Parents Association

The PA enhances the mission of Barrow Street by organizing and implementing activities that bring the community together and by acting as a liaison between administrators and parents.

It is the goal of the Parents Association (PA) to support parents, children and teachers by helping to create a positive environment at Barrow Street Nursery School at Greenwich House (BSNS).

Class Parent HandbookPA Event Guidelines

Monthly Meetings

The PA meets monthly to organize various school events and to support our parents and teachers throughout the year. Coffee and bagels are served. All parents and guardians are welcome to attend.

2024 – 2025 Board

Co-Presidents

Rachel Wexler and Rebecca Williams

Co-Vice Presidents

Steph Goodwin and Michaela McKenny

Treasurer

Mariel Sholem

Secretary

Breanna Khoury

2024-2025 Committees

Committees

Alumni Committee

 The Alumni Committee is hoping to create opportunities for alumni engagement. This committee plans and executes an alumni cocktail event in the Fall and an ice cream social in May.

Contacts

Nithya Thadani
Eliza Trapp

Commitment

2-4 hours plus volunteering day of event

Timing of Event

May

Bake Sale Committee

Funds raised at the bi-annual bake sale help to support classroom needs as well as a local charity (chosen in conjunction with the Community Engagement Committee).  Volunteer opportunities include baking, buying, working a shift, and helping to organize the event.

Contacts

Jillian Simon
Elana Karp

Commitment

1-4 hours per event

Timing of Event

October and May

Benefit Committee

The Benefit Committee plans a schoolwide formal event in April, raising money for scholarships, professional development and various school projects. It is the sole fundraising event for the school’s scholarship fund.  There are many ways to support this committee and the more people the better.  Meetings are held monthly.

Contacts

Alexis Tarlow
Melissa Kline
Tara Manchanda

Commitment

2-4 hours per month, more in March/April (Benefit occurs in April)

Timing of Event

April, planning throughout the school year

Community Engagement Committee

BSNS has a rich history in community service and the Community Engagement Committee is responsible for planning 2-3 projects each year.  Past examples have included:  a partnership with Hudson River Parks and a drive for Room to Grow donations. Co-chairs work with a BSNS liaison to support in-class engagement initiatives.

Contacts

Dana Power
Simi Trehan

Commitment

5-10 hours per project

Dad’s Committee

The Dad’s Committee is a social committee; an event is hosted approximately every month. Past events have included Poker Night, Basketball Nights, Pickleball, Baseball game(s) with children and more

Contacts

Drew Tarlow
Miraj Patel
Ben Gottesman

Commitment

1-3 hours per event

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

The mission of this Committee is to support the school in creating a community that promotes inclusion and respect by valuing the diverse perspectives and backgrounds of our children, teachers and families. This Committee endeavors to celebrate and embrace all families by hosting various events, such as Family Week in March, coffee chats with parents & faculty, book readings, speaker series, as well as collaborating with other committees.

Contacts

Danielle Graziano
Emma Bloomfield
Christine McLellan

Commitment

1-4 hours per event

Timing of Event

Family Week in Early March

Fall Fair Committee

Fall Fair is a fun-filled event in the gym for the children and teachers! There’s an array of stations for each classroom to visit (each classroom has their own time slot throughout the day), including games, arts and crafts and more.

Contacts

Dani Heilbronn
Caroline Weinberg

Commitment

4-5 hours of planning + volunteering the day of the event

Timing of Event

Late October

Fall Parent/Teacher Cocktail Committee

This committee hosts a Parent/Teacher Cocktail party at the school. This event is an opportunity for parents and children to come together and enjoy a social event at the start of the year.

Contacts

Phyllis Seevers
Ayla Eloy Lally

Commitment

2-3 hours

Timing of Event

September

Flex Committee

The Flex Committee is for parents who want to be engaged but have sporadic availability and are open to being contacted for last minute projects either at home, work or school. This committee will receive monthly requests with projects and volunteer opportunities that need to be done. Parents can opt to sign up on an as-needed basis. This committee is also a great way to explore which committees you may want to commit to more permanently.

Contacts

Calvin Tse

Commitment

Flexible, but generally 1-2 hours per project

Friends of Greenwich House

Friends of Greenwich House is a newly formed committee that seeks to engage Barrow families in the neighborhood through the Greenwich House lens, including by donation drives and pottery events. The committee communicates with Greenwich House about their events and encourages BSNS family participation.

