THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR MATH SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING @ CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
240 Convent Avenue, New York, New York 10031
TEL: 212-281-6490 FAX: 212-281-6918
HSMSE PTA NEWSLETTER
December 2009 – January 2010
UPCOMING HSMSE EVENTS:
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December 10: Evening (ONLY) Parent Teacher Conferences 5:30 – 8:00 PM
December 17: Our 4th PTA meeting starts at 6:30 PM in Baskerville Room B-01
December 18: Talent Show in Aronow Theater in the NAC from 5:00 -- 7:30 PM. Tickets are $4 at
the door. If purchased the week of Dec 7, tickets are $2. If students bring in a can for the Key Club
food drive the week of Dec 7, tickets are $1. All performers get 4 free tickets. This year’s show will
be judged by an all alumni panel of judges.
December 24- January 1: School is closed—Winter break and New Year’s Day
January 5: Financial Aid Presentation at 6:30 – 8:00 PM, Rm: TBA
January 7: Summer and After School Opportunities Program at 6:00 PM in Baskerville Rm: TBA
See internship section of this newsletter for more information.
January 8- January 25: Final Exams (Make-up finals on January 25)
January 14: Our 5th PTA meeting starts at 6:30 PM in Baskerville Room B-01
January 18: School is closed—Martin Luther King Day
January 26-29: NYS Regents Exams—No Classes, Exams only
February 1: No Class
February 2: Beginning of Spring Term. All students report to gym at 8:00 AM
February 11: Our 6th PTA meeting starts at 6:30 PM in Baskerville Room B-01
DON’T FORGET:
 UPCOMING: Financial Aid Presentation—Tuesday, January 5, 2009
Featured Presenter: Christine Falzerano, Director of Financial Aid, NYU-Poly. Presented by: Wade
A. Klein, HSMSE School Counselor. 6:30 —8:00 PM Location: TBA.
NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY:
 Parent Workshop on Academics—November 4, 2009
The school website has a link, “Academics Parent Workshop Resources,” which has the following
documents for download: 1) Viewing Your Child’s Assignments Online; 2) Homework on the
UTexas System; 3) Tutoring Schedule F09. A parent took notes during the workshop, which was
attended by approximately 20 parents. The notes are attached at the end of the newsletter, as a
general guideline to the topics discussed at the workshop. Please contact your child’s guidance
counselor for more detailed and accurate information.
 Senior Gift Wrap Fundraising at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Square
The Senior class has just completed its first night of gift wrap fundraising at the Barnes and Noble
bookstore on 66th Street and Broadway. Barnes and Noble provides all the supplies and our Senior
and Senior parent volunteers do the gift-wrapping for customers who (hopefully) leave donations in
the jar for HSMSE. The volunteers check store receipts and gift wrap the customer’s purchases. The
remaining dates are Mondays December 14 and 21 with two time slots each night: 6:00-8:00pm and
8:00-10:00pm. We need Seniors and their parents to participate. There must be at least two people at
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the wrapping table, with at least one adult, at all times. We are asking parent volunteers to sign up in
one-hour slots (or multiples thereof) for the four-hour event on each of the Mondays. If we have
Seniors and their parents working all shifts then everything raised will go to the Senior class. Money
earned when there are no Seniors or parents of Seniors will go to the general PTA fund. HSMSE Tshirts for volunteers to wear while on duty and HSMSE flyers will be on the table to help promote
public awareness of HSMSE! Please contact Nancy Britton, senior rep, at Nancy@Brittonfamily.org
AP Curriculum Discussion on Yahoo Group
Some parents on the PTA Yahoo group have expressed an interest in sharing information about their
children’s experiences in the new AP classes and the impact on the college admissions process.
Please join the PTA Yahoo group to participate in this discussion, among many others. You don't
need a Yahoo email address. Just send an email to: hsmse_pta-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Any
Yahoo group member can post to the whole group (which includes many teachers and administrators
as well as parents) using this address: hsmse_pta@yahoogroups.com.
Junior PSATs and ACTs
Juniors should start considering when to take the SATs and ACTs. All students should decide which
SAT subject tests they will take and when to take them. The link for the SAT schedule is
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/calenfees.html. The link for the ACT is
http://actstudent.org/regist/dates.html.
