Muscota New School Blog

For the past few years our school has been celebrating Pi Day.  Pi, a mathematical concept that stands roughly for 3.14, matches our official school number P.S. 314.   People around the world celebrate Pi Day on March 14th or 3/14. 

Children spend time learning about Pi and studying circles in their classroom leading up to the big day.  Muscota’s Pi Day celebration is an event that the Parents Association and family volunteers bring to life for us each year in the gymnasium, where we play circle/Pi related games and eat pies and pizza pies.

 If you are interested in learning more about Pi, sharing some activities with your children, or even singing Pi Day songs, you may enjoy visiting some of the following websites:

Definition of Pi

The first thousand digits of Pi

Pi Day Activities and Links

 Keep an eye out for flyers from the Parents Association asking for volunteers and refreshments for Pi Day.  We will posting pictures of this year’s celebration very soon…

Many of you may know that I spent the last two years earning my Master’s of Library and Information Science (MLS) and my School Library Media Specialist (SLMS) certification.   A recent study published by Syracuse University shows that schools with certified school library media specialists achieve higher scores on the fourth grade English Language Arts.  [...]

This week we were honored with a visit by author/illustrator David Ezra Stein. David has published four children’s books, including Cowboy Ned and Andy, Ned’s New Friend, Leaves, and Monster Hug. Over the past month our K/1 and 2/3 classes have been studying David’s books, reflecting on his work through their own drawing and writing. [...]

I am so excited about this opportunity for families to celebrate reading and fabulous children’s books. On Sunday, October 14th, the New York Times and Target are sponsoring “The Great Children’s Read,” a festival hosted by the Columbia University campus. Celebrities will be reading from beloved children’s books all day. Mariska Hargitay from Law and [...]

Parents, Chances are that if you’re sending your child to Muscota New School, you care about fostering and supporting your child’s creative interests at home.   But paint, instruments, costumes, ballet slippers, and even drawing paper can get expensive!  I just learned that Lego is sponsoring a new initiative that will provide families with $5,000 [...]

This is where we librarians step in. Just because the Harry Potter series has come to a close doesn’t mean the excitement about reading has to end. The summer is the perfect time to keep up the reading momentum and to maintain or boost your child’s reading proficiency. Visit our public children’s librarian Elizabeth and [...]

The trailer for the movie adaptation of Philip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass” is now available online! http://imdb.com/title/tt0385752/trailers-screenplay-E32812-10-2 “The Golden Compass” is the first book in a fantasy trilogy by children’s author Philip Pullman, and is set in alternate universe wherein each person’s soul takes the form of a “daemon”–an animal who loves its human so [...]

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and commitment to maintaining a safe and fun environment, this year’s Mini-Mall was a huge success. As promised, here are more photos of Friday’s festivities. Gianni peruses the selection and decides how to spend her money. Kindergarteners Angie and Anna sell notecards, wrapping paper, silly putty, and bookmarks created by [...]

What you all have no doubt been waiting for, a sneak peek as teachers and students prepare for this afternoon’s Mini-Mall festivities: 2/3 teacher Louisa displays prices for her class’s merchandise. Vanessa’s students Daniel, Artin, and Janiel are clearly proud of their class’s bean bag toss. Kathy’s 4/5 class advertises their Chinese-themed products. Wait ’til [...]

It’s Mini-Mall time again! To all the loyal fans who purchased the library’s student-created bookmarks for 50 cents last year, the $1.50 we made was put to good use. It was used as the postage for the REACH grant application we submitted this December. Despite last year’s commercial success, I will not be selling this [...]