The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 3.26.17

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal, Daryl Blank. 

It was great to see so many parents at Parent-Teacher Conferences this past Thursday and Friday.  Friday was also special for the school with our 26^th Annual Career Day where over 70 speakers from the worlds of fashion, art and business spoke to our students about their personal journeys and careers.

As you are planning your schedule for the week I hope you can attend our March Parents Association meeting this Wednesday, March 29 at 6:00 pm in Room 829. 

I need your help as the deadline to complete the NYC Department of Education Parent Survey is this Friday.   This is extremely important to me as Principal!  I want to know what you think about the school - what we are doing well and what we can improve on.  When you fill out the survey, please consider the strong partnership between the school and Fashion families that includes (1) All the phone calls and emails we send out to our families; (2) Our communication through Jupiter Grades; (3) Maintenance of our school website and social media accounts; (4) Our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Day that just took place; and (5) All the volunteer opportunities that we have shared with you on our Sunday messages.  As you know we work hard to get your children the best education in a safe and clean environment with a focus on supporting students on the way to college.  Besides strong academics, our school has tremendous opportunities within our fashion, art and business majors and this year we are partnering with Yale University for Social Emotional Learning lessons.  I hope you do not mind, but I will be sending reminders each day this week.  Our goal is that 100% of Fashion Families complete the survey!

You can do the survey on paper or online using the below link.  You will need the access code from the survey you received in the mail that is on the survey itself.  If you did not receive your survey in the mail, please call the Survey Hotline at 1-800-690-8603.  

http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/tools/survey/default.htm

I am very excited to announce that HSFI’s version of ‘America’s Got Talent’ is this Friday, March 31 with our annual Variety Show.  This event showcases the performing arts talents of our student including singing and dancing.  As always, we welcome families to attend the event and we can certainly use volunteers to help out with the show.  You can contact me directly if you want to volunteer.

I want to showcase a chance for HSFI families to volunteer at the school and our Social Emotional Learning committee that takes place on Monday from 11:30 am to 12:15 pm in Room 821.  This committee is focused on our school-wide belief that emotions matters and that paying attention to the emotions of our staff, students and families will have a positive impact on engagement, relationships, health, decision-making and academic success. 

The Advocating and Preparing for Post-Secondary Success committee will take place on Monday from 9:00 am to 9:45 am in Room 821.  This committee’s primary purpose is to develop a comprehensive four-year plan to getting Fashion students ready for the college application process so the college acceptance rate at HSFI increases.

Thank you!

The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 3.19.17

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal, Daryl Blank. 

It was great that almost 50 parents attended our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Days!  All the parents I spoke to loved the visit and appreciated the opportunity to observe the school in action  My goal is to make this an annual event and expand it to one time in the Fall term and one time in the Spring term.  My hope is that more and more families have the opportunity to come and visit their child’s classes and strengthen the partnership between HSFI and our amazing families.

I am asking that all Fashion families complete the NYC Department of Education Parent Surveys that have been mailed to you.  This is extremely important to me as Principal!  The deadline for filling out the survey is coming at the end of March.  We want to know what you think about the school - what we are doing well and what we can improve on.  When you fill out the survey, please consider the strong partnership between the school and Fashion families that includes (1) All the phone calls and emails we send out to our families; (2) Our communication through Jupiter Grades; (3) Maintenance of our school website and social media accounts; (4) Our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Day that just took place; and (5) All the volunteer opportunities that we have shared with you on our Sunday messages.  As you know we work hard to get your children the best education in a safe and clean environment with a focus on supporting students on the way to college.  Besides strong academics, our school has tremendous opportunities within our fashion, art and business majors and this year we are partnering with Yale University for Social Emotional Learning lessons.

You can do the survey on paper or online using the below link.  You will need the access code from the survey you received in the mail that is on the survey itself.  If you do not receive your survey in the mail, please call the Survey Hotline at 1-800-690-8603.  

http://schools.nyc.gov/Accountability/tools/survey/default.htm

Report cards for the first marking period will be distributed on Wednesday.  We are very excited to welcome you to Fashion this week for Parent Teacher Conferences on Thursday, March 23 and Friday, March 24.  Thursday’s conferences will be from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm.  Friday’s conferences will be from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

The morning of afternoon Parent-Teacher conferences on Friday, we will be holding our annual Career Day for the students of the High School of Fashion Industries.  During this morning session, we have over 60 guest speakers who will visit our school to share their experiences with our students.  The speakers will cover career opportunities among all 4 of our majors – Fashion Design, Graphics & Illustration, Fashion Marketing and Visual Merchandising.  A list of the Career Day speakers are located on the school website.  Please make sure that your child attends Career Day – it is very important in their preparation for college and career.  Career Day is brought to school by the Advisory Board of the High School of Fashion Industries. 

Thank you!

The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 3.12.17

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal, Daryl Blank. 

First, I have some amazing news to share with you.  I am pleased to announce that because of our collective efforts, we are going to reach our $100,000 fund-raising goal for our air conditioners.  Our school’s Advisory Board is so impressed with our efforts that they will contribute the remainder of the money to get to $50,000 and then our anonymous matching donor will donate another $50,000 to get to $100,000.  We should be able to get most of the building air conditioned by the end of the school year.  This is an amazing accomplishment that we should all be proud of.  Please continue to contribute if you can, the more money we raise, the more air conditioners we can purchase.