Mrs. Hershinson on JSA Fall State Convention
“Over the weekend of November 20th, twenty-eight HSMSE students attended the Junior Statesmen
of America (JSA) Fall State Convention, held
in Boston MA. The convention was an
overwhelming success for HSMSE, bringing
home seven best speaker awards!
Students debated against other Northeast high
school students. JSA is the largest student-run
organization in the country. It promotes civic
awareness and political activism among
students through debate and dialogue. Our
students took part in many debates as main
speakers, subsequent speakers, and
HSMSE JSA Club
moderators. This weekend also featured a
first-ever team debate where the teacher advisor (Mrs.
Hershinson) and chapter president (Ben Berkowitz)
took on the team from Staten Island Tech. I am proud
to announce that although we lost the debate, we won
the best speaker award for that resolution. In addition to
our astounding victory over Staten Island Tech,
HSMSE brought home five additional best speaker
awards. Please join me in congratulating the following
students for their achievements: Felipe Hoyos (Class of
2011), Ben Moosher (Class of 2012), Vish Persaud
(Class of 2012), and Dionis Jahjaga (Class of 2011),
HSMSE Best Speakers: (not in order)
who brought home two best speaker awards! HSMSE
Hoyos, Jahjaga, Moosher, Persaud, Berkowitz
has made a name for itself at our regional conventions.
Other schools and JSA staff have come to expect a level of excellence and professionalism that our
students continue to display each year. I would additionally like to thank the PTA's generous support
of JSA over the past few years, without which we would not have been able to expose as many
students to the amazing opportunities JSA has to offer through their conferences and summer
programs. The HSMSE chapter is looking forward to a great showing at Winter Congress being held
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in Washington DC on the weekend of Feburary 5th. For more information on JSA feel free to
contact Mrs. Hershinson or our chapter president Ben Berkowitz (Class of 2010).”
HSMSE received an A on the DOE progress reports. Go to:
http://schools.nyc.gov/OA/SchoolReports/2008-09/Progress_Report_2009_HS_M692.pdf to
view the 2008-2009 progress report.
WIN-WIN Online Shopping?
Recently, many parents were surprised to learn that 1-5% of the dollars they spend shopping online
is donated DIRECTLY to HSMSE! Parents who join OneCause.com have a percentage of their
dollars donated by the merchandise vendor through OneCause.com to our school. This is money
from the online vendor, at no additional expense to the parent! This is a WIN-WIN for everyone.
Please join OneCause.com and list High School for Math Science Engineering @ CCNY as your
cause! We just had an up-tick in the number of parents who have joined from 14 to 38! We need
YOU, HSMSE parents, to join and have the holiday dollars you spend online through
OneCause.com benefit your child’s experience at HSMSE!
Subscribe to magazines? Do so through QSP.com and have 40% percent
(WOW!) come to HSMSE, same deal!
Quick Steps to Accessing the School Lunch Form Online:
http://www.hsmse.org/news.aspx?id=115
SPORTS—Go Dragons!
 Girls Varsity Basketball won its first two games. The girls team has games on December 8, 14, 16.
The game on Tuesday December 22 is a home game at 4:30pm in the CCNY gym against Chelsea
Career and Tech.
 Boys Varsity Basketball won its first two games. The boys team has games on December 7, 9, 14,
16. The game on Tuesday December 22 is a home game at 6:30pm in the CCNY gym against Lab
Museum United. Please show up Dec 22 to cheer both the girls and the boys teams on! Click on
Student ActivitiesAthletics on the HSMSE website for a calendar of all game dates.
Coach Richard Epstein: “We are excited about our upcoming season. There are 11 seniors on this
team, and 6 players returning from last year's team, that had 7 players graduate and go on to college.
After a month of practices and preseason scrimmages, the Dragons won their first non-league game
on Nov. 24. Then on Dec. 2, we opened our League season vs. Fashion HS with a 64-30 victory.
Great teamwork, balanced scoring, and unselfish play characterized this team. On Dec. 4, the
Dragons lost a heartbreaker to HS for Leadership, a tough athletic team, in a game that was close to
the very end.
