Dear Families,
Explore is working hard to make sure all of our students have what they need to be successful. If there is any suggestions, comments and/or feedback you would like to share. Please reach out the PTO to share your thoughts!
We can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
JOIN US for a conversation about voter registration, mail-in ballots, and safe in-person voting. You must RSVP to receive the zoom link!
[embeddoc url=”https://explorepto.digitalpto.com/files/2020/10/Voter-Education-Info-Sessions.pdf”]
Greetings families,
As we prepare to return to school virtually, the Explore Lower School community would like to invite families to our Family Orientation. This virtual meeting will be separated into gradebands (K-2 & 3-5) to ensure that everyone receives information that is relevant to their student/family.
During the course of this meeting, families will meet our school leaders, learn about our remote instruction program, hear our policies and expectations for remote instruction, learn about our current plan for returning to the school campus, and the steps we are taking to protect and empower our community.
We extend our well wishes to the entire Explore community and encourage everyone to stay vigilant in continuing to use protective measures against the COVID-19 virus. See you soon!
KINDERGARTEN, 1ST AND 2ND GRADE
August 11th, 2020 5:30pm – 7:00pm OR
https://zoom.us/j/94480449213
August 12th, 2020 5:30pm – 7:00pm
https://zoom.us/j/96197986969
3RD, 4TH AND 5TH GRADE
Dear Explore Family,
My name is Jess Baer and I am the Director of Operations at Explore Upper School. I am reaching out to share some difficult news with our entire K-8 community.
Early Monday morning, there was a fire in our community on Linden Blvd, between Bedford and Flatbush. Several were injured in the fire, and two lost their lives. One of those that lost their life was our rising 8th grader, Wysden Augustin.
Wysden was a beautiful person and immediately brought positivity and a joyful radiance to our community. All of us who have had the pleasure and honor of knowing Wysden, can attest to his impact on his community. You can check out some amazing statements from his teachers, photos, and videos of Wysden performing with his Step Team/African Drumming by clicking on this link.
The passing of a child is a tragedy that one would hope no parent, family member, or teacher would ever have to experience and is sure to raise many strong emotions among our community. We have a few next steps for our community, listed below.
Fundraising for Wysden’s Family While Wysden and his grandfather passed away in the fire, his mother and grandmother are currently recovering in the hospital. The PTO and Explore have collaborated to create a GoFundMe to help cover expenses from the funeral, hospital bills, and damages to their home and belongings. Please access the GoFundMe here and feel free to spread widely to your network of family/friends.
Community Circle Honoring Wysden Our Upper School community will gather together on Thursday, July 9th at 1pm to share memories and mourn this loss together. All are welcome to attend by logging into Zoom using the following ID: 738 928 0769 and password: wysden
Grief Counseling Our Upper School counselor, Mr. H, will be available for virtual counseling throughout the summer on Tuesday afternoons. If you are interested in having your child participate, please email me back and I will let you know how to access the Zoom session. We also have counselors and social workers available for any student who requests a private session; if you are interested in this option, please let me know.
Supporting Students with Grief We have compiled a bank of resources for you to take advantage of should you want guidance on how to best support a student experiencing grief. Enclosed is some information that may be useful to you in helping your child process this news at home.
The uncertainty and challenges we’ve faced as a community over the last several months have required all of us to dig deep into our reserves of resources, coping mechanisms, and compassion for one another. The death of a community member is unthinkable, and we will band together as a team and family during this challenging time. I will be the point of contact for any questions, comments, or thoughts – please email me here or call/text at 917-586-4335.
Click on link to access the parent portal and students remote learning:
https://sites.google.com/exploreschools.org/explore-lower-school/explore-lower-school-homepage/secarp-family-portal?authuser=1&pli=1
Contact: [email protected]
Graduation Ceremony All are welcome to attend our remote graduation, which will be streamed live at 5pm on Monday, June 15th. The recording will be made available after for anyone who is not able to attend at 5pm. In addition to hearing from Explore Leadership and 8th grade team, all attendees will hear from a special keynote speaker and an alumnus from the Class of 2018!
The official evite is here – feel free to pass this along to family or friends. Or, you can just log in through zoom by clicking on this link: Explore Graduation Zoom Link
Please find detailed information for our K & 5 Step Up Events and our 8th Grade Virtual Graduation!
Walking Parade for Kindergarten and 5th
Every year I have a Step up ceremony for K and a Graduation for 5th grade. We can’t do it this year for obvious reason so I am putting together a “Walking Parade” along with their teachers!!!
What is it?
We will be lined up on the sidewalk (Parents are also allowed to line up on the sidewalks and celebrate kids.) and at the corners of Nostrand and Rogers, and in front of the school.
When?
Thursday June 18th
Kindergarten starts at 10:30 am
5th Grade starts at 11:30 am
All students will line up 6 ft apart led by their Deans and we will march down Parkside to music, celebration and joyous noise!
NOTE:
All students must have on a mask or they will not be able to walk- No exceptions- we will NOT have masks to give out.
We will stop in front of the school and students will be greeted by their teachers and given gift bags.
NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO CONGREGATE IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL.
ALL STUDENTS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.
DIPLOMAS WILL BE IN THEIR BAGS
STUDENTS CAN DRESS UP IF THEY WANT TOO!!
Students will meet their parents on Nostrand Avenue!!!!
Please text: Ms. Kaylor at 917-586-6782 your students names to let me know if your students will be attending.
Thank you!
Mr. Rahman and Ms. Baer want to hear from you about what’s going well and what could be better.
We are offering two different times to have a “town hall” with the community. It will be held through zoom. Please click on the date/time for the link to the zoom room that works best for you:
Thursday, May 14th 7:00-7:30 pm
or
Friday, May 15th 10:30-11:00 am
We can’t wait to see you on Zoom!
Zoom Meeting ID: 427 775 8421
Password: explore
Lower School is inviting you to a Town Hall meeting to simply do the things that people do every day. TALK!!! We want to hear how you are doing, how you are keeping busy, how you are keeping your students busy. We are not talking about classwork, homework or school work!!!!
Please join us we miss you all!
https://zoom. us/j/94453600720?pwd=
Meeting ID: 944 5360 0720
Password: 1zDgrb
