Science Fair

The Science Fair was a wonderful success!

 

The students were able to experiment, investigate, explore, and learn about so many different areas of science. They were so articulate in explaining their projects, clear evidence that all the teachers worked hard with their students. Great job!

Special thanks to Christine Ganey who coordinated the Science Fair along with her committee members: Jennifer Antolino, Kathleen McCann, Julie Lynn, Jessica Yu, Vanessa Campbell, and Marie Rodriguez

 

 

 

There was joy in the hallways of Amber Charter School May 7. That was the day that the NYC Department of Education unveiled scores for the English Language Arts Test (known in education circles as the ELA) that showed Amber leading all other charter schools in Manhattan with a school-wide score of 88.5 percent. These ELA results indicate that nearly nine out of every ten students in Ambers 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are reading at or above grade level.

 

click the link for the rest of the story!

The winners were:
Lower Grades:
1st Place: Aja Nae Sweeney Class 204
2nd Place: Cheddie Holmes Class 204
3rd Place: Destiny Adams Class 103

Upper Grades:
1st Place: Maia Wheaton Class 502
2nd Place: Darion Harris Class 403
3rd Place: Emmanuel Torres III Class 303

 

Kids come first, said Pete Katehis, chapter leader and kindergarten teacher at Amber Charter School, seen here blowing bubbles.

 

There are some who feel that charter schools and teacher unions dont go together but not the folks at Amber Charter School in East Harlem, who have been successfully combining the two for years, exemplifying their school theme, Together, we can.

While others fight it out, the Amber community is busy getting on with the job at hand: educating their students to be interested, caring and compassionate citizens of the world.

They do so with a spirit of cooperation between teachers and administrators and with a shared focus on the needs of their students.

A peek inside the school reveals an older building with classrooms painted a cheery sky blue and yellow, and word walls, student artwork and lessons neatly arranged in classes and hallways. Students wear uniforms, and there is an enviable concentration among students at all grade levels they are there to learn.

Amber was started in 2000 as a dual-language school by the Community Association of Progressive Dominicans. Teachers approached the UFT in 2001 and said they were interested in joining, said Chapter Leader Pete Katehis, universally known as Mr. Pete at the school.

Teachers wanted a unified voice at the school, the UFT was willing to take us on, and management agreed to it, so there wasnt any of that noise you hear nowadays, said Katehis.

That noise is the argument that the charter model doesnt work with unions because they handcuff flexibility and insist on iron-clad contracts. But there was no cookie-cutter approach to the contract at Amber.

We have our own independent contract that fits our purposes and goals, Katehis said. He credits the UFTs flexibility in adopting their school handbook and tweaking it when asked to by educators as a key component of their success.

 

read the entire article (click the link below)

 

Kids come first, said Pete Katehis, chapter leader and kindergarten teacher at Amber Charter School, seen here blowing bubbles.

 

There are some who feel that charter schools and teacher unions dont go together but not the folks at Amber Charter School in East Harlem, who have been successfully combining the two for years, exemplifying their school theme, Together, we can.

While others fight it out, the Amber community is busy getting on with the job at hand: educating their students to be interested, caring and compassionate citizens of the world.

They do so with a spirit of cooperation between teachers and administrators and with a shared focus on the needs of their students.

A peek inside the school reveals an older building with classrooms painted a cheery sky blue and yellow, and word walls, student artwork and lessons neatly arranged in classes and hallways. Students wear uniforms, and there is an enviable concentration among students at all grade levels they are there to learn.

Amber was started in 2000 as a dual-language school by the Community Association of Progressive Dominicans. Teachers approached the UFT in 2001 and said they were interested in joining, said Chapter Leader Pete Katehis, universally known as Mr. Pete at the school.

Teachers wanted a unified voice at the school, the UFT was willing to take us on, and management agreed to it, so there wasnt any of that noise you hear nowadays, said Katehis.

That noise is the argument that the charter model doesnt work with unions because they handcuff flexibility and insist on iron-clad contracts. But there was no cookie-cutter approach to the contract at Amber.

We have our own independent contract that fits our purposes and goals, Katehis said. He credits the UFTs flexibility in adopting their school handbook and tweaking it when asked to by educators as a key component of their success.

 

Amber Students March in Three Kings Day Parade!

As is the tradition at Amber Charter School our second graders marched in El Museo del Barrio’s Three King’s Day parade. Our kindergarteners and first graders viewed the parade from East 106th Street. It was an exciting event for our school community since Mr. Luis Miranda, Chairman of our Board of Trustees, served as one of the three wise men in the parade along with NY Secretary of State Ms. Lorraine Cortez-Vasquez. Even Mayor Bloomberg marched this year.

 

  

Mayor Bloomberg marching in the parade!

 

 

Niños del barrio de Harlem pintan bajo la tutela del conocido artista Rubén Toledo

 

29 de abril de 2009, 09:03 PM

Nueva York, 29 abr (EFE).- Un grupo de niños de Harlem demostraron hoy su talento, bajo la tutela del conocido artista Rubén Toledo, al plasmar en lienzo el retrato de sesenta conocidas figuras hispanas que se han destacado en varios campos del arte.
  