We are optimistic about the season, but we are playing in a tough Manhattan division, where almost
all the teams are good and athletic. On Dec. 4 we had almost 100 fans and supporters at the game, by
far the largest turnout in 3 years. We look forward to our fans and parents coming to all of our games
and supporting the hard working Dragons.”
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Coach Henning of the Cross-Country Team:
“After a thousand miles, fifty practices, twelve weeks and
four races, the inaugural Flying Dragons Cross-Country
season has come to a close just as the last leaves are
falling on the running trails of New York. The most
important number, though, is the twenty-five uniforms
that we bought in September. These were worn by boys
and girls who'd never run more than a mile before they
Photo courtesy of New York Road Runners
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joined.
Within a month, they were running the historic Van Cortlandt Park 3.1 mile course in races against
runners from other schools who've been training for years. Two of them even competed in the
Footlocker Northeastern Cross-Country Championships at Sunken Meadow State Park over
Thanksgiving weekend.
They showed amazing improvement each week, and most tellingly, kept coming back for more.
Some of them will be running throughout the winter (with the proper gear, thanks to the PTA), and
in the spring expect to be joined by a dozen or more new recruits. We'll be running shorter distances
with the NY Road Runner's Young Runners Program, and also doing some longer 6.2 mile road
races.
Our ultimate goal is to compete next fall in the Public School Athletic League; we'll be applying for
that in the spring and are hopeful we'll be accepted. In the meantime, we'll keep running, and
showing new runners how fun running with a team can be.”
PTA Bizniz
 Remember that envelope…
…you picked up at parent teacher conferences? The one for family donations to HSMSE? At the
time, you said to yourself---I'll send something tonight or tomorrow. And then you went home and
forgot all about it. So, consider this a reminder to get out the checkbook and send a check to the
PTA today. So far this year only 27 families have made a contribution. That's only 6%. Let's see if
we can't increase that number. With budget cuts looming, the school needs your help more than
ever. And remember--it's tax deductible. So send out those envelopes today. And if you don't have
one of those envelopes, just send a check to:
PTA of HSMSE
Baskerville Hall
240 Convent Ave.
New York, NY 10031
Only 6% of families have contributed to the PTA. Your contributions are needed to support
student activities and to enrich your child’s experience at HSMSE. Please contribute WHATEVER
you can. The PTA at HSMSE is a 501(c)(3) organization and your contribution is tax deductible.
Write checks payable to PTA of HSMSE. You can also donate online at hsmse-pta.org
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IMPORTANT HSMSE PTA CONTACT INFORMATION:
PTA Officers 2009-2010
President:
April Feffer
Vice President:
Jane Marlowe
Treasurer:
Caryn Elvove
Recording Secretary:
Alice Lesman
Corresponding Secretary:
May Rao
Senior Representative:
Nancy Britton
Junior Representative:
Rima Berzin
Sophomore Representative:
Yumiko Nolan
Freshman Representative:
Ellen Hawa
japsmr@aol.com
Jane.Marlowe@gmail.com
Crelvove@rcn.com
A_Lesman@hotmail.com
maylrao@yahoo.com
Nancy@Brittonfamily.org
rima.berzin@verizon.net
yumiko@yumikonolan.com
ellenhawa@yahoo.com
Parent Coordinator:
RSanchez@hsmse.org
Ruth Taina Sanchez
9th & 10th Grade Counselor:
Mrs. Dawn Trebour 11th & 12th Grade Counselor/College Advisor:
Mr. Wade Klein
dtrebour@schools.nyc.gov
wklein@schools.nyc.gov
KUDO’S TO:
 Thank you to Susan Gordon, Janet Kombel, Alice Lesman, and Arcola Robinson, parents, and
Casey Chan, Teddy Dresdner and Hye Jhin Park, students, who participated in the senior gift
wrap fundraiser at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Square on Monday November 30!
 Thank you to Mel Lew, parent, and Casey Chan, Rosemary Santos and Andrea Treus, students,
who participated in the senior gift wrap fundraiser at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Square on Monday
December 7!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for the Barnes and Noble senior Fundraiser!
