Tuesday, September 11, 2018

The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 9.11.18



Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal Daryl Blank.  I hope your children had a nice long weekend and are ready to get back to work.

This week we will be running program changes for students who need them on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Please keep in mind that these program changes will only be approved for changes that are needed for meeting graduation requirements.  Changes will not be approved based on teacher preferences.  Returning students will not be allowed to drop honors and Advanced Placement classes that they signed up for last year – we programmed and budgeted for this school year based off these requests.  Students will not be allowed to drop classes that help them meet college and career readiness requirements including their major along with math and science classes.  The expectation is that all HSFI students complete their major program and take 4 years of math and science classes if these classes can fit into their program.  All students must be scheduled for 5 and a half hours of instruction everyday.

Lunch is now free to all students in all of our NYC public schools, regardless of income eligibility. This means that all meals – both breakfast and lunch – served by the Department of Education’s SchoolFood program will be at no cost to families.  This is a wonderful thing!  Unfortunately, all students and their families still need to submit lunch applications.  Title I funding in New York City is tied to the information that parents/guardians provide on the yearly lunch application.  The High School of Fashion Industries receives nearly $1 million in Title I funding each year.  You can now fill out your lunch application online at https://www.myschoolapps.com/.  You will need the school’s zip code to start the online application which is 10011.  After putting in the zip code, you click on ‘New York City School.’  If you are not receiving this message by email, this online application link will be posted on the school website in the ‘Fashion News’ section at www.fashionhighschool.net. 

All Fashion students and staff are now able to sign up for IDNYC – a free government-issued photo identification card that is available to all City residents age 10 and older.  Permission slips and applications for The IDNYC card are now available from Mr. Raschilla in room 143. Photos are taken during the school day by appointment.  This event is only occurring during the month of October; please your child should reserve their space immediately.
Here is the IDNYC website for more information:  https://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/index.page

I had some updates about the safety of the water in our school building.  All operational sources of water, including for drinking or preparing food, were tested for lead. Currently only 7 out of 342 fixtures remain elevated.  All referenced elevated drinking water or food preparation fixtures were immediately taken out of service. I can assure you that all water fountains and sinks that are in service are safe.  Remediation work will continue until all fixtures reach acceptable levels and applicable fixtures can be returned to service.  The custodial staff will also continue to flush water systems on Monday mornings before school starts, in order to eliminate water that has been stagnant in pipes over the weekend and to ensure water is available for students and staff.  Test results are posted on the DOE website at https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M600. Click on “Data and Reports” and look for the “Facilities” heading.

It is critically important that all HSFI students check their HSFI email & Jupiter Grades everyday.  9th graders and their families have received their Jupiter Grades login information.  We will be sending important information out through these tools – if students do not check them, they will miss out on some valuable opportunities and not know what is going on in the school.

Thank you!

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