Contacts

Julie Effron
Melissa Gottesman
Melanie Bhandari

Commitment

Flexible, but generally 2-3 hours per event

Holiday Market Committee

The Barrow Street Parents’ Association is in the early stages of planning its first ever holiday market. This one day event will feature goods from local vendors and parent-owned companies. The Holiday Market will support our community and neighborhood shops, while giving families a head start on holiday gifting!

Commitment

4-5 hours of planning + volunteering the day of the event

Timing of Event

November

Literacy Committee

The Parents’ Association takes pride in organizing the newly updated library, an annual book fair in the fall, and an author visit in the spring.  This committee selects and orders new books, handles the pick-up/delivery from the vendor, organizes the set-up and breakdown, reconciles the financial transactions, runs the actual book fair, and coordinates an author visit.

Contacts

Kristin Crescenzo
Caitlin Levine

Commitment

2-5 hours per event

Timing of Event

Library organization is throughout, Spring (book fair, author visit)

Merchandise & Spirit Committee

This committee creates and sells merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and more at a yearly Spirit + Spirits event that is planned and executed by the committee.

Contacts

Casey Weinstein
Anna Tykocinski
Nina Rudikoff

Commitment

2-4 hours per event

Moms Committee

This Committee hosts informal events where parents can connect.  Past examples include: coffees, gallery tours, cocktail events, shopping events, parent volunteer opportunities and work-out events.  This committee allows working parents and others with busy daytime demands to stay connected to the Barrow Street community.

Contacts

Sam Orley
Ami Sheth

Commitment

1-4 hours per event

New Family Committee

This committee welcomes new families to Barrow Street and introduces them to other parents, teachers, and staff. The new parent liaison helps reach out to new families and coordinates events, including the welcome coffees (fall), new parent cocktail party (before the auction), and new parent play-dates (in May and early June).

Contacts

Jin Joo
Maureen Chang
Roxanne Cohen

Commitment

2-4 hours per event

Timing of Event

September – January (Open House/Tours), April – June (Cocktail, Workshop, and Play Dates)

Teacher Appreciation Committee

This committee helps to show the teachers how much we appreciate them, from an annual catered brunch to chalking the sidewalks to coordinating teacher appreciation week gifts.

Contacts

Pia Desai
Emily Rukobo

Commitment

1-4 hours per event

Winter Carnival Committee

The Winter Carnival committee sets up a fun, family-friendly event in the Barrow gym on a Saturday in January. The event features food and activities for families to enjoy.

Contacts

Zara Tisch
Julie Heller

Commitment

1-4 hours per event

Timing of Event

Late January

Yearbook Committee

BSNS produces a single school-wide yearbook documenting the children and their activities.  The Committee consists of a representative from each class who will take and gather pictures of their class throughout the year.  In late spring, the classroom representative will submit the best 10-15 photos to the yearbook organizer.

Contacts

Isidra Vega
Naomi Ruchim

Commitment

2-4 hours over the course of the school year

Class Parents

Each classroom has a minimum of 2 class parents.  These parents help facilitate communication between the teachers and the other parents primarily through monthly emails, build cohesiveness in the classroom, plan teacher appreciation, arrange class parties and encourage schoolwide involvement.  At least one class parent from each class should attend the monthly PA meetings.

Commitment

3-4 hours per month

A collaboratively designed learning experience

Fundraising

A collaboratively designed learning experience

Book Fair

The Parents Association organizes a book fair annually during parent-teacher conferences. The book fair provides parents with the opportunity to purchase great books while at the same time raising funds for various school projects.

Benefit

Each spring, the Parents Association organizes a benefit to raise money for the scholarship fund, professional development for teachers, and other programming needs. This is the sole fundraising event for the school’s scholarship fund and enables Barrow Street to serve an economically diverse student body. As of now, approximately 15% of our students receive some type of financial support, but we hope to be able to increase that number for next year!

Bake Sale

The Parents Association holds two bake sales (fall and spring) to raise funds for PA activities. It is organized and run by our community of parents. The bake sale is held on the corner of 7th Avenue and Barrow Street (weather permitting) and the whole community is welcome.