We need one parent and one student to sign up for each of the following time slots. Please contact
Nancy at nancy@brittonfamily.org, or Casey Chan or Ms. Hershinson to sign up!
Monday December 14, 2009
5:45 – 7:00 PM Rosemary Santos, Andrea Treus
7:00 – 8:00 PM Rosemary Santos, Andrea Treus
8:00 – 9:00 PM Nancy Britton (parent) Liberty Britton 9:00 –10:15 PM Nancy Britton (parent) Liberty Britton
Monday December 21, 2009
5:45 – 7:00 PM Kristen Hershinson 7:00 – 8:00 PM Kristen Hershinson 8:00 – 9:00 PM Kristen Hershinson 9:00 –10:15 PM Kristen Hershinson
INTERNSHIPS AND SCHOLARSHIPS:
SUMMER AND AFTER-SCHOOL OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM
On Thursday, January 7th at 6:00 pm HSMSE will present the second annual program to help
increase both STUDENTS’ and PARENTS’ knowledge of after-school and summer
opportunities for students.
There will be a list of programs that are offered and program literature. In addition, students that
have participated in these programs in the past will describe their experiences and be available to
answer questions. We hope to have some official program representatives as well.
This event is being organized by Parent Representative R. Tania Sanchez, Guidance Counselor
D. Trebour, and externship coordinator M. Hesse.
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Exact room is yet to be determined, but it will be in Baskerville Hall. Last year’s event was held
at 5:30 immediately before the monthly PTA meeting. This year the program will take place at
6:00 pm in order to allow more parents to be present and on a night when no other events are
scheduled so there will be less of a rushed atmosphere for the event.
Minutes, DRAFT November 12, 2009
Meeting was called to order at 6:40pm.
The Meeting Minutes from October 8th, 2009 were approved.
Treasurer’s Report
The current budget was reviewed. The PTA has received $10,036 in family donations to date which is
ahead of the budget from last year at this time.
Fundraising
The DOE has put a lot of restrictions on how students can raise money. More creative ideas are needed
in order to raise money – i.e. recycle ink cartridges, Barnes & Noble gift wrapping fundraising, possibly
an opportunity at the Apple Store. Neighborhood street fairs are also an option where items might be
sold and the registration fee is usually low.
The Spring Fair will be held on May 1st, 2010. The PTA would like to expand the fair that will include
games, food, a silent auction and a raffle. If more items are donated for the auction, then there might
also be an on-line auction prior to the fair.
There will be a fundraising committee meeting on December 2nd. More information will follow and be
posted to the yahoo group.
Any funds raised by the senior class can be used at their discretion. They will hold bake sales at the
parent-teacher conferences on Thurs., Dec. 10th and at the Talent Show on Fri., Dec. 18th. All of the
senior expenses combined (dues, prom, trip) are approximately $600.
Another way to raise money for the school is to submit the lunch forms. Only 35% have been received,
so there are still 270 families that have not returned the forms.
Principal’s Report
An HSMSE alumni was awarded a Sophie Davis Medical School scholarship for $25,0000.
Any student can take an A/P exam, regardless whether they’ve taken the A/P class. The Calculus A/P
might be taken by some of the seniors. The A/P exams cost approximately
$60-$70. In regard to the A/P Junior English Lit class, Dr. Stern has stated that the class is not better or
worse than last year’s English class, just different. Some of the assignments are different but not
necessarily more difficult.
In SLT the school’s Comprehensive Plan was discussed. There are four goals:
1. A proposal for A/P classes will be implemented with the idea of adding some more A/P classes.
Options are currently being explored.
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2. The construction project to renovate a floor and a half of Baskerville Hall has started. The
demolition is being completed at night. The construction committee meets once a week for this
multi-million dollar project. Adding data lines in to Room B-01 might be incorporated into the
project.
3. On average, HSMSE has a 95% attendance rate. The school is making an effort to get the
information to parents about excessive lateness or absences. There have been some problems
with attendance at the elective classes after lunch.
4. Students who receive services such as IEP or ESL are not always having the session recorded
properly with the DOE. The students are receiving the service, however it is very difficult to
record it. For example: Ms. Trebour calls in a counseling session and receives a confirmation
number with the DOE. However, when she checks the system two days later it has not been
registered. The DOE’s response is to call it in again. She will call it again and receive yet
another confirmation number but it occasionally still does not show up as having been registered.
