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On October 22nd, 2024, in the middle of fourth period, a soft lockdown occurred at MS447. Nael Raza, an 8th grader stated “When I heard about the lockdown, I was shocked. I hid under the table immediately after I heard the news. But Ms. Bell told me it was okay to get up from the desk. I knew that I wasn’t in danger because I knew there were grownups protecting me.”

This year, a lot of changes have occurred in this school. For example, pack has been moved to between first and second period instead of before first period, binders for students not coming until October 7th, and for the first time ever, getting student OMNY cards, the MTA’s new way of getting into the system, instead of using student MetroCards like in previous years. Also, new policies have come to the school such as a new bathroom policy. The new bathroom policy prevents you from going to the bathroom in the first and last 10 minutes of the period, when before it was the first 10 minutes and the last 5 minutes of the period. Read More

Have you ever wanted to go to the bathroom in school, but when you get there, the toilets are clogged, there’s pee everywhere, and the paper towel dispenser has been emptied? Sights like these have been becoming alarmingly more common in MS447, that’s for sure. But how have students been reacting to it, and what can be done to fix it?

In January, MS 447 introduced a new school entry routine. The school created Student ID cards which included the child’s full name, a photo from earlier in the year, the main office’s phone number, as well as a barcode. When the card is scanned, the system records the exact time of arrival. The machine also will automatically print a late pass if scanned after 8:40 AM. It will even sing Happy Birthday if it’s the student’s birthday! This is a new concept being tested for the first time.

On the fateful day of January 3rd, students were guided away from their usual entrance areas on Pacific Street. Students from MS 447 and the Brooklyn High School of the Arts lined up against the gate of the main entrance, with lines stretching down blocks with long waits of up to 30 minutes. What were the long inconvenient lines anyway? One would say it’s scary, one would say it's similar to the dreaded airport security routine, TSA, with metal detectors and baggage scanners to scan backpacks. Let's recap from the start.

In the golden age of social media, slang terms like ‘type sh-,’ ‘locked in,’ and ‘let them cook,’ are the new norm of conversation. This is all in good fun, innocent terms of describing agreeing with someone, being focused, or letting someone do things freely. But as the English language evolves; where do we draw the line?

Charl Castelyn, known as Mr. Castelyn by his beloved students, passed away on November 27, 2023, with his husband Craig Strulovitz and beloved rat terrier by his side.  

The Student Council has been hard at work, ranging from door decorating, the CHIPS food drive, and upcoming events like candy grams and the spring dance. Let's go over everything the student council has done. The door decorating contest was where friends could decorate a door to its topic together, which was the ocean.

Exploration, an extremely controversial, yet unique class that isn’t in many schools. It’s disliked by some and loved by others. It was introduced as a program so students could explore the real world. Life, social issues, nature, and also inspires activism in youth.

Our school has numerous after-school clubs and teams, whether it’s basketball, soccer, or student council. These teams help make our school by bringing us together as a community and gather a group of students who enjoy a similar thing, and bond and work together over it. This article’s intention is to bring attention to a team full of passionate students, the one and only debate team! 

Every day, 16 schools go through a lockdown, and 227 people are injured or killed in school shootings each year. That means every week on average, about 4 people are shot in school shootings every week, according to a 2018 analysis by the Washington Post.

Camp Bernie, Camp Bernie! Well, this trip was certainly one to remember. The story starts on the bus ride there! The ride was super slow for some people, but it went by fast for others. One cool feature about the bus was that it had a place to charge phones! Everyone stayed clear of the bathrooms though, since the bathroom doors wouldn’t stay shut. 

The Math And Science Exploratory School recently decided to change its name to the Exploratory School, due to its recent focus in the past few years on thoughtful, deep exploration across all subjects offered... Ms 447 recently made this change and as of early September a unanimous vote from the Community Education Council for District 15. The council felt the change was necessary because the name didn’t reflect the school’s open and project-based curriculum. The name is now pending approval from the chancellor. 

At MS. 447, there are many amazing teachers, but this year the spotlight is on one very special teacher. Can you guess? Here are some hints. She teaches five subjects this year. She is a 7th-grade teacher, and one of her many catchphrases is “silence is golden and duct tape is silver!”  Did you guess it? That's right! Ms. Hughes, a 7th grade ELA, Lab, Health, PE, and Advisory teacher. 