Second, the NYC Department of Education Parent Surveys have been mailed out to you.  My hope is that every Fashion parent completes the survey. We want to know what you think about the school - what we are doing well and what we can improve on.  When you fill out the survey, please consider the strong partnership between the school and Fashion families that includes (1) All the phone calls and emails we send out to our families; (2) Our communication through Jupiter Grades; (3) Maintenance of our school website and social media accounts; (4) Our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Day that will take place this coming week; and (5) All the volunteer opportunities that we have shared with you on our Sunday messages.  As you know we work hard to get your children the best education in a safe and clean environment with a focus on supporting students on the way to college.  Besides strong academics, our school has tremendous opportunities within our fashion, art and business majors and this year we are partnering with Yale University for Social Emotional Learning lessons.

You can do the survey on paper or online using the below link.  You will need the access code from the survey you will get in the mail on the survey.

https://desoto.certisphere.com/Certisphere/Survey/ChooseLanguage?returnUrl=%2FCertisphere%2FSurvey%2FLogin

HSFI is thrilled to introduce our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Day this week!  On Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, you will be able to observe your child’s classes in action.  You may come and leave when you wish during those days.  During your child’s lunch period, you and your child are invited to lunch with me in my conference room.  Assistant Principal Danielle Silva will be welcoming you in the school lobby and giving you an orientation for the visit.  We want to get an idea of how many parents will be visiting, so please register online that you will be attending by using the below survey link.  This registration link is also on the school website – www.fashionhighschool,net – it is on the far right of the yellow bar under the rotating photos on the top of the website homepage. 

https://docs.google.com/a/hsfi.us/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0okzppU53fjwJmrvfTWfW8HmxSHMRxyeyT6wnVBlUApwu6g/viewform?c=0&w=1

Please remember that this is not a day to conference with your child’s teachers.  You will be able to do this during Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 23 and March 24 or by appointment through your child’s guidance counselor.  As always, HSFI is committed to our partnership with our families!

Thank you!

The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 3.5.17

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal, Daryl Blank. 

HSFI is thrilled to introduce our 1^st Annual Family Visitation Day!  On Thursday, March 16 and Friday, March 17, you will be able to observe your child’s classes in action.  You may come and leave when you wish during those days.  During your child’s lunch period, you and your child are invited to lunch with me in my conference room.  Assistant Principal Danielle Silva will be welcoming you in the school lobby and giving you an orientation for the visit.  We want to get an idea of how many parents will be visiting, so please register that you will be attending by using the below survey link.  This registration link is also on the school website – www.fashionhighschool,net – it is on the far right of the yellow bar under the rotating photos on the top of the website homepage. 

https://docs.google.com/a/hsfi.us/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0okzppU53fjwJmrvfTWfW8HmxSHMRxyeyT6wnVBlUApwu6g/viewform?c=0&w=1

Please remember that this is not a day to conference with your child’s teachers.  You will be able to do this during Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 23 and March 24 or by appointment through your child’s guidance counselor.  As always, HSFI is committed to our partnership with our families!

This Monday is a ‘First Monday’ where students will start school later and be dismissed from school early so that our staff can meet in teacher teams for professional development.  Students who begin school 1^st period will start at 8:30 am.  Students who begin school 2^nd period will start at 9:09 am.  Students who finish school after 8^th period will be dismissed at 1:43 pm.  Students who finish school after 9^th period will be dismissed at 2:22 pm.

This Tuesday, March 7, at 9:15 am, the HS of Fashion Industries will be conducting a soft lockdown drill.  These drills are conducted four times a year in an effort to promote student safety and heighten school community preparedness in the event of a real lockdown.  The drill will last approximately twenty minutes.  During the drill, students will be expected to maintain silence and remain out of sight with classroom lights turned off.  Youth Officers from the 10^th Precinct, along with School Safety Agents will assist School Administration in checking that all classroom and exterior doors are locked and secure.  Once the drill has concluded, students will then resume their normal schedules and activities in their classrooms.  Please take a moment to discuss the importance of this exercise with your child.  We will email and call you before the drill takes place and after it is finished.  Thank you.

There is one month left in the Air Conditioner campaign.  Currently, we have raised almost $20,000.  We still need to raise another $15,000 to get us to $35,000.  On March 31, the campaign will end and I will order as many air conditioners that we can afford.  If we raised this remaining $15,000, we would get to $35,000 and then our Advisory Board would probably donate another $15,000 to get us to $50,000.  At that point with the matching donation, we would reach $100,000 and have enough to air condition the entire building.  Right now, we would only be able to air condition a small number of classrooms.

As you know, I have done the math – if every HSFI family contributed $11 each, we would reach our goal.

If you or someone you know wants to contribute cash, please bring the money to Room 819 where we can give you a receipt.  If you want to write a check to contribute to the campaign, the check should be made out to HSFI Alumni Association.  Your child can drop it off in Room 819 or it can be mailed to the school at 225 West 24^th Street, New York, NY 10011 and made to Attention to me, Daryl Blank, Principal.  Remember, only $11 is needed from each HSFI family.

Link to the GoFundMe Campaign:

https://www.gofundme.com/air-conditioners-fashion-high

Link to the DNA Info article on the AC Campaign:

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170105/chelsea/high-school-of-fashion-industries-air-conditioner-fundraiser

I want to remind all Fashion families that our student computer lab is open every day, just as it has been all year, from 7:30 am through 2^nd period, during all lunch periods and from the end of 8^th period until 5:00 pm.  Students have access to a classroom full of computers and printers all day long.

Make sure you and your child are checking Jupiter Grades to know where they stand in their classes.  Students should be checking their HSFI email every day.

We maintain a weekly blog for HSFI Parents - the link is: http://hsfifashionabletimes.blogspot.com/

The school website has a section specifically for HSFI Parents – the link is: www.fashionhighschool.net

Thank you!