Usually by the third time it shows up in the system.
We are in the process of talking with CCNY and CUNY Central in order to have the draft agreement
regarding college credits finalized. The goal is to have the document approved and finalized by January.
In the new agreement, the maximum number of credits that a student can potentially earn is 24, which is
less than the 60 originally discussed with CCNY. However in four HSMSE graduating classes, only one
student ever earned 60 credits. A more realistic number to expect is 18 credits, since the way the classes
are scheduled it will still be difficult for one student to receive all 24 credits.
The A/P classes are weighted on transcripts, but Honors classes can not be weighted. The permanent
record does not weight the grades, but the historical record is weighted. Some colleges want to see both
transcripts and some only want to see the permanent record. Eventually, the addition of the A/P classes
should prove the rigor of the classes at HSMSE. In regard to the CCNY transcript and college credit,
CUNY and SUNY usually take all of the credits, but MIT does not accept any other school’s credits.
Though some other schools, such as McGill, will take some or the majority of the credits.
It has been discussed to have Mr. Klein include a letter about the college credits, but the feedback from
the Admissions Directors of various colleges is that the concern is with the rigor of the classes not the
credits. The School Profile will be added to the web site. A parent requested that the School Profile be
discussed at SLT.
Only two of the six report cards that the students receive are on the transcripts. The report cards from
January and June which are the final report cards for the term. The other four report cards that are
receive in October, December, February and April reflect the end of the marking periods.
Swine flu vaccination letters were sent out earlier in the week. Vaccinations are given at several centers
throughout New York. There are two types of vaccinations – the live virus which is administered
nasally and the dead virus which is administered as a single injection. There is more information on the
DOE web site.
The DOE’s Progress Report on HSMSE was quite favorable. It is based on data from last year. The
information is currently embargoed but it will be released soon.
There are potential issues with the school’s budget. It is expected that there will be further cuts in the
education budget, with a mid-year cut expected. Currently the school is funded for a budget of 32-34
students per class and 8 periods per day. In actuality, the school has 23-25 students per class and 10
periods per day.
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Corporate funding can potentially be explored. Corporate funding can not pay for faculty salaries but
other funds can be shifted in the budget. The average teacher salary is $64,000 this year, and will be
approximately $67,000 next year.
The school owes the DOE approximately $60,000 since there are 10 students less this year in the
freshman class than originally anticipated.
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on December 10th from 5:30pm-8:30pm. The PTA provides a
light meal for the teachers. Volunteers are needed at 4:30pm to help set-up.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -Notes from the HSMSE Academics Workshop---Please contact guidance counselor for more info.
November 4, 2009
Student Safety and Security, presented by Mr. Evan Hershinson, Dean
HSMSE is a “closed campus” from 8:00 am-3:35 pm and students are not
allowed off campus during the school day for security precautions.
The parks surrounding HSMSE are not safe. Students should travel to and from school through
areas where there is constant pedestrian traffic, not through the parks, which are too secluded.
Often, students walk in groups, which is safest.
The CCNY shuttle bus is available to HSMSE students with their student ID and it travels to
ALL bus and subway stops in the neighborhood.
Viewing Your Child’s Assignments from Home, presented by Ms. Dawn Trebour, Guidance Counselor
On the HSMSE website, click the Academics tab, then Assignments. Use your child’s login,
which was provided during new student orientation. The password is your child’s OSIS #,
located on report card.
When first logging in, the courses your child is taking need to be selected from the list of
courses. Reference the course numbers listed on your child’s grade report to make sure you have
selected the correct course and section. The next time logging in, only your child’s courses
appear, along with the homework due for each course.
Faculty emails available on the AcademicsFaculty tab of HSMSE website.
Contact Ms. Trebour or Mr. Yanakis via email if your child cannot access the system.
Tutoring Opportunities Available to Assist in Areas Where a Student May Struggle, presented by Ms.
Dawn Trebour, Guidance Counselor
Motivation to complete homework can often be helped by prompting the student to consider
what type of career they envision for themselves. The website nycareerzone.org is an interest
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inventory which helps students to focus on their career interests and discover the requirements
for such careers.
