Hi there.
I'm Mile an elementary student here at PSO 71 Patrick Henry prep
a two time America's best urban Schools winner,
where we're cultivating minds,
nurturing hearts and shaping futures.
Our school consistently ranks in the upper tier of New York
State and consistently outperforms New York State and New York
City. I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up,
but I know that PS 171 is helping me figure it out at PS 171.
We have the choice to come in early at 7:30 a.m. for a free
breakfast to start our day or if we're not feeling breakfast,
you start classes at 8 a.m. sharp. My friends,
Dylan and Taylor and I always meet up for breakfast to chat and
eat before we go to our first class.
It's funny to think we met in the same cafeteria when we started
here at PSO 71 as kindergarteners,
we begin each day with SCL or social emotional learning where we
learn how to identify and control our emotions in a healthy way.
This is especially important for us to build a strong community
in the classroom throughout the day,
we have many amazing classes you get to choose from depending on
our interests that we rotate to throughout the week.
Some classes include music, technology, theater, gym, science,
movement, and library.
And when it's time for lunch,
we have delicious and healthy options for us to eat.
As soon as we're done eating,
we can go outside for fresh air and exercise.
Sometimes the teachers even join in on the fun.
We have great partnerships and after school programs such as
Skin harbor for elementary students,
East Harlem tutorial for middle schoolers, springboard literacy,
43 K through kindergarten, reading partners. GZ A prep,
a free prep class that prepares students for the assessment and
regions prep where students can enter high school as a sophomore
in math science and Spanish,
all of which are located in our building and are free.
We also have a ton of cool after school clubs that are led by
our teachers. There's a club for everyone.
If there's something a student can think of our school will make
it happen.
Our clubs include theater, chess, cooking, biking, guitar,
symphonic chorus board, game club, art club, basketball,
running club, flamenco dance, karate, three K stem newspaper,
club, coding and student council.
We also have a day with the scientists at Mount Sinai where we
get the chance to shadow or even dissect an eye.
We use technology to help us learn better and faster.
Like our school assigned ipads grades four through eight,
get an ipad to bring home each day and each class has a laptop
cart and a smartboard.
We also have a state of the art technology lab complete with a
3d printer and virtual reality technology.
And PS 171 has a technology course that introduces us to using
computers to learn robotics and how to code.
I think I'd really get into a career in the technology world one
day, but I'm still not 100% sure what I wanna do yet.
At PS 171 all of our teachers are amazing.
What's really cool is some of the staff are one students at PHP
90 say their entire career and retire here.
Paula proved that PS 171 isn't just an amazing place to learn,
but also an amazing place to teach and our teachers amazingness
isn't just passed on to us, but our parents as well.
Our teachers always communicate with their parents via phone
calls through a mind or class Dojo app and of course through
emails and daily newsletters. So parents are always up to date.
On top of all of that.
PS 171 works collaboratively to direct families in need to
appropriate resources to make sure both students and parents are
getting what they need. In fact,
PS 171 helped my family and I get the help we needed to make
sure I have everything I need to succeed.
One of the special parts about PS 171 is their data driven
curriculums.
Teachers and staff have group and one on one conversations with
students to find out what was working well and what can be
improved on in order to create an ever evolving teacher
curriculum that changes as we learn and grow.
They focus on three Rs which are relationships relevant and
rigor to learn more about what's important to us,
to create new and engaging ways for us to learn new things.
This type of teaching combined with benchmarks for individual
students allows for high ratings and rankings,
scoring threes and fours on state exams and enabling middle
schoolers to enter some of the top high schools in the area.
On top of that,
we also engage in a lot of project based learning where we get
through groups and use teamwork to solve problems.
I really like the idea of using data to learn more about how
things work to improve and evolve ideas while working in groups.
I think I wanna be a data scientist when I grow up.
PS 171 is introducing me to so many different ideas.
It's hard to choose just one.
We're tested and challenged every day here at PS 171 so that we
can grow as individuals and become the best versions of
ourselves. And speaking of being challenged,
we have a big project due Monday. So this weekend,
me and my friends are building a huge Lego robot.
I felt so upset and frustrated and I really wanted to cry.
I remembered back to what I learned in my SCL class.
I closed my eyes,
imagined the best version of myself counted backwards from five
and calmed myself down.
We have to rush to school to fix it at breakfast.
We started fixing our robot while we ate,
we fixed our robot just in time and rushed to class before it
started.
Later that day,
we presented a robot in one first place as we grow up.
Ps 171 we will continue to learn and hone the skills we need for
high school and beyond.
And we will use these skills to pave our own paths in life to
help our community control our emotions in a healthy way and
continuously evolve the way we learn using data.
Eventually Taylor will go on to become a doctor at a nearby
hospital, healing patients and improving people's lives.
Dylan will go on to build their own business,
creating products to help people learn new things and faster
more effectively.
And as for me,
I still don't know exactly what I wanna do when I get older.
Ps 171 has introduced me to so many different amazing avenues
that it's hard to choose which one to take.
But I know one thing for sure.
As I continue to embark my journey on self discovery,
I'll carry the spirit of PS 171 with me.
For the rest of my life as a friend and as a guide and once I
forge my own path,
I will be able to look back on the years of my life.
And remember PS 171 as the foundation on which I built my dreams
with my friends and family by my side.
PS 171 Patrick Henry prep, cultivating minds,
nurturing hearts and shaping futures.