The Fashionable Times Blog Principal's Message 9.23.18

Greetings Fashion Families from your Principal Daryl Blank.

As you are planning your schedule for the week I hope you can attend our first Parents Association meeting of the school year, this Wednesday, September 26 at 6:00 pm in Room 829.  I encourage all Fashion families to attend.  We still have a number of open positions in our Parents Association Executive Board, so if you are interested in getting involved in this organization, you have the opportunity to do so.

The school will also be hosting a Safety Town Hall meeting on Thursday, September 27.  This town hall meeting is designed for parents and community members seeking information on safety protocols utilized by the High School of Fashion Industries.  In addition to these security protocols, a number of other topics will be discussed including our approach to bullying and harassment; available counseling services provided to students, as well as personal safety travelling to and from school.  The event will begin at 6:15 pm in room 829. 

In an effort to prepare our students in the event of a true emergency, we will be conducting a Soft Lockdown drill on Friday, September 28 at 9:05 am.  During this drill, students will be directed to remain quiet and out of sight for the duration of the drill.  Students should expect a classroom with the lights off and a classroom door that is covered.  Most importantly, students are reminded that they should carefully listen to their teacher’s instructions until an all clear alert is announced over our public-address system.  We will notify you before the drill and once it has been successfully concluded. 

This week we are continuing our grade level assemblies for the 11^th and 12^th grades.  Every month, we will be holding an assembly with each of the four grades in the auditorium.  The focus of the grade level assemblies will be on what the High School of Fashion Industries does to reinforce the belief that ‘Emotions Matter’ at the school and helps our students feel:

CONNECTED & SUPPORTED

CONTENT & BALANCED

ENERGIZED & MOTIVATED

HAPPY & EXCITED

INSPIRED & EMPOWERED

PASSIONATE & PURPOSEFUL

RESPECTED & VALUED

SAFE & COMFORTABLE

These 16 emotions are the core of the HSFI student Social-Emotional Learning charter and what students want to feel at the school.  The assemblies will give students information on what we have in place to help students feel these emotions. 

On Thursday and Friday of this week, we will be holding our annual Club Fair where students can learn about all the extracurricular clubs and activities that take place at HSFI.  I encourage all students to attend – we try to have something for everyone to connect with.

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.  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. 

On the first day of classes, each student received a parental consent form allowing for the City of New York to take a picture of your child and use it to create a government ID for them.  These free ID cards are available to all students and staff who live in NYC.  Photographs are taken on private servers that promote anonymity, safeguard privacy, and immigration status.  Once received, these ID cards are accepted as legal proof of identity, as well as provide benefits to the city’s cultural events including museums.  This event begins October 2^nd and lasts until October 30^th. Since this is only occurring for one month, space is limited. Students will be notified of their appointments via their high school email account. Here is the IDNYC website for more information:  https://www1.nyc.gov/site/idnyc/index.page

It is critically important that all HSFI students check their HSFI email & Jupiter Grades everyday.  9^th 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!