Homework completion is a very important component of the HSMSE course requirements, in
some cases as much as 30%. There are study skills classes available to help students with
organization and planning of their assignments.
(Labs constitute a large percentage of homework failure, especially when the student postpones
the lab write-up for the night before it is due. By that time, often the student no longer
understands the data they have collected. Lab write-ups should not be left to the night before
they are due.)
There is a faculty member tutoring schedule. All faculty have office hours either before school,
during the lunch hour, or after school, when they are available for tutoring students who are
having difficulty. The tutoring schedule is available online.
Peer tutoring is also available and often presents a more attractive option for students as the
times may be more flexible.
U-Texas homework portal, presented by Ms. Taina Sanchez, Parent Coordinator
This website is used for Math and Science homework. The online system presents students in the
same class with homework about the same concepts, but the numbers used in the problem sets
are different for each student, to prevent cheating.
A good way to utilize the site when studying is to print out the questions and answers.
ARIS Portal, presented by Ms. Taina Sanchez, Parent Coordinator
A temporary password to the Department of Education ARIS portal (arisparentlink.org) was
mailed to every family at the beginning of the academic year. Upon accessing the system, you
are asked to reset your password. Keep a good record and close guard of your password as the
ARIS portal includes detailed information about your child’s academic records. (If using a public
computer, do not consent to having the web browser save your password, etc.)
This portal includes information such as: grades, absences, lateness, teachers, transcripts, state
test results, periodic assessment results, contact information. Please check the information
regarding your child, especially contact information, to make sure it is correct. Ms. Sanchez
continues to receive a surprising percentage of returned mail from HSMSE families whose
contact information in the system is no longer valid. Valid phone numbers should be listed as
this is the primary way the school can reach you during the day during an emergency, should
your child fall ill, etc. (There has been an instance where contact information for a family has
included 5 non-valid phone numbers.) Alert HSMSE to any inaccurate information and they will
submit the changes to the system.
The lunch form information is also part of the ARIS portal. Some college scholarships are
determined by the information entered on your family’s lunch form so it is in the interests of
your child for you to fill out the lunch form. Also, some funding and some evaluations of
HSMSE are based on the percentage of families who fill out the lunch form. Arranging a reduced
price lunch is only one of the purposes of the “lunch” form. The other two reasons (scholarship
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money for your child and increased funding for the school for your child’s school-based
activities) are very important. Please fill out the lunch form.
The ARIS portal is available in 9 different languages with walk-through online training tutorials
on how to use the system and run various types of reports on your child.
Please contact Ms. Sanchez if you need your child’s login information for the ARIS portal.
Academic Probation and Study Skills, presented by Mr. Wylie Burgan, Assistant Principal
During Freshman orientation, there is an extensive presentation about different forms of
academic achievement, ranging from excellent to poor, and their consequences.
Academic Probation:
 Activated if a student fails 2 credits (Please confirm particulars with Mr. Burgan.)
 Notice attached to grade report
 Length of probation is one full term
 Student must take compulsory “elective,” Study Skills
 No sports participation or school-based extracurriculars allowed
 Mandatory meetings with grade advisors which must be documented with advisor’s
signature
 Seniors should be especially vigilant because they may put their diploma at risk—
consequences may include summer school or no diploma
 Saturday School @ HSMSE may be offered in Spring as part of credit recovery process.
(However, as academic intervention has been successfully implemented for 4 years,
causing a tapering off of need, this may no longer be offered this Spring.)
Grade Advisors:
 Mr. Adam Kerzner, 9th Grade
 Mr. Ernesto Pedroso, 10th Grade
 Mr. Salvatore D’Alessandro, 11th Grade
 Mr. Stuart Hershow, 12th Grade
Next PTA Meetings - December 17, January 14, February 11 @ 6:30 PM in Baskerville
Room B-01
Save the Dates
January 5: Financial Aid Presentation at 6:30 – 8:00 PM, Rm: TBA
January 7: Summer and After School Opportunities Program at 6:00 PM in Baskerville Rm: TBA
See internship section of this newsletter for more information.
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