

We need more volunteers!  Join the committee, email us at pta.auction@ms839.org

Thank you in advance,

Aileen Monahan & Lorraine Le Tac (MS 839 Auction Committee Co-Chairs)

Sold Auction GIF by David - Find & Share on GIPHY

MS 839 PTA

PTA 2020 Events

Dear MS 839 Community,

We are heading towards the end of an exciting 2019-2020 school year.  We also have some of the biggest, most interesting and fun events still to come.

Unfortunately, we are also now dealing with the challenge of thinking together about the COVID19 outbreak and how to stay safe. 

Due to the outbreak of COVID19, the PTA is working hard to reschedule the events we had planned for March and early April so please stay tuned. We are still planning to hold all events that are planned for May and June but we will be evaluating as the situation evolves. 

TBA – Screening and moderated discussion of Screenagers

May 7-9 – Used Book Sale 

TBA – 4th Annual MS 839 Spring Auction at ShapeShifter Lab 

June 10-12 – 7th Grade Overnight Trip

June 18 – Brooklyn Cyclones Game

Thank you to all of you who participated in our end-of-year fundraising drive and Giving Tuesday – we raised over $15,000 in the month of December!

You can always DONATE ONLINE, or set up a monthly donation with our Fundraising Team.

MS 839 PTA

NYC Winter Activities

Hello MS839 Families!

Wondering what to do over the holiday break? Here is a list of NYC Winter Activities that might help you plan a fun-filled holiday:

UPCOMING HOLIDAY EVENTS

  • Heard of The Skint? It’s a mailing list and website that prides itself on being cheap or free. skint is British slang meaning lacking funds, broke, or bust, and their motto is that you don’t need to be rich to enjoy the best of the city.  
  • Screen Slate Daily is a website and mailing list that just does one thing: film. It lists every movie house in NYC that isn’t first-run features, and it’s wonderfully simple. If you want to see old, independent or foreign films, this is the only resource you’ll need.
  • Nifty NYC, where every activity listed is under $20.
  • Brokelyn, not just events, but also how to make life in Brooklyn more affordable.
  • TDF is a nonprofit organization that bills itself as “bringing the power of the performing arts to everyone”. For an annual fee of $35, TDF members get special access to deeply discounted tickets available online and in advance for hundreds of Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theatre shows, dance performances and music concerts. Tickets cost between $11-$49. You need to qualify to join (non-profit workers, teachers, and union members are some of those eligible, but they make the process simple) and the list of shows changes weekly!
  • Oh My Rockness is a website/mailing list of every concert happening in NYC, and it has a cost scale filter so that you can search based on your budget. Myfreeconcert is another good option.

Enjoy the Holidays!

MS 839 PTA

It’s Giving Tuesday!!!

Today is #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that inspires people to support the causes they believe in.

At MS839, we believe in the remarkable teachers and staff who make a difference in our school every day, along with our wonderful after-school programs, sports teams, field trips, arts programs, cultural presentations and school-wide events that enrich each student’s experience in many ways.

We know you believe in MS839, so show your support this Giving Tuesday by making a donation to the annual fund today. Gifts of any amount will have a great impact on the programs below and much more.

Here is an example of what your donation can do:
$5 will buy a case of seltzer for bake sales, which we will sell for $12!
$17 will buy a pizza for student activities including musical rehearsals, set builds, and show nights
$25 will pay for two students to attend a field trip like the 8th grade trip to Ellis Island
$30 will provide one uniform for a student on the MS 839 Volleyball, Basketball, or Soccer teams
$55 will pay for a seat on the bus to the Outward Bound grade trips for a student or teacher
$150 will fund one 1½ hour practice session for a team
$200 will go toward set materials for the Spring Musical
$300 will fund balls for Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer
$600 will fund half a year of an after-school program such as Black Student Union, Safe Space (Gay-Straight Alliance), Choir, Multicultural Club, Slam Poetry Club or Math Tutoring
$650 will fund league and referee fees for boys’ and girls’ basketball
$800 will fund uniforms for the entire MS 839 STEP team
$1200 will fund a full year of an after-school program

You can give online here or email pta.fundraising@ms839.org to set up monthly donations.

Also, does your company offer corporate matching for your donation?

Many companies have a corporate matching gift program. If yours does, your donation may be doubled at no additional cost to you! Any money you donated in 2019 can count towards corporate matching. Please check with your HR department to see if your company will match your donation to MS 839 PTA. To do so, you’ll likely need the PA’s tax ID number (EIN), which is # 47-5076855.

Thank you so much for your support.

With gratitude,
MS 839 PTA

leah ruggiero

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year!

Our upcoming MS 839 PTA meeting dates are below. All meetings take place in the MS 839 library on Tuesdays, unless otherwise noted.
* December 17 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* January 14 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* January 28 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* February 11 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* February 25 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* March 10 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* March 24 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* April 21 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* April 28 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* May 12 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* May 26 @ 6:00, General Meeting
* June 2 @ 6:15, Executive Board Meeting
* June 16 @ 6:00, General Meeting

All parents and caregivers are welcome and encouraged to attend both General and Executive Board meetings. Please join us!