Principal’s Corner

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!

I hope that you had a fun and relaxing summer. My name is Samantha Severin. I am the principal of PS 45Q, The Clarence E. Witherspoon School. On behalf of our dedicated faculty and staff, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the new school year. Our administration, teachers and service providers have been working hard this summer to ensure that we are prepared to provide the best educational experience for the children that we serve. 

Whether you are a returning family or new to PS 45, I look forward to working with you this year. In addition to our returning programs and partnerships, we have many new and exciting additions to our community.

• We will be implementing a new reading program in grades K-5 - HMH. We are excited to join other District 27 schools in using this curriculum to support students’ performance and progress in reading. 
• Our school library will be open and operational, serving students in grades 3K-5. We welcome our new school librarian, Ms. Mazdra.
• We have a new addition to our Visual and Performing Arts Department - Theater teacher, Ms. Simon. All students in grades 3K-5 will have weekly theater, music and studio arts lessons. Our general music program will expand to include band and chorus.  We will continue our long-standing partnerships with Studio In A School and National Dance Institute. 
• We have partnered with Solved Consulting to build our school’s new website and app. Our new website and app will increase our ability to share important information with you in real time and in your preferred language. 
• Our ENL Department has expanded to support our students who are learning English as a new language. We welcome our new ENL teachers to the building - D’Agastino, Ms. Green and Ms. Valdez. We welcome back Mrs. Broadwell. 
• We will be implementing our new Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) this school year with the goal of ensuring that all students develop and learn social, emotional and behavioral competence while supporting their academic engagement. 
• Our Stop and Shop Food Pantry  will continue to support our community. We have received the largest yearly Stop and Stop Food Pantry donation in Queens. 
• Our roofing project is nearing completion. Scaffolding will be removed in late December 2024 and our students will have full access to our school yard in January 2025. 

We have opened new general education and integrated co-teaching classrooms on virtually every grade level as our registration continues to increase. These new classes will help reduce the teacher: student ratio in K-5 classrooms. 

I wish you all the best in this new school year. Our monthly newsletter will keep you up to date on all things PS 45Q. Thank you for your continued support of the PS 45Q school community. 

Sincerely, 

Samantha Severin, Principal

‍