February 27, 2025

Dear Park Spanish Immersion Elementary School Community:

It has been great to see family members in the building over the past week for various fun engagement events! Our students were thrilled to see the Drama Club performances of Anansi the Spider. Students shared their brilliance under the direction of Sra. Kim Wieber. All students got to enjoy the presentation artfully performed by their peers in grades 3-5 during school wide assemblies last week. It was wonderful to see so many families at the assemblies and at the night performances. See below for some photos.

We had a great PTO meeting on Tuesday evening; thank you to those who attended! We are grateful for you sharing your children with us. Have a great week, and keep reading.

In partnership,

Corey Maslowski, Principal

Megan Paulis de Rangel, Assistant Principal

In this section, we are featuring some of our amazing PSI Staff so the community can get to know every adult in the building as we work together to support each student at PSI!

This week we want to highlight two PSI staff members. Sra. Harris and Sra. Wieber duSaire are two of our specialist teachers. Sra. Harris teaches first, second, and third grade English and Sra. Wieber teaches talent development for third, fourth and fifth grade. We are so happy to have them here!

La Feria de Carera/Career-A-Palooza is coming to PSI! 

This year students in grades 2, 3, 4, 5 will participate on the morning of March 19th. We are looking for volunteers from within our school community that would like to share their career with students in a fun and engaging way! If you are interested, please complete the linked survey by March 7th. Those interested will receive follow up communication the week of March 10th from PSI. If you have any questions, please contact Sra. Dominguez, PSI Social and Emotional Learning Specialist, at dominguez.libby@slpschools.org.

Career Fair Volunteer Form

March February A-E Day Calendar

Sharing Culture

Based on community feedback, we are adding a new section to La Prensa, Compartiendo Cultura (sharing culture). This section will highlight the many ways that we help students bring to life our SLP Public Schools’ vision statement, in becoming their best selves as globally minded contributors to society. 

In this issue, we want to highlight our Drama Club Performance! Last week, the 115 students of our PSI Drama Club shared four stories of Anansi the spider in this year's production. The Anansi stories originated in the oral storytelling tradition of Western Africa, specifically with the Ashanti peoples of Ghana. The first two stories in the play were from Ghana. Students sang "Tue Tue Barima" and "Kye Kye Kule," two traditional songs from West Africa. 

When enslaved peoples from Africa were transported to the Americas during the slave trade, they carried their stories and cultures with them. The final two stories in the play were from Jamaica and also included traditional music. Students sang "Linstead Market" and danced to "Brown Girl in the Ring." While preparing for the performances, students learned about the meanings of the songs and new vocabulary.

School District News

Kids Place School Age Summer Program- Registration opens March 1, 2025

Future Kindergarten Families: Join us at Welcome Night Orientation on March 18!



Is your child starting kindergarten this fall? We’re excited to welcome you and your family to Kindergarten Welcome Night on Tuesday, March 18, from 5:30–7:30 p.m. at your child’s elementary school!

This special event is designed to help families get to know their school community, explore classrooms and connect with teachers and staff.

🏫 Tour your future school

📚 Participate in classroom activities

🤩 Meet teachers and staff

We can’t wait to see you there! No RSVP needed – come ready to ask questions and meet your new school community!

For more information, visit slpschools.org/kindergarten.

PTO News

PTO Sponsored Silent Auction: Coming Soon!

IT'S ALMOST TIME!!!

The 17th annual PSI Silent Auction will open on Saturday, March 8th at noon. Keep an eye out for the special edition La Prensa that will have the link to begin your bidding bliss! The silent auction team worked hard to create another auction full of incredible things. What you ask? EVERYTHING! Restaurant gift certificates, sporting event tickets, gym memberships, theater and museum tickets, a bunch of birthday party vouchers and so much more! 

This year we have a ton of great, 'buy-in' options too! These are events that you can buy tickets to, which sometimes sell out within hours. We've got adult pedal pubs, adult axe throwing, family puzzle competition, parties with amities and teachers, and much more! So mark your calendar to start your bidding right away so you can secure a ticket to the hottest events in SLP! 

Application to Host an Amity for the 2025-2026 School Year Now Open!  

Each year PSI typically welcomes Amity Interns from Spanish speaking countries who assist our teachers in the K-5 classrooms. These interns are either pursuing or have recently completed a college degree with an education focus, and are between the ages of 20-30 years old.  Amity interns live with PSI host families one semester allowing both an opportunity for greater language learning and cultural exchange.  Please consider hosting an Amity Intern this spring.  A unique and wonderful experience that can benefit your entire family.  Plus, it's a great way to give back to the students, staff and entire community.  Want more info?  Contact us at psiamity@gmail.com, we are happy to answer any questions or meet up to talk about it.

Ready to sign up?  Go to psiparents.ptboard.com, click Amity Interns to find the Host Family application.  Fill yours out today! 

Not able to host, but interested in supporting the Amity program in another way?  We also solicit volunteers to be a Cousin Family.

The Cousin Family is an extension of the host family and supports both the intern and their host family throughout the intern’s stay. This is most successfully achieved when the cousin family takes the initiative to reach out and communicate frequently with both parties. This effort allows families to build lasting connections with one another and brings a sense of community to the intern. The more involved the cousin family is with the intern the greater the opportunity is for language learning, cultural exchange and lasting relationships for all.



Go to psiparents.ptboard.com, click Amity Interns to find more information about the Cousin Family role along with the Cousin application.  Fill yours out today!

Thanks for considering these amazing opportunities!

Your Amity Coordinator Team,

Steve Kalpin

Darlene Kuykendall

Kelly Marinello

Kevin Russell

Community News

Kids Place: Summer Childcare Registration Opens March 1st