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Moment of Silence NJ champions a daily moment of silence in schools, creating space for students to pause, reflect, and grow.
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By encouraging a healthy-mind practice, we empower our youth to explore their thoughts and feelings, fostering emotional intelligence and resilience.
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Daily moment of silence
Encourage students to take time for self-reflection. Become an active participant in advocating for a daily moment of silence in schools.
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The New York City Department of Education
Public School 138
THE CORE KNOWLEDGE/EFFICACY SCHOOL
801 Park Place / Brooklyn, New York 11216
Telephone: (718) 467-0800 Facsimile: (718) 953-3422
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL
Principal:
Ms. Marie Chauvet-Monchik
Assistant Principals:
Ms. Wilhelmina Early
Dr. Joseph Sealy
Coordinator:
Mr. Lewis St. Victor
January 7, 2010
To Whom It May Concern:
The moment of silence is working very well at P.S. 138. The entire school building remains silent for a minute, while students, staff and parents reflect, meditate or think of what they have to do during the day.
This moment of silence sets the tone for the remainder of the school day. I love the moment of silence because it has positively impacted the school. Students enjoy the moment of silence; they understand its meaning and value, also. Before the moment of silence, we announced that students are to stop and start work without any type of formal announcement, but now they know that the school day starts with a moment of silence. They go directly to their classes, sit quietly and focus in readiness. The atmosphere has changed for the better. The school is calmer and more focused.
In addition, parents love to participate in the moment of silence. Some of them even take the time to audibly participate in this moment, before leaving the building. They say it sets the tone for the day.
Above all, I support the moment of silence because of its effects, and it allows the school community to gain composure before starting daily routines. I plan to continue this practice until the end of the school year, and continue it for the subsequent years. I even extend the moment of silence to our staff and education programs.
Rabbi Frank introduced the moment of silence at P.S. 138. I would like to thank Rabbi Frank for inspiring us in this positive initiative. I hope that other schools can benefit from his initiative as well.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Marie Chauvet-Monchik
Principal
P.S. 191
1600 Park Place
Brooklyn, New York, 11233
(718) 495-7768
Fax (718) 495-5481
Mrs. Ethel Goldsberg, Principal
Mrs. Vanessa Goldf, Assistant Principal
June 3rd, 2008
Mr. Frank
Child Advocate
Dear Mr. Frank,
I have been the principal of Public School 191 for twelve years and will commence with the thirteenth year of my tenure this month. During the course of my service to our impressionable youngsters, numerous initiatives have been implemented in order to reduce student-to-student negative aggression. I have found, this year, that with the utilization of the practice of the Moment of Silence—in addition to other existing practices—our children have begun the process of self-reflection and introspection which assists them with their daily interaction with their peers and teachers. Mr. Frank displayed a letter from Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s office in regard to the Moment of Silence in our public schools. The Moment of Silence initiatives will continue at P.S. 191 for years to come as it has helped our children adjust socially and emotionally for a better met academic and personal goal. One day a recommended topic is provided which the students extend by a fourth grade teacher in our school on Friday, May 30th, 2008, this being: “Think about a goal that you have and what you must do to accomplish it.”
We have had an increase this year in terms of student achievement in the content areas of English Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. These increases, in part, can be attributed to pupils devoting time daily to consider their individual self-improvement. One student has begun to regularly engage in a Moment of Silence prior to dinner as well. He is the son of our supervising school aide.
I would recommend this practice be instituted in other schools.
Sincerely yours,
(signature)
Mrs. Elsie Spolongo
Principal
Public School 91
532 Albany Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11203
Telephone 718-756-0243 Fax 718-221-1316
Principal: Solomon Long
Assistant Principals: Linda Barnette, Lynnette Brinson
5/12/08
“What Does The Moment of Silence Mean To Me”
P.S. 91 began the “Moment of Silence” this school year in October. We did not know what to expect, but we thought it was a great idea. I was under the impression that the “Moment of Silence” was not accepted by the Chancellor, but Rabbi Frank showed me a letter from the Chancellor’s Office giving it his stamp of approval. I tried it a few mornings and my staff and parents gave it their blessings. We do it every morning as a steady part of our morning announcements. It effects calmness into the daily routine.
I have been here at P.S. 91 since 1991 (seventeen years) and something wonderful happened this year. I cannot say that the “Moment of Silence” had everything to do with our testing results, but we had a 12 percentage point increase of our reading scores this year (State English Language Assessment).
P.S. 91 will continue to do the “Moment of Silence” for the remainder of this year and next year because it is something that we need to do. I would recommend that my colleagues adopt the “Moment of Silence” immediately because socially and emotionally it does make a difference!!
Thank you,
(signature)
Solomon Long
Principal
GLENMERRY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL DISTRICT No. 20
(KOOTENAY / COLUMBIA)
OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL
2282 Columbia Avenue, Trail, B.C. V1R 1L6
Phone (250) 368-6216 Fax (250) 368-6218
March 28, 2011
Dear Abraham Frank,
We have been doing the Moment of Silence since Jan. 31, 2011. We do our quiet time each day at 12:36, just after our lunch break. We call it “Our Quiet Moment” and it lasts for 1 and ½ minutes. Our whole school population takes part each day. We have been written up in the newspaper and we have been on the local radio station with interviews about the programme. I have included the newspaper clipping for you.
I have sent along a big package of writing about Our Quiet Moment. Some of them are very good and some are a bit weak but you mentioned that you wanted to read them all so I have included almost all the writing I have received so far. I did not include ones that were repetitive since it would be too much ones already included.
I received 115 written comments (about half the school). 88% were positive and 6% were neutral and 6% were negative. Interesting, don’t you think? The ten negative comments were mostly from grade 7 students with words along the lines of – “I don’t like things quiet.” Or “I don’t like putting my head down.” The positive messages were about liking the quiet, peacefulness, and how their brain felt. Almost all of the positive comments mentioned liking the quiet, peacefulness, and how their brain relaxed.
I have not made any profound observations about improved behaviour or improved attitude towards learning yet. However, our students are doing this with a sense of pride. “Our Quiet Moment” and we think the parents will feel too. Reading the 88% of the positive messages has convinced me that we are doing the right thing and we will build on this success by talking about it more with parents.
That’s all for now,
Best Wishes,
(signature)
Patrick A. Audet, principal
Together, we can create an environment where every student thrives.