Optional Home Tasks

PS 39 values family choice and flexibility regarding homework. Study after study has shown that time spent on reading has the highest correlation with increased achievement. Below, we’ve provided a menu of optional at-home learning tasks for families to reference.

All children should see connections between what they are learning in school and their lives outside of school. Our optional menu of activities, designed for students to complete at home—either with their families or on their own—aligns with their in-school learning.

Elementary-age children’s absorbent minds are primed for active learning. At this stage, children need to explore and be exposed to a broad range of activities and experiences. This is the foundation of real learning for this age group. Skill-based homework tends to have a more beneficial effect on older students, particularly those in middle and high school. Requiring students to complete work outside of school can impact their ability to engage with learning during the school day and may create equity issues.

Grading Policy

Our grading system reflects your child’s overall grade-level mastery at a specific moment in time. Ongoing feedback from your child’s teacher communicates their individual progress toward mastery across the curriculum.

  • MT = Meets grade-level standards

  • MP = Approaching grade-level standards

  • N = Needs Improvement

  • NL = Insufficient Data

We intentionally separate grading and feedback as much as possible, knowing that research shows feedback is significantly less effective when paired with alphanumeric grading. Because feedback is critical to the learning process, we aim to ensure it has the greatest possible impact on student learning.

Grading in elementary school does not affect student access to future opportunities. Middle schools in our district do not consider grades, as admissions are determined by a lottery system. Private schools either contact us directly to understand our grading policies or, more commonly, use independent assessments to evaluate whether a student is a good fit for their community.