 

Name: Jason Dessereau
Subject: GYM



Jason Dessereau currently in his first year teaching attended both Adelphi University and Brooklyn College. Last year he was a substitute teacher and a sports specialist. His decision to become a teacher came from his love of sports and his passion for sharing his knowledge with young people. In the past, Jason has cooked in restaurants and also came in 3rd place in Keebler design your own cookie contest. . Jasons favorite movie is The Great Muppet Caper, his favorite book of all time is A Child Called IT. Jasons hobbies are playing Video games, fantasy sports, cooking, baseball, anything involving cars and mountain biking and he also enjoys writing poetry. 10 years from now Jason hopes to become a college professor and coaching baseball at the Division II level. Jason is enjoying his time at Amber and feels that our Amber Stars have a lot of potential and are extremely caring.

Amber Charter School is a "School In Good Standing" as per the New York State Department of Education for the school year 2007-08. 

All members of the community should be aware that Amber has held this designation since its inception in 2000. (This message is in compliance with NYSED/Title 1 requirements to make public our status.)

 

 

1. Small Class Sizes
2. Spanish as a Foreign Language.
3. Instruction in Art & Music
4. Rigorous Curriculum
5. After-School Program (Grades Served K-5)

 

If you are interested in having your child attend our school, come to one of our Open Houses.

 
 For New Kindergarten & First Grade Students Only!

Please Call 212-534-9667, ext 101 or 102 to sign-up!
                        
Address: 220 East 106th Street
               New York, NY 10029 

                  

Application available on online click the link below

What a wonderful second assembly!

Those Kindergarteners and First graders really did a great job! A great big thank you to Ms. Star and Mr. Al for coordinating the assembly, and another big thank you to all the Kindergarten and First grade teachers for the hard work. Thank you Ms. Argentina for the lovely Spanish song. What a wonderful representation of all we are trying to do at Amber this year.

Our first assembly was so exciting!
The newly elected Student Council representatives were sworn into office by Honorable Ruben Martino, the presiding justice of the Harlem Community Courthouse. The students were very impressed, as were we all, that a real judge from our own community came to officially conduct the swearing-in ceremony.

At the assembly the induction ceremony for the fourth grade student leaders also took place. Every fourth grader was charged with the five character traits of “The Amber Way”. They were charged to be Respectful, Honest, & Responsible, Serve their Community and Strive to Achieve. For each character trait a star bearing that trait was draped over their heads as a reminder of their charge as student leaders. In November these student leaders will begin their work with their assigned class to guide the class toward planning and executing a community service project.

And so we take another step toward helping our students become future leaders concerned with serving their community—our mission.

Dr. Vasthi R. Acosta, Principal

Our parents are so fabulous that they came to school loaded down with their contributions for the classrooms. We, at Amber, are so grateful!
The students met their teachers and got right to work. There is a lot of learning that we want to do this year, and we are off to a good start.

On Friday, we will have the unveiling of the mural that was painted this summer by our students, faculty and staff, under the direction of local artist, Maria Dominguez. It is scheduled for 1:30 pm on the corner of East 106th Street and Third Avenue.

 

The mural depicts the present, past and future students of Amber.  Each piece that is included in the mural was designed by a student and tells something about that student and Amber. I know the students feel a sense of pride and presence in the community as they walk past this mural everyday on the way to school, recess and home.

Come by and see this beautiful creation.

Together We Can!
Dr. Vasthi R. Acosta

Staff and Faculty
· New teachers hired for the new classes.
· Specialty teachers hired in Music and Physical Education.
· Former Amber Teacher Assistant hired as Kindergarten Teacher.
· Project Coordinator hired to oversee State ACCESS grant for professional development.

Operations
· New hand scan system implemented.
· New student data management system purchased.

As you can see it has been a very busy summer, and these are but a few of the wonderful things happening. All this work has been to prepare for our best year yet at Amber Charter School.

So we enter our new school year proclaiming that:

TOGETHER WE CAN REACH OUR GOALS !!!

See you all Monday, September 8, 2008 the FIRST DAY of school !!!
Dr. Vasthi R. Acosta, Head of School

To the Amber family,

     Today (7/16/08), at a special board meeting, we accepted Rafael Ortiz's resignation as Amber's Head of School effective July 31, 2008.  We also appointed Dr. Vasthi Reyes to become Interim Head of School effective August 1, 2008.  I am sure you all join me to wish Rafael well on his new endeavors and thank him for his leadership during the past three years.

      We also ratified the creation of a new instructional position, Lead Teacher, amending our UFT contract to include the new position.  We thank our teachers for voting affirmatively in creating this new instructional role.

      Hope everyone is having a pleasant summer.

                                       --Luis Miranda, Chairperson, Board of Directors  

May 29 Olympic Day

Other activities under consideration: Mentor program for upper grades, Carnival, Saturday Program, Game Night, Movie Nights, Walk - a - Thon, Box Tops, Silent Auctions, Penny Harvest, Ice Cream Social, Father/Daughter & Mother/Son Dance, Flea Market, Grandparents Get Together, Holiday Party, Girl Scouts & Boy Scouts, Valentines Day Dance, Winter Olympics (Indoors); Volunteer Opportunities Each child in grades 4 - 6 must complete 2 community service projects in the school year.
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