QUEENS SCHOOL OF INQUIRY

New York City Department of Education

District 25

A Partner of the City University of New York

158-40 76^th Road Flushing, NY 11366

www.qc.cuny.edu/QSI

(718)-380-6929

April 10, 2008

Dear Parents,

Just a quick tour of an ordinary week at a not-so-ordinary school – QSI.

7th grade science students moved around the classroom, working with Ms. Nieves and her student teacher, Ms. Sundar, to examine group presentations on 7 different sources of energy. (These same students will be taking the 8^th Grade NYS Science Test over the next few weeks – a year early.) 8^th graders used the biotechnology equipment from the NY Hall of Science with Ms. Roter; so far they’ve extracted DNA from strawberries, created models of DNA molecules, and practiced the art of micropipetting. Today, they’ll run gels on electrophoresis equipment. Meanwhile the 6^th graders created models of musical instruments, both ancient and modern, to complete their study of waves, sound and light. Global Warming Enrichment students met yesterday in the auditorium with the Queens Botanical Garden workers to study how to grow worms for the garden. Our superb science teachers have managed to use our 20^th Century equipment to conduct 21^st Century experiments. No more! The Community Education Council of District 25 has approved the installation of brand new, state of the arts science labs at QSI over the next year – just in time for our first high school class.

. Music students wrote their own variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” as a way of learning rhythms and note value relationships. Mr. Glatz and his 8^th grade students, preparing for our first Regents in Algebra, solved systems of equations, both graphically and algebraically, often using the graphing calculators. 6th grade students debated which was the most “excruciating” job in their historical study of child labor; most agree that the “breaker boys”, 10 year olds sorting coal in the mines for 12 hours a day, had it the worst.

All of our students, in all grades, worked on their portfolios several times this week during Advisory. We hope that these collections of student work in all subject areas, based on the standards and our own high expectations, will help students understand their progress and motivate them to improve

Since we recognize that different students have different needs and work at different rates, it’s not unusual to see small groups of students working together in the hallways, using our laptops for research or writing, or sharing the outcomes of their advanced math work.

Happy, deeply engaged in learning, working with others – our students reflect our shared vision…and a product of our collaborative work together: family and school.

Ms. Moyano, our Parent Coordinator, has been working to implement a new communication tool for our teachers and our families: Helping Involve Parents. A gift of the City Council, HIP will automatically call home – or email! – for absences and lateness, will provide a space for school notices, and, shortly, teachers will be able to post homework and grades. Access for parents is the key. Because of the confidential nature of the codes, we ask that parents come in person to pick up their passwords. We’re reluctant to mail them home. We’re here every day and our next PTA Meeting is April 30 at 7PM. Call Ms. Moyano with any questions.

On a final note, I am including a copy of a letter about sexual harassment that I ask Advisors to read with students every spring. Interest in one another as boys and girls is a natural expectation for middle school students. We just want to make sure that expressions of that interest are appropriate and acceptable.

I hope to see you on April 30 at our PTA Meeting. We’re electing our Executive Board and new School Leadership Team and we need to hear your voice.

Sincerely.

Ms. Ophals