STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 P.S. 60 Alice Austen School on Staten Island received the 2026 \u201cReady School of the Year\u201d award from the New York City Emergency Management Department on May 5, recognizing the school\u2019s commitment to teaching students about emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n
The Bulls Head school, led by Principal Donna Bonanno, stood out for its fourth-grade class\u2019s creative approach to learning about natural disasters and safety planning. Students organized a Weather Share Fair where they presented information about natural disasters through posters, skits, PowerPoint presentations and original songs.<\/p>\n
New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell and NYC Public Schools Deputy Chancellor of Operations Kevin Moran attended the ceremony, which marked the 17th year of the award presentation. <\/p>\n
Each year, NYC Emergency Management and NYC Public Schools present the award to a school that demonstrates outstanding commitment to emergency preparedness.<\/p>\n
The fourth graders extended their impact by inviting students from a neighboring school located in a flood zone to attend the fair. They donated decorated Go Bags to all visiting students.<\/p>\n
\u201cProject-based learning empowers elementary students to connect classroom lessons to real-world experiences, helping them understand their role in their community. By engaging in hands-on projects, children develop critical thinking, responsibility, and a strong sense of contribution to the community that extends beyond the classroom,\u201d said Bonanno. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re proud to celebrate P.S. 60 Alice Austen for showing what it means to prepare the next generation of New Yorkers,\u201d said NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. \u201cSchools are where young people begin to learn how to take care of themselves and of one another. When students learn the importance of emergency preparedness, they carry those lessons home to their friends, their families, and their communities. You are never too young, or too small, to be ready for the unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels also praised the students\u2019 efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud to see P.S. 60, especially its brilliant fourth graders, recognized for their leadership and creativity in this work. Their Weather Share Fair brought learning to life, with dynamic presentations that made complex topics engaging and accessible. By welcoming a neighboring flood zone school and donating Go Bags, these students demonstrated not only what they\u2019ve learned, but a true commitment to protecting and supporting others, which is what we stand for at New York City Public Schools,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Farrell emphasized the broader impact of school-based preparedness education.<\/p>\n
\u201cSchools like P.S. 60 Alice Austen provide the students with incredible opportunities to take the lessons learned in school home to their families,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella noted the borough\u2019s vulnerability to extreme weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cStaten Island is no stranger to storms and extreme weather, which pose a threat to people\u2019s safety, especially those who are underprepared. It is important for us to learn what it means to be prepared for a storm, including putting together a Go Bag and having a plan to get to safety,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are very proud of the kids at P.S. 60 who learned how to be safe in a storm and have shown others, in interesting and impressive ways, how to be safe as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ready New York for Kids program launched in 2007 when NYC Emergency Management and NYC Public Schools distributed 1.1 million guides to public school students. A pilot program began in one Brooklyn school district in 2009, reaching over 2,400 students at 14 schools over four months before expanding citywide. Since then, the program has conducted hundreds of events in schools throughout the five boroughs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 P.S. 60 Alice Austen School on Staten Island received the 2026 \u201cReady School of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,16186,88990],"class_list":["post-226627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-recall","tag-recall-warning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}