2024-25 PARP Program!

October 16 – 29, 2024

Sound the Trumpets!  The time has come to select your best Royal attire! Beginning October 16th – October 29, all Royal Subjects will Pick Our Reading Partners (PARP) and prepare for…….

 Royal Reading in the Wolverine Kingdom.  

To build excitement throughout the Wolverine Kingdom, we ask our loyal subjects to help adorn the royal hallways for our Wolverine Ball (Opening Ceremonies). If your child  would like to participate, please have them complete the “PARP Book Crest” project on the following page. They will decorate their Book Crest with their name, the title, author, and cover of their favorite book. Last, but certainly not least, we call on all subjects to color and cut out their Book Crest so it can be hung proudly on the walls of our Wolverine Gallery. It will be a beautiful and fun way for the kids to see titles of books that other children in the school recommend. 

Make haste, please return your Book Crest Projects by Thursday, October 10th (teachers will collect and leave them in the main office to be added to our display).  Lost your copy? Click here. PARP will officially begin on Tuesday, October 16th, with a Royal theme dress up day.

Questions? Contact: the PARP Committee

PTA Parents: Mollie Newman, Heather Egert, Rachel Levenson, and VP of Education, Erica Schulman | Teachers: Ms. Beach, Ms. Falck, Ms. Steinberg and Mr. Snyder

Parent PARP Pledge 2024/25

Calendar of Events

October 16– Enter the PARP Kingdom with Opening Ceremonies & Royal Dress Up Day: Dress to represent the Wolverine Kingdom! Wear royal gear, dress as a knight, court jester or even a dragon! Remember: NO WEAPONS!

October 17 (IN SCHOOL) – Cozy up to reading. PAJAMA day!

October 17, 6:45-8 PM – Milk & Cookies PJ NIGHT: evening pajama event with bedtime stories at school. More info to follow.

Prize Announcement Days (Tuesdays): One of the goals of PARP is to encourage reading at home. Children will log their minutes read each night in a google form for the week. Links will be posted on the PARP calendar, as well as the PTA facebook page. Prizes will be awarded to the child who reads the most in each grade, as well as a class with the most minutes read for the week. 

October 21 – Arts in Ed Event: Kindness Quest Assembly. Step into  a medieval times spectacle and celebrate kindness.

October 23 – Wear it Wednesday – Dress up as a favorite character from your favorite book, comic book, or series. Bring in a picture of that character too!

October 24 – Esteemed Author DAN GUTMAN – Virtual visit in the evening. Separate times for K-1 and 2-5. More information to follow.

October 29 – Closing Ceremonies with Mystery Readers – Each class will have a surprise reader from the Syosset community. 

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What is PARP?

PARP is an acronym for Pick A Reading Partner. It is a program designed to engage and involve parents, caregivers and other adults in fostering the love of reading in children. PARP encourages reading partners to participate in some type of reading experience with their children for at least 20-25 minutes a day, thereby instilling strong reading habits, and encourages children to become better readers.

PARP stresses that reading can be fun as well as informative. The daily communication shared through PARP will also serve to strengthen the family and fortifies children’s reading habits. PARP helps cement necessary bonds between the home and the school to foster the education process. Together, this effort will make our children more successful and their education more fruitful.

Each day, please be sure to read with your child and complete the online reading record.  Please also encourage your child to engage in the PARP activities on the attached calendar, and to observe how the PARP displays in the hallways at school and online, continue to grow with their reading successes. 

History of PARP

The Pick A Reading Partner (PARP) program, originally known as Parents As Reading Partners, began in the New York State Senate Education Committee through the efforts of Senator James H. Donovan, with the support of former New York State Governor Hugh Carey and Education Commissioner Gordon Ambach. 

In the summer of 1978, Senator Donovan learned of a fifteen-minute daily reading program, and asked his office staff to research what other states were doing to promote reading. The New York State Planning and Steering Committee decided to incorporate the best features found in other state programs. It was suggested that the local planning committee choose a theme and use national, state or local talent to promote the program. New York State drew on the talents and resources of twenty organizations in developing its own program.

PARP was officially launched through a mass-mailing effort in March, 1979. A conference followed in October with keynote speaker, the late Bob Keeshan, better known to some as television’s Captain Kangaroo.

Since 1987, NYS PTA has sponsored and administered the PARP program. Each year the NYS PTA offers workshops at Summer Leadership Conference and our Annual Convention. These trainings allow educators and adults to enhance communication, share experiences and increase involvement with children and schools.

PARP Goals

• Encourages reading at home to supplement school and library reading programs;
• Allows children to discover that reading can be fun as well as informative;
• Fortifies children’s reading habits;
• Strengthens student and family reading habits, while focusing on the enjoyment of reading;
• Develops and improves family relationships and communication;
• Brings parents and children closer together by sharing the pleasurable experience of reading together;
• Provides parents with information to help their children become better readers;
• Improves children’s creativity and wellbeing by limiting television viewing and increasing family closeness; and
• Strengthens the bond between home, school and community.