Sunday, April 29, 2018

The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 4.29.18

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal, Daryl Blank. 

We have 6 weeks of classes left before Regents examinations as the school year winds down.  Make sure your children know this and appreciate the importance of finishing the school year strong.  The second marking period has ended and we are in the last marking period of the school year.  Counselors will be programming students for summer school based on marking period 2 grades.  Students must understand the grades that they receive in June will be the ones that colleges will see.  Students will be receiving their report cards this Friday, May 4.

We should be very excited as we have two more student showcases this week – these are great moments for our students – the ones that they will remember about their HSFI years!

Our Entrepreneurship Showcase where our business students have been working on business plans that focus on Sustainability and Social Responsibility is on Tuesday, May 1 from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm in the school lobby.

Our Senior Art Show that showcases our Graphics & Illustration students opens on Friday, May 4 at 4:00 pm.  Our entire lobby will be decorated with these amazing pieces of art beginning on Friday.

Our public Fashion Show that showcases our Fashion Design students is on Friday, May 11.  There will be two shows – one at 5:00 pm and one at 7:00 pm.  Tickets sold before the show will be $5 and tickets sold at the door will be $7.  All money raised from ticket sales will be reinvested in our fashion design program for next year’s show.  Tickets are available online at our HSFI Webstore from April 25th thru May 9th.  Tickets will be sold in the school lobby starting May 4th

As always, our window displays will reflect the amazing work that our Visual Merchandising students do on a daily basis.

I know we are knee-deep in the 2017-18 school year, but we as a school community need to begin thinking about next year.  I wanted to share with you a promising school practice that has proved successful in the Chicago school system and is now coming to NYC – it is called Quiet Time.  Quiet Time allows an entire school community (students and staff) to take exactly what it says – some Quiet Time in the form of meditation and mindfulness exercises during the school day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.  The research on Quiet Time and the impact of meditation and mindfulness exercises on a school and student outcomes – the results are impressive:
□ ↓ Decreases student stress levels, anxiety and depression
□ ↑ Improved emotional regulation, decision-making and attention with students
□ ↓ Decreases dropout rates in schools
□ ↑ Improves school graduation rates and student grades
□ ↑ Increases College Acceptance rates for students

Here is a brief video where students and staff from the Bronx High School For Law and Community Service here in NYC speak about Quiet Time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MUwkC8bd4o

 

Here is a brief video where students and staff from Chicago public schools speak about Quiet Time - https://app.frame.io/f/3548939c-30e3-40b0-a1ea-4258b36122b1

The research is very impressive.  Please take a couple of minutes to watch the videos.  Quiet Time would nicely fit into what we already do at HSFI with our commitment to Social Emotional Learning through our partnership with Yale University, Restorative Justice and our belief that emotions matter.

It would be great to hear from you about what you think about Quiet Time – you can email me at dblank@schools.nyc.gov or through Jupiter Grades or you can call me at (212) 255-1235 ext. 8191 or you can fill out this Google survey:

Thank you!


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