Bitterroot Bulletin
December 2023
Greetings Bitterroot families,
As 2023 draws to a close, I want to take a moment to thank you for your active contribution to our Bitterroot community. Daily, I am reminded of the goodness of people as I see you and your students engaging in our Bitterroot Standard by being safe, kind, cooperative, respectful, responsible. Thank you for your support of our school and student leaders. It truly is great to be a Bitterroot Bobcat.
We are inviting all parents, guardians and caretakers to complete a school climate survey by Wednesday, December 13th. The survey is completely anonymous and brief; it contains 21 questions and takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. You can take the survey online by using this unique school link. Thank you for your valuable input that helps us continue to support all our Bitterroot students.
Please remember there is no school and the office will be closed Friday, December 22nd - Monday, Jan 1st. School resumes on January 2, 2024.
Check our website bit.ly/bitterrootelementary and the PowerSchool bulletin for updates and announcements.
Have a great rest of your 2023!
~ Wendy Tyree, Bitterroot Elementary Principal
Martinson's Chocolate: Sent home on Monday (12/11)
Thank you for your support for the Martinson's fundraiser. We made over $4,800! Thanks to the help of some wonderful PTA ladies, your chocolate orders went home with your student on Monday 12/11. Some orders are large, so your student's teacher might reach out to help your student get them home. Please carefully check your order and make sure you have received everything you need.
We are excited to report these stats:
We had 34 students sell over $150 in chocolate. They will get the caramel bar in the next few days and the top 5 will also get a Dairy Queen blizzard.
The top-selling classrooms that earned celebrations for K-2 were:
Pizza Party Mrs. Mitchell
Root Beer Float Party Ms. Hansen
The top-selling classrooms that earned celebrations for 3-5 were:
Pizza Party Mrs.Ostrem
Root Beer Float Party Miss Lefthand
These will take place at the teacher's discretion.
Again thank you for your support!!
Counselor's Corner
Teaching Your Kids to be Safe Online
Imagine a stranger coming to your home. Your child answers the door and invites them inside. You are home but somehow they have walked past you into your child’s room unnoticed. This image is disturbing to say the least but is a common occurrence in many households when a child goes online. The Center for Cyber Safety and Education revealed data in 2019 about the internet use of fourth through eighth graders. The study found that 40 percent of kids have connected with a stranger on the web. Of that 40 percent, roughly half admitted to giving out their phone number to a person they didn’t know and 11 percent even went as far as to meet a stranger in person. The news isn’t all bad, though. The survey also suggests a majority of kids are being taught to use the internet safely. Working together, schools and parents can help mitigate the risks associated with online use by teaching kids to be safe online.
Here are some suggestions published in the New York Times (April 2020):
1. Set the rule that kids have to ask permission to go online or to use a device, much as they would need to ask permission before walking over to a neighbor’s house.
2. Consider setting rules on when and where your kids have access to devices or specific apps. Maybe they’re not allowed to use tablets in their rooms with the door closed, and instead have to use them in common areas.
3. Create a schedule so that kids are using their devices during periods when you can provide the most oversight.
4. Consider a technology agreement for each child. It may help you organize and remember these rules. If kids break the rules, come up with appropriate consequences.
5. Be sure to talk to your kids about privacy — or lack thereof. One thing kids often don’t understand about the online world is that it isn’t private — that anything that happens online can live forever and be seen by anyone, including parents, teachers, principals, potential employers and college admissions staff. (Even if your chat is private, for instance, screenshots can be shared.)
6. Take some time to think about what you’re comfortable — and not comfortable — with your kids doing online.
Debra Neese
(406) 281-6989
December Safety Focus: Shelter in Place & See Something Say Something
This month we will be reviewing our shelter in place protocol with students. This is for non-human threats (snowstorms, tornadoes, etc). If you have questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Tyree. We value safety at Billings Public Schools. To help ensure all students are safe, our district has a "See Something Say Something" quick link reporting button. You can located this button at the top of the Billings Public Schools website.
PTA Updates
Thank you for joining us for the PTA family night last week. We hope to see you at our next PTA meeting on Thursday 12/14 in the gym.
Want to Join PTA?
Scan the QR code or click here to be directed to registration form.
Questions? Contact us at bitterrootptamt@gmail.com
Follow us on Facebook: Bitterroot Elementary PTA
My Mealtime & Sodexo
Please remember to check your student's account balance by visiting https://www.mymealtime.com/.
Click on the menu below for a printable December menu or visit the Sodexo website at https://billingsps.sodexomyway.com/landing/elem for additional nutrition information.
Click on the menu image for larger/PDF view
Support Our Schools and Save on Your Taxes
The 2023 Legislature authorized enhanced tax credit opportunities for Montanans to support their local public schools through HB 408. This is a great opportunity to support Billings Public Schools for opportunities to enhance educational experiences for our students. Please click this link for more details on the innovative tax credit.
Communication: Addition of Parent Square
The district now has shared a K-12 communication platform: Parent Square. To learn more about the platform, please visit the district website.
At Bitterroot, we will continue using the communication systems we already had in place: Remind (please sign up using the codes 944483 OR 4hc6cc), Facebook, and Seesaw (K-3) and Google Classroom (4-5). Enrollment codes will be provided by classroom teachers later this year.
Our website will be where we archive documents, resources, and share our Bitterroot and Family Calendar. You can find the following resources on the website
- Student/Parent Handbook
- Bitterroot Staff Directory
- PowerSchool for Parents
- MealTime and Lunch Menu
- School Calendar
- Bitterroot Standard
Access to our PowerSchool Portal.
Powerschool is our district wide record keeping system. To access PowerSchool, download the App or visit our website and click on the button for PowerSchool for Parents. Here you will find:- daily bulletin with announcements
- attendance record
- lunch account balance
- shortcuts to frequently used forms
- annual district polices and permissions sign off form
- annual updates to contacts and demographics forms