Shown through some crazy and unexpected sights, it’s clear that our MS447 community has a clear problem that needs to be addressed and lots of people can agree on: The crazy amount of trash everywhere in our school in the stairways, halls, bathrooms, and even the water fountains. So far this year, many students report seeing trash daily in the school, no matter what time it is, including early in the morning. 

On September 29, 2023 torrential downpour disturbed the lives of many individuals living in NYC. Getting around to places was a challenge. Surprisingly, Ms. Asia Stanislaus, the assistant principal, stated that not many students were absent that day because the people only realized the hazard on their way to school. 

Students were used to a five-day schedule. Nobody complained about how annoying it was to figure out what day it was- because every week was the same. You only needed to know whether it was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. That was until 447 went back to the six-day cycle- for the Expo.

In Exploration this year, sixth graders have been studying how different cultures have influenced American food today. That's why this Expo week was about learning to cook food from different cultures. 

The first Expo trips of the year took place over two weeks from Oct 17- 27, and is the first Expo of four for the 2022-2023 school year.  These trips come after a nearly two-year long absence of field trips due to COVID-19...

Ms447 has a diverse selection of clubs, ranging from the drama club to the boys basketball team, and recently they welcomed a new club into the mix, the debate team! 

MS 447 Spirit Week is back and better than ever. The student council planned some really fun days! 

The whole school shared a groan when they learned that Yondr pouches were coming back for a second time this year. And to make things worse, for most people, they were supposedly “unbreakable.”

The first Expo trips of the year took place over two weeks from Oct 17- 27, and is the first Expo of four for the 2022-2023 school year.  These trips come after a nearly two-year long absence of field trips due to COVID-19...

The beginning of middle school is a rough time. So in return, the Wolf Press has gathered some tips such as the most recommended water fountains, and advice towards excelling in classes so students won't have to be lost in the zombie-town of 447...

Imagine walking down the ramp from the main building to the west wing, and all of the sudden, a student shoves another student, and they fall on the floor...

October 21st was coming out day at MS 447. This was a day where students could wear pins in support of the LGBTQIA+ community or come out as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

A phenomenon prominent in many teens’ lives, and one never looked over. I am, of course, talking about popularity and cliques. I took it upon myself to do a case study in our school to figure out two things; Is our school like those in those 80’s movies we’ve all seen, and, if the so-called popular kids, actually are what they seem...

We’re sure everyone at MS 447 knows about the cell phone policy, even though some have mixed opinions. There really are simple rules. You’re not allowed to use your cellphone at all during school; even during lunch. When you enter the school, turn off your cell phone and put it in your backpack. This seems easy enough to some, but a lot of kids disagree.

Project or Mastery Based Grading. The new guy in town. This is the first year the system is being used throughout the whole school with all the grades, since 8th graders didn’t use the system last year. There has been a lot of feedback about this new system, and not all of it is good. Is the new grading system lowering morale among students to do well? Was this transition a good idea, especially given the current post quarantine situation? Does this new system help you understand what you can improve on more than the old one? Does it give you an accurate representation of your grades? All of these questions and more have been raised as the 8th-grade debates over whether the system is successful or not.

This school year many chaotic things have been happening in the school hallways and bathrooms such as vandalism in the restrooms, violence in the hallways, and people not able to get to their classes because of crowds. Why do students do this? Is there any peer or online pressure that forces them to?

Remote learning is not ideal, that's for sure. It’s been hard on students, parents, principles, and basically everyone who works or is involved in the education field. But the people who’ve really been hit hard by it, yet still pulled through, are the teachers.

In January, many M.S. 447 8th grade students took the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT). This test was pushed back from its original date in October. While the SHSAT is a very important test for the specialized high school admissions process, it also creates a lot of stress and anxiety for the students taking it.

During COVID it's easy to feel lonely. Clubs are a great way to connect to our school community. Luckily lots of 447 clubs are still meeting remotely despite COVID. Check out this list of clubs to get involved!

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, students all around the world have started remote learning. This is where students work with and attend classes with teachers though google classroom and video conferencing applications, such as zoom and google meet. However, these experiences have been new and different for students and teachers alike.

We all know what gratitude is. Right? Hopefully you do. Anyway, most people are generally aware of gratitude. Students at MS477 learned more about what gratitude is, what it does, and how they can practice it...