Dear Parents,

On behalf of the P.S. 186 school family, we would like to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! We are very excited to welcome all of your children back to school. We thank you for ensuring that your children returned to school with completed vacation learning packets. We look forward to celebrating the New Year with all of our families with a special New Year Cultural Celebration on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 at 2:30 PM. More information will follow.

 Promotion-in-Doubt letters will be sent home this month to select students who are in danger of not being promoted to the next grade in June 2019. Please read through those letters carefully and return the tear-offs to your child’s classroom teacher. Teachers will schedule face to face meetings with you to discuss areas of concern and plan for next steps to ensure their success for the remainder of the school year.

 We would like to remind you that daily attendance and punctuality are good habits that we encourage all our children to have. Your cooperation in making sure that your child arrives to school on time (line up begins at 7:50 AM and the school day starts at 8:00 AM) and has good attendance is greatly appreciated. Effective immediately, we will be lining up indoors. Students should continue to enter through the school yard gates. We would also like to remind you that P.S. 186 follows the school uniform policy. Your cooperation in assisting our students to meet this mandate is also appreciated.

September 5, 2018

Dear Families,

I hope you had a terrific summer, and that you are as excited about the year ahead as I am. It is a delight to welcome you to the 2018–19 school year. 

I was up before my alarm this morning, my mind racing with thoughts about all the incredible things we are going to do together this school year. This is my first full year as your Chancellor, and my focus this year is on the 1.1 million students here in New York City—and my promise to make our public school system the fairest and strongest in the nation. 

I know that we can’t achieve that promise on our own—we need one another. My own parents entrusted me to the public school system. They relied on our schools to teach me English, and together with their support I became fully bilingual, and was the first in my family (alongside my twin brother) to attend college. Our families and educators are in this together, and we succeed together. We promise to meet you where you are and get information to you where and when you need it. You play a key role in your children’s education, and we are here to help you make critical decisions about their future.

We understand that you are entrusting your children to us, and we do not take that responsibility lightly. We promise to teach your children in safe, welcoming schools, and hold high expectations for their success. We will challenge your children academically and support them socially and emotionally. We will deliver excellence through equity, so that every student graduates from high school with the ability to write well, think like a scientist, understand history, and learn computer science. We will teach all of our students to think critically, speak passionately about important issues, and work in teams to achieve big things. These are the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century.

Together, we will make 2018–19 a year of high expectations, a year of equity and excellence, a year in which we lift all our students to greater heights.

Thank you for your support. I wish you and your children a wonderful start to the school year.

In unity,

Richard A. Carranza
Chancellor

This year our school will continue to participate in an innovative program called Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC). BIC is a free breakfast program that aims to alleviate hunger and ensure all students are ready to learn each day. 

 Our school selected the "Grab and Go" delivery option.  Children arriving before the school day begins between 7:20 and 7:50 AM may have breakfast in the cafeteria before morning line-up.  Children arriving after that time make take their "grab and go" breakfasts up to their classrooms from a station at one of the entrances.  Once in the classroom, these students eat at their desk while the teacher takes morning attendance, teaches a short lesson, and/or reads announcements.